TOP G-MAN’S PLANS
In Q&A with News, Big Blue GM reveals Giant work ethic
DAVE GETTLEMAN worked his whole life to be the Giants’ general manager, but when he got his dream job last week he did not board a private plane to a lush new lifestyle in the Big City. He drove his van 10 hours uphill to bunk in his oldest son’s furnished basement in North Haledon, N.J. But why? “Cause I’ve got a van full of stuff. I got suits, clothes, I’ve gotta bring winter stuff, files, books — I gotta come up and go to work,” Gettleman, 66, told the Daily News from his office Thursday in East Rutherford in his first extensive interview since last week’s introductory press conference. “You’re not easing into this. You gotta be ready to rock and roll, and I wanted everything with me. I probably grabbed more clothing than I need, and I know there are stores in Jersey, but I don’t have time to go shopping.” Gettleman stays ready. When Carolina owner Jerry Richardson abruptly fired him from the Panthers GM seat on July 17, Gettleman didn’t wallow. Freed from the rigors of the job, he lived healthier and lost 25 pounds. He also called NFL Films senior producer Greg Cosell, the nephew of legendary sportscaster Howard Cosell, and arranged an early-October two-day visit to the Mount Laurel, N.J., headquarters to study players on tape.
“He loves to watch tape,” Cosell said on the phone Thursday. “I understand that mindset because I’m kind of nuts that way, too. When you watch a lot of tape, you always feel like when you’re not watching it, you’re missing something.”
Gettleman doesn’t miss much. And on Thursday, in a wide-ranging half-hour phone interview with the Daily News, the Giants’ new GM described how he stayed sharp in the five months between jobs, how he intends to proceed with trying to resurrect the franchise, and dove into subjects ranging from Eli Manning to Eli Apple, to the NFL Draft, the coaching search, to eating elephants, and the personal side of his transition.
Here is a conversation with Giants GM Dave Gettleman:
DN: How did you stay on top of the NFL in between getting fired in Carolina and hired by the Giants?
DG: The first thing was I stayed up on my reading. I stayed current with the league that way, because you don’t know (what can happen). I’m an old football dog. I love the
game and I love the NFL, and I watched more college football on TV than I’ve ever watched in years because you have the time. And I would sit there Sundays and flip channels. And on a normal week, between the Thursday game, three on Sunday, and Monday night, I’m watching at least five games. And there were a couple weeks you also had the early 9:30 start in London. So I watched a lot of football that way and just kind of observed... I had one team invite me to training camp but I just couldn’t work it out.
DN: Did any college players jump out at you? It’s an important question with you holding a golden ticket with the No. 2 pick now in the NFL draft.
DG: Obviously there were guys that jumped off the screen, but TV scouting and real film work are two different things.
DN: What were you looking for at NFL Films?
DG: I was looking at particular players frankly, some preseason tape and we were there in early October, so the NFL had had about three weeks of tape already. I was watching some guys from last year’s draft. The way I was raised, I’m more player-(focused). You go back to your roots and you want to watch players, then comes the entire team evaluation. So I spent a couple days doing that. I was with a buddy of mine, like OK who do you want to watch next? Greg’s a great guy, very accommodating. You can’t plant yourself, you can’t be rude, so we left late in the afternoon of the second day. You don’t overstay your welcome. You gotta get outta Dodge before they look at you and look at their calendar.
DN: How much did you have to do with the 2004 draft day trade for Eli Manning?
DG: Very frankly, nothing (laughs). I’d looked at Eli to see ’cause Ernie had asked me to look at him, and he’s at Ole Miss playing with wide receivers that run a 4.7 and his only legitimate weapon was this quick explosive little running back, but he (Manning) did some things — you talk about the earmark of a quarterback is does he make everybody better? And watching Eli at Ole Miss I watched a bunch of games and said, “I don’t know how he’s doing this.” With the trade, I handled the trade phone at that time, but Ernie (Accorsi) wanted me in my office doing it and that meant there would be dead time between me running down to Ernie or him running to me. So Ernie just handled it himself.
DN: You have to hire a coach, get your staff in order, evaluate the Giants roster, make the No. 2 pick in the draft. There is a lot on your plate. What does your typical day look like right now? How are you balancing it?
DG: You prioritize it. So the first thing is to evaluate Giants players, and as I’m doing that, free agency’s first. So I’ve gotta evaluate Giants players, talk to our staff about that and start gearing up for free agency. And in middle of that we’ll start our initial draft prep. You know the old saying, “How do you eat an elephant?... One bite at a time.”
DN: You said on SiriusXM NFL Radio that you were meeting with Eli Apple Wednesday. How did that go?
DG: It went fine. Eli was attentive and focused, and because he was suspended he couldn’t be at the team meeting where I spoke to the team on Monday. So I went through that process, so we’ll see where it goes.”
DN: How do you think the team responded to your talk to them on breakup day?
DG: You tell me. I saw some quotes about guys who had spoken up about it. So we’re gonna find out, aren’t we?
DN: Will this weather impede your ability to interview the head coaching candidates this weekend?
DG: We’ll get it done, one way or the other, by hook or by crook. There’s nothing like modern technology. We’ll get it done.
DN: Where are you living? (Gettleman is married to wife Joanne of 33 years, and they have three kids: oldest son Aaron, who is married to wife Melissa, younger son Sam, and daughter Ana, the youngest)
DG: With my oldest son and daughter-in-law. I sold them my old place, and it has a finished basement with a kitchen area and TV and everything. I’m very grateful, and I told my daughter-in-law, ‘If I wear you out, you tell me, you let me know.’ When (I first got the job) in Carolina I was in a hotel for the first five-and-a-half months. Stick a needle in my eye. So it’s sweet to go home, see the kids and talk about the day. It’s a blessing. (Sam also lives nearby; Ana lives just outside of Minneapolis).
It’s funny. It’s all about perspective. We also have a place on the Cape (Cod). When I was with the Giants years ago, my wife and I would always say, ‘Gosh, it’s five hours away, what a pain in the neck to go Friday night and come back on a Sunday.’ But now it’s only five hours away. We’re so excited we can’t see straight.