About 20 Giants kneel for anthem
Nearly 20 Giants players knelt for the national anthem before Monday night’s season opener, as did running backs coach Burton Burns. Head coach Joe Judge stood with his hands on the shoulder pads of Jabrill Peppers and Dalvin Tomlinson, who both were kneeling. Other players kneeling included Lorenzo Carter, Dexter Lawrence, Wayne Gallman, B.J. Hill, Leonard Williams, Julian Love, Logan Ryan, Corey Ballentine, James Bradberry, Austin Johnson, and Isaac Yiadom, among others.
Judge and the players said they made a group decision to respect everyone’s choice of how and whether to protest racial injustice and police brutality at that moment.
“Wemadeadecisionasateam we were gonna respect everybody,” Judge said. “And as a team the thing that makes you special is you respect everybody’s unique background and you move on. We respected our players’ right and choice to handle how they wanted to handle it. Proud of our team sticking together and not letting anything divide us.”
SaquonBarkley,whostoodfor the anthem, added: “For me personally I respect everyone that’s kneelingandIrespecteverything that’s going on, but I wanted to continue to call back on what I do in my community and try to make change that way.”
TheSteelersstoodandheldan enormous banner that read “Steelers Against Racism” with their hometowns listed. Tight end Eric Ebron had his fist raised in the air.
Co-owner John Mara — who tried to help commissioner Roger Goodell make a rule against kneeling two years ago — said recently that he would support any player who knelt this year.
“My preference is that everybody stand, but if you decide in your conscience that you think taking a knee is the right thing to do, I’m gonna support your right to do that,” Mara said recently. “Because I believe in the First Amendment, and I believe in the right of people, especially players, to take a knee in silent protest if that’s what they want to do.”
The Giants wore black Tshirts that read “End Racism” as they stretched before Monday’s game, while the Steelers wore black shirts that read “Black Lives Matter.”
The Giants stood on the goal line while “Lift Every Voice and Sing” played about 20 minutes before kickoff, while the Steelers went into the visitors’ locker room for the Black national anthem.
CHASE IS ON
A Giants win at Washington last December handed their division rival the No. 2 overall pick and Ohio State edge rusher Chase Young.
And on the first Sunday of this NFL season, Young and Washington’s defensive front terrorized the Eagles for eight sacks of Carson Wentz in an upset.
The Giants don’t regret it because they believe they picked a franchise left tackle at No. 4 in Georgia’s Andrew Thomas. But Young’s debut (1.5 sacks, forced fumble, four tackles) added immediate intrigue to the comparison of how both top-five picks can transform their franchises.
“Andrew’s done a lot of nice things so far, but we have a long way to go,” offensive line coach Marc Colombo said recently. “He’s one of those guys, if you give him a coaching point, he’ll take the coaching point and we can move on really to the next thing. That’s what you’re looking for in these young guys.”
Thomas appeared to hold his own in pass protection against one of the NFL’s best pass rushes in the Steelers on Monday night. But the collective takeaway was that the Giants’ offensive line got dominated especially in the run game, where Saquon Barkley andthe backs carried 16 times for seven yards.
The Steelers, in fact, finished with 11 tackles for loss, eight QB hits on Daniel Jones, and three sacks.
NO MORE MANNING
Monday marked the first Giants season opener started by someoneotherthanEliManning at quarterback since 2004, when Kurt Warner started in a 31-17 road loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Manning retired in January while his 2004 draft classmate, Ben Roethlisberger, was Pittsburgh’s starter at MetLife StadiumfacingtheGiants’Daniel Jones.