Super Giants keeping eye on Eli & Co.
They are the old-school Giants of Bill Parcells with flashy Super Bowl rings to prove it. Their bond is tighter than wet rope and they still bleed blue when summer turns to fall. Their message to the 2017 Giants as they prepare for training camp is that the old guys are watching and they expect big things this season.
“I think this should be a championship-type team,” said Billy Ard, a guard on the Giants 1986 Super Bowl winner. “It’s not just getting into the playoffs and lose in the first round. This should be an NFC Championship type of team and I think anything less would be upsetting to management, the fan base and the players.”
The Giants made the playoffs last season for the first time in five years, but lost in the first round at Green Bay. That should be a stepping stone and not the finish line.
“Going to the playoffs last year should make them even hungrier because you were there,” said Stephen Baker, who played on the 1990 Super Bowl team. “You know what it feels like and what it takes to win now. I hope they take some positives out of that loss and learn. It’s so precious to get to the playoffs. You’re not going to have very many opportunities. So you have to make the best of it.”
They gathered at a charity golf event last week to support the Ottis Anderson Scholarship Fund. It was a chance to reconnect with former teammates and talk about the past, the present and the future. They like what they see in Ben McAdoo’s Giants. They like the draft picks, especially first-round selection Evan Engram, a tight end from Ole Miss and secondrounder Dalvin Tomlinson, a defensive tackle from Alabama. They also like the highoctane approach McAdoo has implemented for an offense loaded with weapons.
“I love the tight-end pick,” Baker said. “When is the last time we had a quality tight end around here? They made the type of acquisitions where I think we’re going to have an exciting offense.”
There is concern about Ereck Flowers at left tackle and the rest of the offensive line.
“I think they’re going to be as good as how much protection Eli [Manning] gets,” Ard said. “Getting a line together is not that hard. You just have to have a bunch of hard-working guys who are mentally tough and figure it out. I’m excited. I think it’s going to be a very good year.”
Ard wasn’t a fan of the infamous boat trip some of the wide receivers, including Odell Beckham Jr., took in Miami the weekend before the playoff loss at Green Bay. “Everything today is look at me, look at me,” Ard said. “It’s not a big deal if you win. If you lose the pressure is on you. And when you drop the ball and don’t play well it doesn’t look good and it doesn’t sit well.”
Though the boat trip was frowned upon the Parcells Giants don’t care much about Beckham and other players missing OTAs this spring.
“It’s all about what you start doing in July,” Anderson said. “OTAs aren’t mandatory and a lot of guys believe in their own programs. You can make a big fuss about every little thing that goes on with these guys today. What we start seeing in July is what counts.”