John Mara: “I had a couple of long conversations with Jeremy this spring and summer. From those conversations, it was apparent to me that a fresh start was the best thing for us and for Jeremy.”
READ BETWEEN THE LINES, the Giants wanted him because they were better WITH HIM. This was not their choice or their thinking that they were better without him. Their hand was forced.
NEXT. If the Giants are healthy, they can get the job done without Shockey. Gilbride you nitwit, wake up and USE your weapons. Spags had four tremendous pass rushers, he found ways to get ALL going north to the QB and (use Kiwi and Tuck for) wreaking havoc on guards and centers. With Gilbride we have Shockey in on every down… blocking. OMFG.
There once was a time when the Giants drafted a rookie phenom in the first round who immediately turned heads when he hit the field. He too was filled with all kinds of energy, and physically was a man amongst boys. His name was LT. And Parcells (first as his defensive coordinator and then as head coach) knew how to manage the man-child. Let him do what he did best. Give him his own set of rules. Keep him happy. Make no mistake, LT was a rogue too. Just like Shockey, LT was a party animal with the same unbounded energy. The only difference is that Parcells let his rogue sleep through meetings, and (for better AND for worse) looked the other way at times when it came to LT’s drug use.
IS SHOCKEY A PEA BRAIN? Absolutely! He was unhappy because he felt he was being impeded FROM HELPING THIS TEAM. He simply needed coaches that could communicate with him and figure out ways to make him happy. They all knew the team was far stronger with this ballistic missile pointed at the opponents. By the end, he was pointed at the gmen and he had to go. This was NOT Shockey’s fault. It was Coughlin and (specifically) Gilbride’s. I have said it here before and I will say it again.. when you get a Maserati you do not put it in midtown traffic to collect fares. This was a wasted asset, plain and simple. (Ultimatenyg pointed out the day after he went down with a broken leg that the Giants would NOT miss Shockey because he already was being so underutilized that it did not matter. Sad indeed.) Smarter athletes would have channeled their drives to suit the needs of the team. In fact, the way I saw 2007, with how Shockey was a model citizen and on-field TEAM player, how could you complain? So the facts here are that he is gone and that we should stop looking just at Shockey and more at the Giants organization for why this failed. You get a player with his skills once or twice a generation, they often come with some asterisks, and if you can manage the asterisks you can win championships on their shoulders.
Gilbride still mismanages his talent. Try using Boss in pass patterns more if his hands are much better than his blocking. Get Bradshaw on the field more. Run him on screens in open space. (Despite Strahan and Umenyoira starting at DE) Spags found ways to get Tuck on the field all the time. So when we won the SB and everyone was talking up Spags for a head coaching job and no one was talking up Gilbride, were you surprised? When it came to this, that Shockey had to be traded, it should not have been a total surprise.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
