With Super upset in the past, are Giants being overlooked?

By Connor Byrne  |   Thursday, May 29, 2008  |  Comments( 5 )

New York Giants
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The New York Giants became the sweethearts of the sports world in early February, and rightly so. After all, it's not often a team architects one of the greatest upsets in NFL history, which the Giants did with their 17-14 Super Bowl XXXXII shocker against the then-undefeated New England Patriots. Entering their highly anticipated bout with the Pats nearly four months ago, the Giants were substantial underdogs and obviously weren't receiving much respect from NFL fans or media members covering the event. The assumption was that it would be less a contest than a coronation for the Patriots, who were supposed to roll over New York en route to the first-ever 19-0 season in league history. But Big Blue -- which was an Eli Manning-led David facing a Tom Brady-helmed Goliath -- ultimately stomped on heavily favored New England's plans and, at least momentarily, became America's favorite story.

Although the Giants were alone in the national sports spotlight in the weeks immediately after the Super Bowl, the respect for what they accomplished seemingly faded somewhere. Eventually, New England (thanks mostly to endless Spygate coverage) became the NFL team garnering the most attention again; that pushed the Giants to the back burner, the same place they spent most of the 2007-08 campaign.

Then when early power rankings from big-time media outlets began scattering to the fore earlier this month, it became apparent that the Giants' magical run from last season was being left in the past. ESPN, for instance, rated the Giants sixth out of 32 teams going into the summer; for most other franchises, that would be a fine ranking. However, New York is just a few months removed from its parade, and sophomore general manager Jerry Reese didn't exactly sit idly by and watch the team get dismantled over the winter. Instead, Reese's Giants haven't lost much from last season. They had another strong draft headlined by first-round safety Kenny Phillips, and their only real offseason departures were now-Raider Gibril Wilson -- an important player who the team hopes can be replaced in short order by Phillips -- and role linebacker Kawika Mitchell, who signed a lucrative contract with Buffalo. (Of course, this is assuming 36-year-old defensive end Michael Strahan returns for another season; the jury is still out on that.)

Despite that, the Giants still find themselves being held in lower esteem than the Patriots and Colts, not to mention the Chargers, Cowboys and Jaguars. For preseason prognosticators to view the Pats and Colts as early title favorites is never a surprise when you consider the Hall of Fame-caliber players and coaches each team has. However, the Chargers have become famous for stockpiling eye-popping talent but failing in the playoffs; Dallas, New York's NFC East rival, lost to the Giants in the second round of the postseason and hasn't won a playoff game in 12 years; finally, while an elite-level team, it's hard to place the Jags ahead of the defending champions. Nevertheless, ESPN did, which might lead some to miss the good old days when teams would have to prove something before being crowned.

With that in mind, the question which surfaces is: For a group of players who are about to receive their championship rings and are still months away from beginning their title defense, are the Giants respected enough?

Ralph Vacchiano, who covers the Giants for the New York Daily News, thinks the team is held in appropriate regard.

"I think they are very well-respected," Vacchiano told RealFootball365.com. "Did you see how crazy teams went over pass rushers in the draft in April? Don't you think that had something to do with the way the Giants' pass rush powered them in the playoffs? And during free agency there was a lot of talk about how teams were looking to build the way the Giants had, primarily through the draft. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, as they say. I'd add it's also quite a show of respect."

Vacchiano then went on to state that any lack of confidence the media might have in the Giants could center on the inconsistent Manning, whom some die-hards even wanted to see gone midway through last season.

"I don't know what ESPN's motivation was, but I'm guessing they have their doubts about whether Eli Manning can sustain what he did in the playoffs. I think he will. I believe he has turned the corner. But I don't think it's unfair for people to have their doubts," said Vacchiano.

On the other hand, Pat Hanlon, the Giants' colorful, opinionated spokesman, doesn't think the team cares what outsiders say.

"Last year, the foundation of our approach to the season was 'Talk is cheap. Play the game.' [Head coach] Tom Coughlin instilled that mentality, and our players adopted it," said Hanlon. "We have demonstrated that the rhetoric really doesn't matter. What is most important is to simply play the game, and play it to the best of your collective ability, as a team."

In the end, Hanlon and the Giants are right: Predictions from media and fans don't win games; rather, on-field play does. The Giants learned as much last season, and they aim to continue silencing any remaining doubters with how they fare on Sundays during the upcoming fall and winter months.

As the organization itself says, talk is cheap.

*E-mail: cbyrne@realfootball365.com.
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