Fan Pulse: Issues rising in Giants camp

By Neal Coolong  |   Thursday, June 12, 2008  |  Comments( 17 )

New York Giants
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The combination of Jeremy Shockey's arrival at minicamp and Plaxico Burress's absence has Giants fans weighing the difference between the two.

Along with that, the onset of Giants minicamp has been highlighted by multiple injuries, according to Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News. Shockey is in attendance, but he couldn't participate because he is still recovering from a leg injury that kept him out of the Giants' Super Bowl run last season. But the fact he wasn't on the field with his teammates ticked off Giants coach Tom Coughlin.

Fans posting on Big Blue Interactive have noticed the squabbling going on at the defending champs start to the 2008 season. They are making their opinions known about Shockey, and they are as blunt as can be expected.

One poster put it eloquently: "Shockey turned into a pansy right after his injury and I expect he will remain a pansy until Coughlin has a good, long man to idiot talk with him."

As far as Burress goes, fans are singing a somewhat different tune. Burress has said he's skipping the team's mandatory minicamp because he's unhappy with his contract, which has three years and $10 million remaining. Fans on Big Blue seem to generally empathize with Burress's situation, considering the season he had last year (70 catches, 1,025 yards and 12 touchdowns in the regular season, the game-winning touchdown catch in the Super Bowl) despite playing most of that while injured. He never missed a game.

As one poster put it, "What's the advantage of being cheap with one of the best players on your team? Would the couple of million dollars saved be worth it the next time Plax suffers an injury and decides to go on the IR instead of playing through it?"

Another aspect of Burress' situation is the amount of guaranteed money Cowboys WR Terrell Owens recently received, not to mention what fellow wideout Javon Walker got with Oakland this offseason. At least one Giants fan says Burress should be making an amount commensurate to those two players.

"Owens, who will turn 35 in December, got $13 million guarenteed. So he gets $13 million, Walker gets $16 million, that puts Plax in line for $18-$20 million guarenteed."
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About Neal Coolong

Neal Coolong is a freelance sports writer with contributions to Scout.com, AOL and Steelers Live. He lives with his fiance in St. Paul, Minn., and saves every dime (that she knows about) for their wedding next June. He's already made the prediction that the Steelers 2007 draft class will be one ...
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