"Im going to tell you from this point on, I dont care what the situation may be, I dont care what the outcome is, I dont care what the hell has to happen,'' Rolle said on WFAN. "If they want to kick me up from around here, from the New York Giants, then thats whats going to have to happen but Im going to play Antrel Rolle ball the way I know how to play Antrel Rolle ball and Im going to lead the way I know how to lead. Because I dont give a damn what happens, that feeling that I felt last Sunday? I can never have that feeling again. I never had that feeling in my life and I can never feel that way again. Im going to do whatever it takes and anything it takes and whatever the outcome is, it is what it is. Im a man and I can handle anything that comes my way. But Im going to play football the way I know how to play football.'' #nyg
Link - (
New Window )
(half serious)
I'm not a Fewell guy, but at least the D brought it in the first half of the three games so far.
Major indictment of Fewell, IMO.
Remember this from Pepper Johnson in 1992, as he got fed up with Rod Rust?
....
When Ray Handley, the head coach, was asked about Johnson's initial complaints, he said he had not heard them. Rust was unavailable today, and in the past he would not have responded publicly to such complaints. The other defensive players smile, content to let the loquacious Johnson carry their fight. Today, they greeted him with cries of "Aye, aye, captain."
Johnson intimated that the coaches and the players were on different wavelengths.
"I look at our coaches as being white-collar workers and the players as blue-collar workers," Johnson said. "It's hard to explain that to Brazil. That's why I might do some things I'm going to do. We just want to win the game, whatever it takes. It's nothing that reflects on the coaches. It might not play any part at all.
"I'm not just going out and blitz by myself. But just to make something happen, I might shoot a gap here and there. Rust and Brazil sometimes like that. As far as others playing off gut instinct, that's what we have to do. They can call certain defenses, and my responsibility might not be affected and I can do what I want. But if I have to cover a running back, I might just turn him loose, but I will make sure my safeties know. We're in a situation where I feel whatever it will take for us to win games, we do."
No matter how revolutionary this sounds, Johnson repeated that this was not mutiny.
"If stuff doesn't go the way we want them to go," he said, "I won't allow players to get in a group and say, 'Let's call our own stuff.' I'll take it to the head man and say we're not comfortable playing in this defense and we need to do something else.
"When you have dissention in the ranks, it blows everything apart. Rust is in charge, but the one thing they can't take away from us is we're on the football field playing the game and we have to play. We're the guys who have to go outside after this and walk the malls. We're the guys who can't go out to eat or go to the opening of 'X' because we don't want the television cameras in our face and have people say, 'He's from the Giants and they lost, and if we show him we might lose ratings.' "
Under the old defense, Johnson said, "We allowed the players to play."
"Now you're expected to be in one place," he said. "We have to play like a robot and go here and go there. In a game, the offense knows where it's going and the defense doesn't know where it's going. If we sit back and guess, we're going to stay a step behind. If you make them play into your web, you're better off. We have stuff with which we could set the tempo. It's in fine print. The emphasis is on something else."
This quote, now over 20 years old, is pretty much what Rolle is saying now. Needless to say, by 1993, there was a new coaching staff in town.
http://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/21/sports/football-giants-d-rebels-just-because.html - ( New Window )
Ouch. RT @ebenezersamuel: Hate to bring this up but for all Rolle's yapping, can't remember the last time I saw him make a meaningful play.
Rust and Fewell I hate both their schemes
Sometimes people are looking too hard for things that aren't there.
is how i read that.
To me its clear the players have no confidence in themselves and there is now a sign that there may be decreasing confidence in the ability of the coaching staff to right the ship. I kind of hope we are reading too much into this because it could get real ugly.
However, if you look at it from the context of Pepper's comments during the Rod Rust era, they make much more sense. He's calling out Fewell. Remember back in 2011, he wanted to leave the team but Guinta talked him off the ledge? This isn't something that has come up after 3 losses. We are seeing old wounds now opened up because of the 3 losses.
Which was "We WILL get this thing turned around"
Not sure why he'd say that if he had no faith in the coach.
dep026 : 12:59 pm : link
I didnt see any "At the end of the days.."
LOL. Often, My dad will say "To Quote Antrel Rolle, At the End of The Day......." before he makes a statement. I laugh every time.
Might as well just hand us the Lombardi