I've read BBI for a few years, but this is my first post - it's mostly a response to the garbage I've been reading here for the past couple weeks, so don't view it as an indictment of BBI as a whole.
I have to say, Chris Snee has been a terrible player for the last few seasons, but as a fan, I have a lot of trouble hating him, wishing for him to be cut or calling him names.
I think a lot of people don't appreciate what it means to have a All Pro offensive lineman. They don't come around too often, they rarely play at that level for a long time, and it's even rarer to have a player of that caliber AND win two Superbowls during his tenure.
Think about it - Snee is a 3-time All-Pro and a 4-time Pro Bowler with two Superbowl rings. He's probably the single most decorated offensive lineman in the NFL of the past decade. And now that age is finally starting to catch up with him, after a decade of battling 350 lb. roided up monsters and protecting our franchise QB, some fans feel the need to call him names, root for him to be injured or outright cut from the team.
You want to talk about consistency? How about this:
Year G GS
2004 11 11
2005 16 16
2006 16 16
2007 16 16
2008 16 16
2009 16 16
2010 16 16
2011 15 15
2012 16 16
That's right, prior to this season, the guy has missed ONE game in his entire f*cking career. One. And that includes about a dozen more playoff games. He's played through injuries the likes of which few of us can fully understand. His 31 year old body probably feels to him like it's 60 years old or worse (and frankly, that's kinda how old he looks on the field).
Why are fans all about the NOW and fail to acknowledge past contributions? Hasn't Chris Snee earned the money he's making now, considering how little money he was making during his prime? The guy was still on his rookie contract when we won the Superbowl in 2007. What do you guys expect, an All-Pro OL should play for a discount his entire career? Hell yeah I think Coughlin being his FIL has something to do with him still being here. And hell yeah do I think that's fine. I know how I feel about my FIL and I think I know how he feels about me. I'm pretty sure he'd pull for me to make $11M, particularly after I've made him look so fucking good the past 10 years.
I think Chris Snee is the best offensive lineman that my favorite team has ever had in my lifetime. As a comparison, consider some of the other notable offensive linemen who have played for the Giants in the past 30 years:
1. Jumbo Elliot - 1 Pro Bowl, 0 All Pro, 1 ring
2. Bart Oates - 5 Pro Bowls, 0 All Pro, 3 rings (1 with SF)
3. Ron Stone - 3 Pro Bowls, 2 All Pro, 2 rings (both with DAL)
3. Luke Petitgout - 0 Pro Bowls, 0 All Pro, 0 rings
Comparatively, Snee has had a stellar career - better than everyone you've ever seen wear a Giants uniform, in all likelihood. And I think he has earned every dollar of his past and current contracts. I like that my team is loyal to guys like Snee because it makes other guys like Snee want to come here and play for us.
Some of you ingrates need to STFU and remember that your team can't be great every season. There are ups and downs. Players will be good and then they will suck. Players who suck can sometimes become good. And players who are good or who suck can sometimes become just OK (thank you, Rosie Perez). It's football, not Madden, where you are accustomed to beating the computer 58-21 every game because you set the computer resistance level to the point where you're better than the computer by just enough to make it fun.
This is football. This is real life. Chris Snee is a future HOFer. Appreciate him for what he was, not for what he is now. The guy has earned our respect and your damn straight he's earned his money.
You've stated your case and even came down from the first ballot thing. Lay off all the Madden bs and enjoy the good responses you've gotten.
His body is breaking down and he cannot play any longer. That fact should be recognized as a cold truth, not a reason to ridicule the man personally.
I get fans' frustration, as his play is currently an impediment to success. Why not direct your ire at the decision makers? They offered the contract. They went into the season without a backup plan. They are doling out the snaps.
It's the same scenario as Kareem in 2011. BTW Kareem McKenzie never got enough recognition for his dominance. He was a brilliant RT and having studs like those guys isn't likely to be seen around here any time soon.
if we hadn't had that success, then i'd have an easier time kicking Snee to the curb. but he's very much earned his current cap space and that's what YOU don't get. the idea of being compensated for something that you've earned after the fact.
You absolutely can't run a professional franchise overpaying players for what they accomplished for you years ago. If a player is underperforming his contract you have to do what you can to lower the contract or get him off the roster. That is what successful teams do.
Do I want to root for an organization that will keep declining players making too much money because they used to be great? No, I want to root for a team that is trying to win. The NFL is not a charity, and Chris Snee has not been working 18 hour shifts in a sneaker factory for $5/week. He has been paid well for what he did, and it is time to move on.
He should retire when the year is over and go in the Giants ring of honor and be remembered fondly as a great Giant. He should not continue to receive millions of dollars when he can't help us win.
He has been living off of his name for literally 4.5 years now. That's not good...
You've conceded Snee is done, but are made when other people say as much.
My hopes are that we can find another young "Chris Snee" real soon. He has been a great Giant.
I don't think Chris Snee was ever a truly great player, as in Hall-of-Fame calibre. He was one of the three best players on a line that was greater than the sum of its parts. Unfortunately, after the wheels started to come off in 2009, the Giants continued to attribute continuity value to the individual players, long after the ineviable breakup of the 2008 line negated that continuity. So we've seen four of the five horsemen play at least a year with a fork in his back: O'Hara in 2010, McKenzie in 2011, Diehl in 2012 (and then some), and finally Snee. Only Seubert was spared, and only because his injury was the most devastating.
Of the five members of that vaunted line, I will remember Seubert most fondly, for what he overcame and for never taking himself too seriously. I admire McKenzie too: a quiet man who went about his business, year after year, with the utmost professionalism.
My feelings about Snee? A bit like my view of Osi Umenyiora: A very good player, and a key contributor to two championship teams. But also overpaid for much of his Giant career, dominant for just a few years out of the decade he's been here, and a bit of a talker for what he actually produces on the field these days.
a bit of a talker?! please tell me that's a joke.
If any of us (aside from some select professions) stopped adding value equal or in excess of our compensation we'd be thanked for our service and promptly let go. Specialist of obsolete technology? Fired. Mortgage banker in rising interest rates? Fired. Mid-level manager of struggling unit? Fired. CEO of Men's Warehouse? Fired. 'Tis life.
no one is saying he's not a great giant- he is. but he's a liability out there now. he's not helping us win- he's helping us lose.
three years ago, the front office jettisoned two other great giants- o'hara and the always-loved seubert. all i would say is that i think the same should have been done this year with snee and diehl and that, likely, it wasn't done with snee because of his relationship to the head coach and that's not exactly fair, right, or wise.
And no, I have not led my company towards two major achievements but the examples are numerous; Sally Krawcheck after leading Merill's integration with BofA? Fired. Jamie Dimon, after helping Sandy Weill turn Citi into a conglomerate? Fired.
Larry Allen is a tough comparison because some would argue he is maybe the top 2 or 3 guards of all time, but Snee at his peak wasn't close to Allen's level.
None of this is a knock on Snee. Could he be in the giants hall of fame? Maybe, and that is a great career.
Nice work there ! Now we are 0-4 mostly due to his horrible unit !
But lets celebrate what he was 3 years ago. Yay !
Brewer should finish out the season at RG.
Great draft pick.
The Front Office needed to take that decision out of his hands. Obviously this season shows it was a big mistake.
One of the very best GIANTS Guards in my fifty plus years of rooting for this team. Maybe not the absolute best OL over that time - OT Roosevelt Brown has that one locked up solid - but clearly one of the best OLs over that time period.
Unfortunately Snee is one of several on this team who have been robbed of their considerable abilities by age and injury. I don't know if there is anything left in the tank any more.
Nevertheless, he will always be an outstanding draft choice and an outstanding player in my mind. He should be added to the ring of honor at some point following retirement.
As far as the Coaches or JR keeping him this long, I believe it has to be hard to evaluate players as far as determining if age has finished them or is this just a temporary result of injuries and can I get one more year out of this pro bowl lineman. I'm sure the feedback from the player (wanting to stay in the game as long as they can) is telling the coaches it's just the injuries, so I think the coaches tend to give them the benefit of the doubt hoping for the best and that they will get star performance from their star player again.
Clearly, JR recognized the line needed to be addressed this year but in my opinion it was too late and too little with both Deihl and Snee lacking. Not only that, but I don't think they should have been satisfied with what they were seeing on the left side of the o-line last year either.
I wish Snee the best when he does move on and I do hope he finds something more to give us while he's still here.
I still wouldn't pay him full contract value in 2014.
He signed his well deserved big contract that now eats up too much cap if he plays and too much dead money if we cut him ...
He wasn't a brute Neanderthal who just tossed people from the guard position, the Gants value agility in their lineman and Snee was an excellent puller. He was also more than strong enough at the POA. A very complete player in his prime.
As the 2nd round pick from the same draft as the Eli trade, we desperately needed for him to be a good pick and protect Eli for a decade. He was and he did.
He started falling apart as a player a couple of years ago. He's fallen from All Pro caliber starting Guard to a guy who might not even deserve to be a starting Guard in the NFL. I hope he can bounce back but I don't expect it to happen.
dpinzow : 2:05 pm : link
Had he stayed healthy up to 2015 or so then you could make the case. He absolutely belongs in the Giants ring of honor because he was the best offensive lineman we've had since Jumbo Elliott
Ohara
AP: 1 First, 1 Second
SN: 2 First, 1 Second
PFW: 2 First
Hutchinson (awards started 2003)
AP: 5 First, 2 Second
SN: 6 First
PFW: 6 First
Either way, it's clear that Hutchinson blows away Snee over the last decade in accolades.