of Travolta calling Eric Stoltz character when Pierce described how he was driving Plax and called the Giants and told them "I'm coming to Giants stadium, Plax shot himself" to which they responded, "don't bring him here".
that AP admitted to driving while most likely over the legal limit? Yea, but that is not a big part of this story. And he did what he had to do and went home. Woke up the next morning and felt that the situation could have worsened since he hit the sack. the story is about Plax and AP. I take AP's word, he was out to have fun and Plax shot his own stupid ass in the leg (my words, not his) and he handled it the best way he knew. OOOoooooh, he should have called a cab, he should have called the police, fuck that. He did what a friend would do for a friend and he did what was right by his team, which was his understandably his first thought.
Rusillo is such a douche, wants to escalate the story, and both times Antonio just ignores him and goes on telling what really happened, not getting distracted by Rusillo trying to make it what it wasnt.
Giants beat the Ravens, Steelers, Cardinals and Eagles on their way to an 11-1 record.
People talk about the effect of not having Plaxico had on our offense but not a lot of people mention the effect of having a distracted Antonio Pierce had on the defense.
As Pierce says in that video, the police confiscated his car, he was questioned non-stop about the incident, he almost could have gone to jail and spent 6 hours with the Grand Jury while Plax just did 2 hours.
I'm sure all of that effected Pierce mentally for the rest of that season.
Com'on, the offense cost the Giants that playoff game. Eli was horrendous.
Philly only had a 13-11 lead late into the 4th quarter. If that incident did not occur and Eli had healthy Plaxico to throw too, don't you think there would have been a different outcome?
Eli completed only 6 passes to WRs that day without Burress.
There are 2 plays that still stick out to me from the Giants-Eagles
That was the best Giant team in my time as a fan (I really started being a crazy fan in 88 when I was 10).
They had a cakewalk to the Superbowl. Eagles and Cardinals at Giants Stadium to get there. And Giants Steelers would have been epic. What a waste of a season.
Imo, the '08 team was the best Giants team in my lifetime... better than '86. The '08 team was great in all 3 phases of the game. Week in, week out you had complete confidence you were gonna win... and not just win, but actually break the other teams will. What a fun season up until the Plax.
Giants beat the Ravens, Steelers, Cardinals and Eagles on their way to an 11-1 record.
People talk about the effect of not having Plaxico had on our offense but not a lot of people mention the effect of having a distracted Antonio Pierce had on the defense.
As Pierce says in that video, the police confiscated his car, he was questioned non-stop about the incident, he almost could have gone to jail and spent 6 hours with the Grand Jury while Plax just did 2 hours.
I'm sure all of that effected Pierce mentally for the rest of that season.
Com'on, the offense cost the Giants that playoff game. Eli was horrendous.
Philly only had a 13-11 lead late into the 4th quarter. If that incident did not occur and Eli had healthy Plaxico to throw too, don't you think there would have been a different outcome?
Eli completed only 6 passes to WRs that day without Burress.
Exactly, it wasn't the defense and Pierce showed no signs if being distracted. It was the offense and clearly Plax being out took away Eli's top target. The defense was fine. The defense gave up their first TD b/c Eli was picked off throwing out of his endzone. Pierce was fine
Man, when Bradshaw ran the opening KO way into Eagles territory my friends and I were all like "alright.. here we go again!" thinking the Giants were kicking off another Super Bowl run.. Jacobs converts that 4th down, we get all the way inside the 5 but can't punch it in and have to settle for 3. Then we force a punt and right off the bat Eli gets picked off by Samuel and the Eagles score on that next drive and right then I just started to get a bad feeling.
My kids and I called him that for a couple years after the incident. We definitely left one on the table that year. Could have been a dynasty once '11 was won.
Imo, the '08 team was the best Giants team in my lifetime... better than '86. The '08 team was great in all 3 phases of the game. Week in, week out you had complete confidence you were gonna win... and not just win, but actually break the other teams will. What a fun season up until the Plax.
No way that team was better than the 1986 team. Giants ended that season winning 12 in a row through the playoffs. They blew out the Joe Montana 49ers and shut out a Skins team in the NFC Championship that won the Super Bowl the next year.
The 2007-08 Giants had a great run there and were clearly the best team in the NFL during that span but the \86 Giants were arguably one of the top 10-15 greatest teams of all time...withe best defensive player to ever play.
Giants of mid-2008 would have been lucky to score 10 points on the '86 Giants defense and Bavaro and Co. would have been tough for the Giants defense of 2007-08 to deal with.
Giants special teams in 1986 were way superior as well
As much as the plax thing did in my opinion. By season's end the DL was still fine but not dominant. Guys were wearing down and after tuck no real great pass rushers.
We had clearly peaked a bit too early and Plax's incident
the team we would have faced in the superbowl while they were undefeated and gave them a butt kicking. The game was not nearly as close as the final score.
That was the wind game when we lost to Philly. McNab could handle it, Eli coudn't. Philly played 8 up to stop Jacobs and dared Eli to beat them and he couldn't. I have a friend who still blames Gilbride for that loss and going to Eli and the pass, but he had a 20 million dollar player and 8 in the box , what was he supposed to do?
the team we would have faced in the superbowl while they were undefeated and gave them a butt kicking. The game was not nearly as close as the final score.
best game of the year for me was vs Baltimore. The Ravens were #1 in run defense. Ahmad Bradshaw had 96 yards, Jacobs 77, and Ward 41.
then every Ravens game after that the announcers would make a big deal out of the Ravens not allowing a 100 yard rusher in a really long time, which the Giants didn't, but they did go for 210 yards at 6.77 a clip as a team.
RE: There are 2 plays that still stick out to me from the Giants-Eagles
the team we would have faced in the superbowl while they were undefeated and gave them a butt kicking. The game was not nearly as close as the final score.
best game of the year for me was vs Baltimore. The Ravens were #1 in run defense. Ahmad Bradshaw had 96 yards, Jacobs 77, and Ward 41.
then every Ravens game after that the announcers would make a big deal out of the Ravens not allowing a 100 yard rusher in a really long time, which the Giants didn't, but they did go for 210 yards at 6.77 a clip as a team.
at that time is was 28 straight games without a 100 yard runner against the Ravens.
That was the best Giant team in my time as a fan (I really started being a crazy fan in 88 when I was 10).
They had a cakewalk to the Superbowl. Eagles and Cardinals at Giants Stadium to get there. And Giants Steelers would have been epic. What a waste of a season.
it really really does suck. it was all set up. a rematch of 2008 giants-steelers whcih is one of my favorite games ever, for both the game itself and my memories watching it during my freshman year of college
this offense lost it's edge without Plax....that more than anything else, prevented us from repeating...
Go look back at the season's games, other than the first few games of the year, Plax was a non-factor in most games. I agree that his lack of presence didn't help but it was just one factor that teams finally were catching onto by end of the year.
I recall plenty of stories that year how Plax was being a friggin' moron to the coaches/team prior to that season and wanted a new contract. He had a big attitude and it was affecting his play. In fact, he was suspended for a game (maybe two?). By mid-season, he was barely contributing at all.
Blame it on Plax if you want, but we weren't going to win that season unless he changed his play on the field (and his aim)...
Coughlin and the front office deserve a lot of blame for that whole thing. It came out just before that season that Plax basically was allowed to do whatever the hell he wanted despite being fined dozens of times. Steve Smith was quoted as saying that he rarely saw Plax at practice, and that he basically did his own thing.
The huge red flag before that season was that the Giants gave him a contract heavy on incentives. If you're doing that you probably shouldn't sign the player at all.
Well they got what they deserved putting their faith in that idiot. Coughlin apparently liked to pick his spots with the discipline: don't be a minute late but Plax can do whatever he wants.
this offense lost it's edge without Plax....that more than anything else, prevented us from repeating...
Go look back at the season's games, other than the first few games of the year, Plax was a non-factor in most games. I agree that his lack of presence didn't help but it was just one factor that teams finally were catching onto by end of the year.
I recall plenty of stories that year how Plax was being a friggin' moron to the coaches/team prior to that season and wanted a new contract. He had a big attitude and it was affecting his play. In fact, he was suspended for a game (maybe two?). By mid-season, he was barely contributing at all.
Blame it on Plax if you want, but we weren't going to win that season unless he changed his play on the field (and his aim)...
Plax got his big contract at the start of the season, just before the first game. He did have a poor season, and got suspended for one game against Seattle.
After the Eagles beat the Giants in December, though, their defense pointed to Plax's absence as a big reason why they were effective in that game. You can see the impact in the running game - the Giants beat the Eagles in November with 217 rushing yards, compared to 100 total rushing yards when they lost. Without Plax, there was nobody to double in the passing game, which meant there could be a greater focus on stopping the run. The fact that he was an excellent blocker also made his absence hurt.
Plax isn't the only reason the Giants fell apart at the end of 2008 (a worn down defensive line also hurt), but the impact of his loss shouldn't be ignored.
practiced but was a stud on the field, each week gutting it out.
Then they won the ring, he wanted a new deal otherwise he wasn't showing up. He basically said its all about me. The Giants gave him the incentivized deal that wasn't what he was looking for so he started to pout and pack it in durign 2008.
He had a good first game vs Skins i recall, but maybe that was to show everybody that he still had game? I don't know, but I recall after that we barely saw him but for a few catches a game...
I don't remember any comments indicating that his lack of performance was tied to his contract, but I guess it's possible.
I do recall some folks here wondering about his body language in an exciting win against the Bengals, where he seemed pissed despite winning the game (a game where he was targeted 9 times but only had 3 catches for 45 yards). After that, he was basically invisible on the field but his run blocking remained solid. It seems to me that if the guy wasn't trying, he wouldn't be blocking well, either.
It's really hard to say what factors caused his drop in performance, but it is safe to say that he was the only receiver the Giants had that year that defenses worried at all about. His absence changed the offense's effectiveness, and that plus a worn down defensive line brought one of the best Giants teams in recent history to a one-and-done playoff performance.
Coughlin and the front office deserve a lot of blame for that whole thing. It came out just before that season that Plax basically was allowed to do whatever the hell he wanted despite being fined dozens of times. Steve Smith was quoted as saying that he rarely saw Plax at practice, and that he basically did his own thing.
The huge red flag before that season was that the Giants gave him a contract heavy on incentives. If you're doing that you probably shouldn't sign the player at all.
Well they got what they deserved putting their faith in that idiot. Coughlin apparently liked to pick his spots with the discipline: don't be a minute late but Plax can do whatever he wants.
Heh, heh... I knew if there was one poster who was going to post on this thread it'd be my man Terps.
Quote:
Coughlin apparently liked to pick his spots with the discipline: don't be a minute late but Plax can do whatever he wants.
Must be a #1 WR thing (see OBJ and, to a degree, Jimmy Smith while in Jax)!
Coughlin and the front office deserve a lot of blame for that whole thing. It came out just before that season that Plax basically was allowed to do whatever the hell he wanted despite being fined dozens of times. Steve Smith was quoted as saying that he rarely saw Plax at practice, and that he basically did his own thing.
The huge red flag before that season was that the Giants gave him a contract heavy on incentives. If you're doing that you probably shouldn't sign the player at all.
Well they got what they deserved putting their faith in that idiot. Coughlin apparently liked to pick his spots with the discipline: don't be a minute late but Plax can do whatever he wants.
Star players given more latitude than others on the team is far from shocking.
You don't think Parcells allowed LT some liberties that others wouldn't dare to attempt?
Coughlin and the front office deserve a lot of blame for that whole thing. It came out just before that season that Plax basically was allowed to do whatever the hell he wanted despite being fined dozens of times. Steve Smith was quoted as saying that he rarely saw Plax at practice, and that he basically did his own thing.
The huge red flag before that season was that the Giants gave him a contract heavy on incentives. If you're doing that you probably shouldn't sign the player at all.
Well they got what they deserved putting their faith in that idiot. Coughlin apparently liked to pick his spots with the discipline: don't be a minute late but Plax can do whatever he wants.
Star players given more latitude than others on the team is far from shocking.
You don't think Parcells allowed LT some liberties that others wouldn't dare to attempt?
steve - But Parcells admitted to giving his 'star player's special treatment. It was an understanding and, IMO, players respected that about Parcells.
But Coughlin was a guy who seemed to pride himself on not giving even his star players any leeway. I mean.. he had BOTH Tiki AND Strahan pissed at him because they weren't getting the 'star treatment' from him and, besides Eli (maybe), there were no bigger stars on the team at the time. Which is why I said to Terps that maybe it was a '#1 WR thing' because a lesser player would've gotten benched for at least a series if they'd lost it the way OBJ did vs Carolina... and it's been well documented that Jimmy Smith had his issues with drug use during his Jax playing days.
It isn't revisionist history because I was calling it while it was happening in 2008. I wanted Plax traded that summer.
Much of Plax's bullshit was not public knowledge at the time, though some of us suspected based on his suspensions and the mysterious story of gunfire out of a car rented in his name in NYC shortly after he signed with the Giants.
But Coughlin knew what kind of asshole Plax was and did very little about it. It was extremely disappointing and it cost them dearly.
It isn't revisionist history because I was calling it while it was happening in 2008. I wanted Plax traded that summer.
Much of Plax's bullshit was not public knowledge at the time, though some of us suspected based on his suspensions and the mysterious story of gunfire out of a car rented in his name in NYC shortly after he signed with the Giants.
But Coughlin knew what kind of asshole Plax was and did very little about it. It was extremely disappointing and it cost them dearly.
Cost us a great regular season, possibly a another ring too
Giants won in 2007, but he was clearly a pain in the ass.
And next time you read or hear somebody say that a good veteran clubhouse keeps the players in line...just laugh. We had Osi, Tuck, Eli, Pierce, Jacobs, and a veteran O-line and none of those guys got Plax on board to win another ring in 2008.
In 2005 he signed a 6 year $25 million contract, that was heavily front loaded with guaranteed money the first 3 years. So by the end of 2007 season, he had very low base salaries for 2008 and 2009.
Burress complaining about the contact since the May 2008 mini-camps and talked of holding out that year.
Before the start of the 2008 season, the Giants gave Burress a new 5 year $35 million contract extension, which luckily for the team, it was incentive laced with non guaranteed bonuses. Which helped the team recoup $20+ million off the books for 2009 once he was cut.
Plax had a big game against Washington in the season opener,
but wasn't the same the rest of the year. But part of that was opposing defenses doubling Plax a lot. He was more a decoy the rest of the year. But that opened things up for the rest of our receiving core.
Once Plax shot himself, we no longer had any receivers that scared anyone. So defenses were able to go man to man on our other guys, who weren't able to get the separation, just killing the passing game. On top of that, no longer having to respect the passing game allowed defenses to key on stopping the running game.
On top of that, our defense was worn out. Injuries were negating the pass rush, and we couldn't physically dominate teams anymore.
Still, without Plax and a weakening defense, we're down 3 in the fourth against Philly, down 4 in the fourth against Dallas, beat Carolina, barely lost to Minnesota while playing reserves all second half, and down 2 in the fourth against Philly in the divisional round. It's hard to argue that with Plax, we don't go 4-0 or at least 3-1 to finish the regular season, and host the NFC Championship Game against the Cardinals.
gave the Giants more outs, to use a poker term. They lost that when he shot himself.
No one will ever know what we lost when Plax went blamo but there's no doubt they lost more chances to win when they lost PLax for the year. How many big plays did Plax make in that 2007 season? Probably a dozen or more. HE wasn't the same player in 2008 but he was still a force.
Oh well...we caught both good and bad breaks during that era.
that's one of the reasons I'm against front loaded contracts. they always seem to forget that they've already been paid when the back end comes around.
Totally. 100% lol.
Rusillo is such a douche, wants to escalate the story, and both times Antonio just ignores him and goes on telling what really happened, not getting distracted by Rusillo trying to make it what it wasnt.
It still pisses me off nearly a decade later. '11 eased the pain no doubt.
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Giants beat the Ravens, Steelers, Cardinals and Eagles on their way to an 11-1 record.
People talk about the effect of not having Plaxico had on our offense but not a lot of people mention the effect of having a distracted Antonio Pierce had on the defense.
As Pierce says in that video, the police confiscated his car, he was questioned non-stop about the incident, he almost could have gone to jail and spent 6 hours with the Grand Jury while Plax just did 2 hours.
I'm sure all of that effected Pierce mentally for the rest of that season.
Com'on, the offense cost the Giants that playoff game. Eli was horrendous.
Philly only had a 13-11 lead late into the 4th quarter. If that incident did not occur and Eli had healthy Plaxico to throw too, don't you think there would have been a different outcome?
Eli completed only 6 passes to WRs that day without Burress.
1) Fred Robbins picking off McNabb early in the 4th. He had a convoy of blockers in front of him. And Kevin Freaking Curtis barely trips him up.
2) 3rd & 22. Just a dreadful defensive play.
They had a cakewalk to the Superbowl. Eagles and Cardinals at Giants Stadium to get there. And Giants Steelers would have been epic. What a waste of a season.
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In comment 12878599 NYG27 said:
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Giants beat the Ravens, Steelers, Cardinals and Eagles on their way to an 11-1 record.
People talk about the effect of not having Plaxico had on our offense but not a lot of people mention the effect of having a distracted Antonio Pierce had on the defense.
As Pierce says in that video, the police confiscated his car, he was questioned non-stop about the incident, he almost could have gone to jail and spent 6 hours with the Grand Jury while Plax just did 2 hours.
I'm sure all of that effected Pierce mentally for the rest of that season.
Com'on, the offense cost the Giants that playoff game. Eli was horrendous.
Philly only had a 13-11 lead late into the 4th quarter. If that incident did not occur and Eli had healthy Plaxico to throw too, don't you think there would have been a different outcome?
Eli completed only 6 passes to WRs that day without Burress.
Exactly, it wasn't the defense and Pierce showed no signs if being distracted. It was the offense and clearly Plax being out took away Eli's top target. The defense was fine. The defense gave up their first TD b/c Eli was picked off throwing out of his endzone. Pierce was fine
Just a miserable game.
Freaking moron.
No way that team was better than the 1986 team. Giants ended that season winning 12 in a row through the playoffs. They blew out the Joe Montana 49ers and shut out a Skins team in the NFC Championship that won the Super Bowl the next year.
The 2007-08 Giants had a great run there and were clearly the best team in the NFL during that span but the \86 Giants were arguably one of the top 10-15 greatest teams of all time...withe best defensive player to ever play.
Giants of mid-2008 would have been lucky to score 10 points on the '86 Giants defense and Bavaro and Co. would have been tough for the Giants defense of 2007-08 to deal with.
Giants special teams in 1986 were way superior as well
The Eagles were probably the one team we didn't want to face in the playoffs.
End of story...
That was the wind game when we lost to Philly. McNab could handle it, Eli coudn't. Philly played 8 up to stop Jacobs and dared Eli to beat them and he couldn't. I have a friend who still blames Gilbride for that loss and going to Eli and the pass, but he had a 20 million dollar player and 8 in the box , what was he supposed to do?
best game of the year for me was vs Baltimore. The Ravens were #1 in run defense. Ahmad Bradshaw had 96 yards, Jacobs 77, and Ward 41.
then every Ravens game after that the announcers would make a big deal out of the Ravens not allowing a 100 yard rusher in a really long time, which the Giants didn't, but they did go for 210 yards at 6.77 a clip as a team.
1) Fred Robbins picking off McNabb early in the 4th. He had a convoy of blockers in front of him. And Kevin Freaking Curtis barely trips him up.
2) 3rd & 22. Just a dreadful defensive play.
the Hixon TD drop to start the game, felt like the whole stadium collapsed.
Quote:
the team we would have faced in the superbowl while they were undefeated and gave them a butt kicking. The game was not nearly as close as the final score.
best game of the year for me was vs Baltimore. The Ravens were #1 in run defense. Ahmad Bradshaw had 96 yards, Jacobs 77, and Ward 41.
then every Ravens game after that the announcers would make a big deal out of the Ravens not allowing a 100 yard rusher in a really long time, which the Giants didn't, but they did go for 210 yards at 6.77 a clip as a team.
at that time is was 28 straight games without a 100 yard runner against the Ravens.
They had a cakewalk to the Superbowl. Eagles and Cardinals at Giants Stadium to get there. And Giants Steelers would have been epic. What a waste of a season.
it really really does suck. it was all set up. a rematch of 2008 giants-steelers whcih is one of my favorite games ever, for both the game itself and my memories watching it during my freshman year of college
Go look back at the season's games, other than the first few games of the year, Plax was a non-factor in most games. I agree that his lack of presence didn't help but it was just one factor that teams finally were catching onto by end of the year.
I recall plenty of stories that year how Plax was being a friggin' moron to the coaches/team prior to that season and wanted a new contract. He had a big attitude and it was affecting his play. In fact, he was suspended for a game (maybe two?). By mid-season, he was barely contributing at all.
Blame it on Plax if you want, but we weren't going to win that season unless he changed his play on the field (and his aim)...
Coughlin and the front office deserve a lot of blame for that whole thing. It came out just before that season that Plax basically was allowed to do whatever the hell he wanted despite being fined dozens of times. Steve Smith was quoted as saying that he rarely saw Plax at practice, and that he basically did his own thing.
The huge red flag before that season was that the Giants gave him a contract heavy on incentives. If you're doing that you probably shouldn't sign the player at all.
Well they got what they deserved putting their faith in that idiot. Coughlin apparently liked to pick his spots with the discipline: don't be a minute late but Plax can do whatever he wants.
Quote:
this offense lost it's edge without Plax....that more than anything else, prevented us from repeating...
Go look back at the season's games, other than the first few games of the year, Plax was a non-factor in most games. I agree that his lack of presence didn't help but it was just one factor that teams finally were catching onto by end of the year.
I recall plenty of stories that year how Plax was being a friggin' moron to the coaches/team prior to that season and wanted a new contract. He had a big attitude and it was affecting his play. In fact, he was suspended for a game (maybe two?). By mid-season, he was barely contributing at all.
Blame it on Plax if you want, but we weren't going to win that season unless he changed his play on the field (and his aim)...
Plax got his big contract at the start of the season, just before the first game. He did have a poor season, and got suspended for one game against Seattle.
After the Eagles beat the Giants in December, though, their defense pointed to Plax's absence as a big reason why they were effective in that game. You can see the impact in the running game - the Giants beat the Eagles in November with 217 rushing yards, compared to 100 total rushing yards when they lost. Without Plax, there was nobody to double in the passing game, which meant there could be a greater focus on stopping the run. The fact that he was an excellent blocker also made his absence hurt.
Plax isn't the only reason the Giants fell apart at the end of 2008 (a worn down defensive line also hurt), but the impact of his loss shouldn't be ignored.
Coughlin apparently liked to pick his spots with the discipline: don't be a minute late but Plax can do whatever he wants.
That's some revisionist history. Plax got fined and suspended multiple times - it's not like Coughlin just turned a blind eye to whatever he did.
Then they won the ring, he wanted a new deal otherwise he wasn't showing up. He basically said its all about me. The Giants gave him the incentivized deal that wasn't what he was looking for so he started to pout and pack it in durign 2008.
He had a good first game vs Skins i recall, but maybe that was to show everybody that he still had game? I don't know, but I recall after that we barely saw him but for a few catches a game...
I do recall some folks here wondering about his body language in an exciting win against the Bengals, where he seemed pissed despite winning the game (a game where he was targeted 9 times but only had 3 catches for 45 yards). After that, he was basically invisible on the field but his run blocking remained solid. It seems to me that if the guy wasn't trying, he wouldn't be blocking well, either.
It's really hard to say what factors caused his drop in performance, but it is safe to say that he was the only receiver the Giants had that year that defenses worried at all about. His absence changed the offense's effectiveness, and that plus a worn down defensive line brought one of the best Giants teams in recent history to a one-and-done playoff performance.
Coughlin and the front office deserve a lot of blame for that whole thing. It came out just before that season that Plax basically was allowed to do whatever the hell he wanted despite being fined dozens of times. Steve Smith was quoted as saying that he rarely saw Plax at practice, and that he basically did his own thing.
The huge red flag before that season was that the Giants gave him a contract heavy on incentives. If you're doing that you probably shouldn't sign the player at all.
Well they got what they deserved putting their faith in that idiot. Coughlin apparently liked to pick his spots with the discipline: don't be a minute late but Plax can do whatever he wants.
Heh, heh... I knew if there was one poster who was going to post on this thread it'd be my man Terps.
Must be a #1 WR thing (see OBJ and, to a degree, Jimmy Smith while in Jax)!
Coughlin and the front office deserve a lot of blame for that whole thing. It came out just before that season that Plax basically was allowed to do whatever the hell he wanted despite being fined dozens of times. Steve Smith was quoted as saying that he rarely saw Plax at practice, and that he basically did his own thing.
The huge red flag before that season was that the Giants gave him a contract heavy on incentives. If you're doing that you probably shouldn't sign the player at all.
Well they got what they deserved putting their faith in that idiot. Coughlin apparently liked to pick his spots with the discipline: don't be a minute late but Plax can do whatever he wants.
Star players given more latitude than others on the team is far from shocking.
You don't think Parcells allowed LT some liberties that others wouldn't dare to attempt?
Quote:
but the distraction certainly didn't help.
Coughlin and the front office deserve a lot of blame for that whole thing. It came out just before that season that Plax basically was allowed to do whatever the hell he wanted despite being fined dozens of times. Steve Smith was quoted as saying that he rarely saw Plax at practice, and that he basically did his own thing.
The huge red flag before that season was that the Giants gave him a contract heavy on incentives. If you're doing that you probably shouldn't sign the player at all.
Well they got what they deserved putting their faith in that idiot. Coughlin apparently liked to pick his spots with the discipline: don't be a minute late but Plax can do whatever he wants.
Star players given more latitude than others on the team is far from shocking.
You don't think Parcells allowed LT some liberties that others wouldn't dare to attempt?
steve - But Parcells admitted to giving his 'star player's special treatment. It was an understanding and, IMO, players respected that about Parcells.
But Coughlin was a guy who seemed to pride himself on not giving even his star players any leeway. I mean.. he had BOTH Tiki AND Strahan pissed at him because they weren't getting the 'star treatment' from him and, besides Eli (maybe), there were no bigger stars on the team at the time. Which is why I said to Terps that maybe it was a '#1 WR thing' because a lesser player would've gotten benched for at least a series if they'd lost it the way OBJ did vs Carolina... and it's been well documented that Jimmy Smith had his issues with drug use during his Jax playing days.
He mellowed a little after than and I think he also admitted to that fact.
Much of Plax's bullshit was not public knowledge at the time, though some of us suspected based on his suspensions and the mysterious story of gunfire out of a car rented in his name in NYC shortly after he signed with the Giants.
But Coughlin knew what kind of asshole Plax was and did very little about it. It was extremely disappointing and it cost them dearly.
Much of Plax's bullshit was not public knowledge at the time, though some of us suspected based on his suspensions and the mysterious story of gunfire out of a car rented in his name in NYC shortly after he signed with the Giants.
But Coughlin knew what kind of asshole Plax was and did very little about it. It was extremely disappointing and it cost them dearly.
Cost us a great regular season, possibly a another ring too
He mellowed a little after than and I think he also admitted to that fact.
I think the line is pretty big and wide between 'mellowed a bit' and what he was allowing Plax to allegedly get away with.
And next time you read or hear somebody say that a good veteran clubhouse keeps the players in line...just laugh. We had Osi, Tuck, Eli, Pierce, Jacobs, and a veteran O-line and none of those guys got Plax on board to win another ring in 2008.
Who said this?
Even if he never shot himself there was plenty of reason to ship him out.
Burress complaining about the contact since the May 2008 mini-camps and talked of holding out that year.
Before the start of the 2008 season, the Giants gave Burress a new 5 year $35 million contract extension, which luckily for the team, it was incentive laced with non guaranteed bonuses. Which helped the team recoup $20+ million off the books for 2009 once he was cut.
Once Plax shot himself, we no longer had any receivers that scared anyone. So defenses were able to go man to man on our other guys, who weren't able to get the separation, just killing the passing game. On top of that, no longer having to respect the passing game allowed defenses to key on stopping the running game.
On top of that, our defense was worn out. Injuries were negating the pass rush, and we couldn't physically dominate teams anymore.
Still, without Plax and a weakening defense, we're down 3 in the fourth against Philly, down 4 in the fourth against Dallas, beat Carolina, barely lost to Minnesota while playing reserves all second half, and down 2 in the fourth against Philly in the divisional round. It's hard to argue that with Plax, we don't go 4-0 or at least 3-1 to finish the regular season, and host the NFC Championship Game against the Cardinals.
No one will ever know what we lost when Plax went blamo but there's no doubt they lost more chances to win when they lost PLax for the year. How many big plays did Plax make in that 2007 season? Probably a dozen or more. HE wasn't the same player in 2008 but he was still a force.
Oh well...we caught both good and bad breaks during that era.