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.
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.