Tuesday Reading

Giants

Raanan ESPN NY: Giants' offseason of change met some needs; not QB future
http://www.espn.com/blog/new-york-giants/post/_/id/57279/giants-offseason-of-change-met-some-needs-not-qb-future

Giants.com: Cover 3: Eye-opening performances this spring
https://www.giants.com/news/cover-3-eye-opening-performances-from-spring-practices

Traina Forbes.com: A Very Early 53-man New York Giants Roster Projection
https://www.forbes.com/sites/patriciatraina/2018/06/19/a-very-early-53-man-new-york-giants-roster-projection/

QB

Schwartz NYP: Davis Webb won’t take a break in pursuit of Eli Manning’s job
https://nypost.com/2018/06/18/davis-webb-wont-take-a-break-in-pursuit-of-eli-mannings-job/

RB

Dunleavy N.J.com: Hey, Penn State haters: Giants' Saquon Barkley forgave my dumb Tweet in hilarious way (VIDEO)
http://www.nj.com/giants/index.ssf/2018/06/hey_penn_state_haters_giants_saquon_barkley_forgav.html

RG

Healy NYDN: Giants guard Patrick Omameh brings intelligent personality to offensive line
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/giants/ny-sports-omameh-minicamp-20180618-story.html

OLB

Salomone Giants.com:
Rookie LB Carter excited to put hand in the dirt
https://www.giants.com/news/rookie-lb-carter-excited-to-put-hand-in-the-dirt

NFL

Davenport B/R: An Early Peek at Hottest Future NFL Head Coaching Candidates
https://syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/2780149-an-early-peek-at-hottest-future-nfl-head-coaching-candidates.amp.html

Chichester PFF: Ranking all 32 offensive lines by pass-blocking efficiency
“17. NEW YORK GIANTS
2017 pass-blocking efficiency: 78.2

Best individual PBE: Brett Jones, 98.7

Perhaps one of the most scrutinized units in the league, the Giants’ offensive line did nothing to end that scrutiny in 2017. They allowed the fourth-most sacks (27) and the 10th-most hurries (129) to go along with 24 quarterback hits, tallying a total of 180 pressures allowed. However, the Giants have made moves this offseason to make sure they improve in this area, signing former Patriots left tackle Nate Solder, who posted a 75.7 pass-blocking grade in 2017. Guard Will Hernandez will also help on the interior, as Hernandez allowed just four pressures over his past two college seasons combined.”
https://www.profootballfocus.com/news/pro-ranking-offensive-lines-by-pass-blocking-efficiency

Kollmann SB Nation: The Film Room: How To Break Down NFL Game Tape
https://www.battleredblog.com/platform/amp/2018/6/18/17474280/the-film-room-how-to-break-down-nfl-game-tape

ARIZONA
Verma AZ Central: Cardinals' Ivy League rookies eager to prove themselves at 'grown man's' level
https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/nfl/cardinals/2018/06/17/arizona-cardinals-minicamp-yale-princeton-players/704334002/

Odegard Cardinals.com: Brice Butler Gets Down To Business
https://www.azcardinals.com/news/brice-butler-gets-down-to-business

BALTIMORE
Mink Ravens.com: Safety Chuck Clark Was One of the Ravens’ Spring Standouts
https://www.baltimoreravens.com/news/safety-chuck-clark-was-one-of-the-ravens-spring-standouts

CAROLINA
Person Charlotte Observer: Panthers' first-round pick, former Maryland wideout DJ Moore, signs rookie deal
http://amp.charlotteobserver.com/sports/nfl/carolina-panthers/article213402159.html

CINCINNATI
Sheeran Cincy Jungle: 7 plays that defined Joe Mixon’s rookie season
https://www.cincyjungle.com/2018/6/18/17465338/7-plays-defined-joe-mixon-rookie-season-bengals-running-back

Morrison Dayton Daily News: Cincinnati Bengals: Rookie Billy Price gets news he’s been waiting for
https://www.daytondailynews.com/sports/cincinnati-bengals-rookie-billy-price-gets-news-been-waiting-for/JekL5LU1UCVgo3uRxdWbjO/amp.html

CLEVELAND
Labbe Cleveland Plain Dealer: The Browns are handling quarterback the right way and 22 other things we learned during minicamp
https://www.cleveland.com/expo/sports/erry-2018/06/3994a180cc8663/the_browns_are_handling_quarte.html

Jones SI.com: Tyrod Taylor or Baker Mayfield? Don't Believe Hue Jackson Has Made a Final Decision
http://amp.si.com/nfl/2018/06/19/cleveland-browns-qb-quarterback-baker-mayfield-tyrod-taylor-hue-jackson

DALLAS
Hill Fort Worth Star Telegram: Jerry Jones dishes on Cowboys at fight; Dak optimism, Zeke trust, health and Irving
http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/nfl/dallas-cowboys/article213367964.html

Machota Dallas Morning News: Cowboys updated 53-man roster projection: How does David Irving's suspension affect defensive line?
https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/dallas-cowboys/cowboys/2018/06/18/cowboys-updated-53-man-roster-projection-david-irvings-suspension-affect-defensive-line

Hairopolous Dallas Morning News: Who's here, who's gone? Breaking down the Cowboys coaching staff after an offseason of big-time churn
https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/dallas-cowboys/cowboys/2018/01/30/cowboys-coaching-churn-nearly-completeheres-rundown-new-look-staff

Machota Dallas Morning News: Dak Prescott: Cowboys 'plan on surprising a lot of people' this season
https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/dallas-cowboys/cowboys/2018/06/18/dak-prescott-cowboys-plan-surprising-lot-people-season

George Dallas Morning News: Suspended again, Cowboys' David Irving risks leaving himself shelved during his prime
https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/dallas-cowboys/cowboys/2018/06/18/suspended-again-cowboys-david-irving-risks-leaving-shelved-prime

DENVER
O’Halloran Denver Post: Broncos rookie CB Isaac Yiadom embraces challenge of NFL transition
https://www.denverpost.com/2018/06/18/isaac-yiadom-nfl-transition/

DETROIT
Birkett Detroit Free Press: 5 Detroit Lions who should outperform their contracts in 2018
https://amp.freep.com/amp/710221002

Meinke Michigan Live: Lions WR Kenny Golladay could be headed for breakout season
https://articles.mlive.com/lions/index.ssf/2018/06/lions_wr_kenny_golladay_could.amp

GREEN BAY
Silverstein Mil JS: Packers need rookie wide receivers to grow up quickly
https://www.packersnews.com/story/sports/nfl/packers/2018/06/18/packers-rookie-receivers-grow-up-quickly-tom-silverstein/699950002/

Demovsky ESPN GB: A Saints approach: Packers could copy New Orleans' run plan
http://www.espn.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/276937/a-saints-approach-packers-could-copy-new-orleans-run-plan

HOUSTON
Wilson Houston Chronicle: Texans pleased with rookie WR Keke Coutee
https://www.chron.com/sports/texans/amp/Texans-pleased-with-rookie-WR-Keke-Coutee-13004218.php

McClain Houston Chronicle: Why Texans may hesitate on Jadeveon Clowney's extension
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/texas-sports-nation/texans/article/McClain-Why-Texans-may-hesitate-on-Jadeveon-13004348.php

INDIANAPOLIS
Horner Indianapolis Star: Why Reggie Wayne thinks T.Y. Hilton is one of the NFL's top receivers
https://amp.indystar.com/amp/712270002

JACKSONVILLE
Heilman Florida Times Union: Jaguars roster analysis: Evaluating the team's 90 players
http://www.jacksonville.com/sports/20180615/jaguars-roster-analysis-evaluating-teams-90-players

Diaz Orlando Sentinel: Blake Bortles, local kid rises from UCF to NFL riches
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/opinion/audience/george-diaz/os-ae-blake-bortles-ucf-nfl-20180618-story.html

Heilman Florida Times Union: After 'heartbreaking' loss, Jaguars OT Will Richardson pushes forward
http://www.jacksonville.com/sports/20180618/after-heartbreaking-loss-jaguars-ot-will-richardson-pushes-forward?

LOS ANGELES CHARGERS
Benoit MMQB: Best in the AFC West: 10 Thoughts on the 2018 Chargers
http://amp.si.com/nfl/2018/06/18/los-angeles-chargers-2018-nfl-preview

LOS ANGELES RAMS
Benoit MMQB: The NFL’s Most Dynamic Team? 10 Thoughts on the 2018 Rams
http://amp.si.com/nfl/2018/06/18/los-angeles-rams-2018-nfl-preview

MIAMI
McPherson Miami Herald: The Miami Dolphins' final rookie from the 2018 draft class is now under contract
http://amp.miamiherald.com/sports/nfl/miami-dolphins/article213408354.html

MINNESOTA
Goessling Minn Star Tribune: With Mike Hughes around, Marcus Sherels could have to fight to make Vikings' roster
http://m.startribune.com/with-mike-hughes-around-marcus-sherels-could-have-to-fight-to-make-vikings-roster/485821701/

NEW ORLEANS
Erickson NO Advocate: Back in New Orleans again, Patrick Robinson adjusting to nickel role in more aggressive Saints defense
http://www.theadvocate.com/new_orleans/sports/saints/article_f8edaca2-730d-11e8-a004-c327b22fb594.html

Mike Triplett (@MikeTriplett)
6/18/18, 2:33 PM
Source confirms that former Saints CB Delvin Breaux is returning to the CFL with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Signed a one-year deal with hopes of returning to NFL

Nick Underhill (@nick_underhill)
6/18/18, 2:18 PM
Sources say Delvin Breaux had trouble getting his spine medically cleared by other teams in the NFL.

OAKLAND
Benoit MMQB: Jon Gruden Is Back, With a Big Rebuilding Job: 10 Thoughts on the Raiders
http://amp.si.com/nfl/2018/06/18/oakland-raiders-2018-nfl-preview

Williams NBC Bay Area: Raiders Like What They See of Pair of Rookie Tackles
https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Raiders-Like-What-They-See-of-Pair-of-Rookie-Tackles-485828911.html

PHILADELPHIA
Kempski Phillyvoice: See Carson Wentz's noticeable improvement over three weeks at Eagles spring practices
http://www.phillyvoice.com/carson-wentzs-video-improvement-knee-injury-update-eagles-spring-practices/

PITTSBURGH
Varley Steelers.com: Burnett has settled in
https://www.steelers.com/news/burnett-has-settled-it

SAN FRANCISCO
Benoit MMQB: Jimmy Garoppolo Takes Charge, Richard Sherman Steps In: 10 Thoughts on the 49ers
http://amp.si.com/nfl/2018/06/18/san-francisco-49ers-2018-preview-jimmy-garoppolo

Barrows Sac Bee: Where the 49ers draft class stands heading into training camp
http://amp.sacbee.com/sports/nfl/san-francisco-49ers/article213385104.html

SEATTLE
ESPN 710 Seattle: Huard: Seahawks O-line most surprising improvement this offseason
http://sports.mynorthwest.com/472440/huard-seahawks-o-line-most-surprising-improvement-this-offseason/amp/

TENNESSEE
Wolf The Tennessean: Titans' Marcus Mariota is focusing on something more fundamental than footwork and playbook
https://amp.tennessean.com/amp/709029002

WASHINGTON
Czarda Redskins.com: Feeding Off Running Back Competition, Kapri Bibbs Looking To Build Off 2017 Performance
https://www.redskins.com/news/feeding-off-running-back-competion-kapri-bibbs-looking-to-build-off-2017-perform

Draft

Trapasso CBS Sports: 2018 NFL supplemental draft: Breaking down the three prospects that could be selected
https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/news/2018-nfl-supplemental-draft-breaking-down-the-three-prospects-that-could-be-selected/amp/

History

Gants Training Camp Previews from prior seasons

1953: The Giants draft; The stage was never too big for Roosevelt Brown, From The Pittsburgh Courier’s All American team, to outrunning but learning from a Hall of Famer, whether he was 19 or 21 years of age his presence on and off the field from the beginning was immense:


In the 1953 NFL Draft the Giants selected Bobby Marlow a back from Alabama with their first overall selection. Certainly his accomplishments were numerous:

“He received an athletic scholarship to the University of Alabama where he lettered three years (1950-52) in football and firmly established his place among the greatest running backs to ever wear the crimson jersey.

Marlow ranks among the Top 10 in just about every significant all- time rushing category at Alabama including career rushing yards (5th), single game rushing yards (3rd), career rushing touchdowns (6th) and longest touchdown run (3rd). His 6.3 career yards per carry is the highest ever of any University of Alabama running back with a minimum of 400 career rushing attempts.

"You can talk before or after but Bobby Marlow is the best running back to ever play at the University of Alabama,? said former UA teammate Harry Lee. "Bobby would have been a great running back in any era. He was such a powerful runner. Bobby was tremendously strong and that was way before any strength training programs."

Strong he was and Marlow saved some of his most explosive performances against the Crimson Tide's biggest rivals. He rushed for 233 yards against Auburn in 1951 which at the time served as the most yards ever gained by a Crimson Tide running back in a game. The record stood for 36 years until Bobby Humphrey ran through the Mississippi State defense for 284 yards.

Long time University of Alabama football fans can remember the days when Georgia Tech was a fierce rival. In 1950, Marlow rushed for 180 yards against the Rambling Wreck prompting legendary Georgia Tech football coach Bobby Dodd to comment that "Bobby Marlow is the best back that I have ever coached against."

The Crimson Tide was 24-10 during Marlow's three seasons at the capstone including a record setting 61- 6 victory over Syracuse in the 1953 Orange Bowl. Marlow was twice named All-SEC and was an All-American choice his senior season. The Birmingham Monday Morning Quarterback Club named Marlow as the 1952 SEC Player of the Year. He rushed for a school record 2,560 yards during his career. Johnny Musso broke the record 19 years later.”
http://www.lcshof.com/view.php?

However at the time there was a fierce war for talent between the NFL and what is now known as the CFL. The NFL wanted to keep salaries in check, the Canadian teams were competitive contract wise. This war for talent would explode a year later but for now Canada was a viable option for draftees of the NFL.

“Soon, the four western Canadian teams in the WIFU (Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatchewan, Winnipeg) and the “Big Four” teams in the eastern IRFU (Hamilton, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto) started to bid against the NFL for top college talent. Billy Vessels, Johnny Bright, Larry Isbell, Bobby Marlow, and Donn Moomaw – all number one draft picks – signed for more money in Canada than they were offered in the U.S. When their contracts expired, vets like Bud Grant, Tex Coulter, Ray Poole, Mac Speedie and others, elected to go north rather than re-enlist with the NFL. Coulter, for instance, went from $12,000 with the Giants to $20,000 with the Montreal Allouettes. “I’m sick and tired of sitting around, waiting for these people to do what’s legally and morally right,” grumbled Bert Bell, citing the renewal clauses in the standard NFL contracts. The Canadian press responded with examples of pacts there being ignored in the States, as with Ottawa players “raided” by Cleveland.”
http://profootballresearchers.com/archives/Website_Files/Coffin_Corner/24-04-946.pdf

So Marlow chose Canada:

“The New York Giants liked what they saw in Marlow and made the 195 pound running back the eighth pick in the first round of the 1953 NFL draft. Marlow, however, optioned to join the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League (CFL). 'Back then, the CFL paid more. I made more money playing linebacker in the CFL than Bart Starr made playing quarterback with the Green Bay Packers," joked Lee. "Bobby was just as dominant player in Canada as he was at Alabama. Bobby would absolutely put a helmet on you. I can remember one time that this new player from Army joined the league and Bobby hit him so hard that the guy had to wear a body cast afterwards."

Marlow played eight years in the CFL and earned numerous honors including being named to the CFL All Star All-Time Team.”

And so it went, QB Eddie Crowder the Giants second round selection also did not play for the Giants for a different reason, “He was a backup quarterback on Oklahoma’s first national championship team in 1950 and guided the Sooners to a 16-3-1 mark as a starter in 1951 and 1952. After a senior season in which he earned all-American honors, Crowder was drafted by the Giants in 1953 but declined to join the team because of a nerve problem in his throwing arm.”

Cal Roberts a big tackle was the Giants third round selection. He never made the Giants opening day roster, “Earning national attention on both offensive and defensive units for Gustavus for four seasons, Roberts was named First Team All-America at offensive tackle in 1950 and again at defensive tackle in 1952. In 1952, Roberts anchored an offensive line that helped the Gusties produce a remarkable 442 points in nine games and led a defense that allowed only 106 points all season. A three-time All-Conference selection, he helped the Gusties to three consecutive MIAC titles (1950, 1951, 1952) compiling a perfect league mark of 18-0.

Following his collegiate career, Roberts was drafted by the New York Giants. He suffered an injury in training camp in his rookie season that ended his football career.”

Only six of the 30 1953 Giants draft selections played in the NFL, only two played more than a year, Buford Long who lasted three seasons and a twenty seventh round selection, the 322 player selected, Roosevelt Brown.

Don Smith Pro Football Researchers 1984

“So it was that someone – no one today remembers who – in the Giants' front office glanced at a weekly black newspaper, The Pittsburgh Courier, and noticed that there was a 6-3, 225-pound tackle from obscure Morgan State who had been named to the Black All-America team of 1952.

"We had nothing to lose," Giants executive Wellington Mara would say years later in explaining the selection of Roosevelt Brown on the 27th round. History now records that this was one of the truly great "sleeper" picks of all time.

The Charlottesville, Va., native quickly developed into one of the premier offensive linemen in pro football, and he was the Giants' starting offensive right tackle for 13 years. For eight straight years from 1956 through 1963, he was a virtually unanimous all-NFL choice. For 10 straight years, he was named to the Pro Bowl although in one year, 1962, he did miss the game because of a knee operation.

The odds were, of course, astronomical that the 19-year-old recruit who first reported to the Giants' 1953 training camp would attain even a regular job, let alone the top honor of his profession. Rosey had signed a $2700 contract – there were no bonus provisions – and the Giants had sent him a train ticket for the two-day trip to summer headquarters at Gustavus-Adolphus College in Minnesota. Rosey had only $10 in his pocket but he didn't go hungry because his mother, not trusting "train food," had packed him a box of fried chicken and potato salad for the journey.

He arrived in camp dressed in a neat dark suit that had been his college graduation present, wearing horn rimmed glasses, carrying a cardboard suitcase under one arm and a tightly wrapped umbrella under the other. Only a handful of rookies in all NFL history had looked less like a football player.

There were other things that increased the original odds against Brown. Such as the fact that he didn't even know the proper stance for an offensive lineman. Or the sociological problem that, in all of his football experiences in high school and college, he had never played either with or against a white player, let alone under a white coach. But Rosey did stand 6-3. His weight was up to 245 and he did have a 29- inch waist. The Giants coach, Steve Owen, felt that anyone with those dimensions certainly deserved a good look.

To Owen, a "good look" was a scrimmage against Arnie Weinmeister, the New Yorkers' rugged all-pro defensive terror. Weinmeister battered Brown all over the field, but Rosey stuck out the day and even took a couple of laps around the field after the ordeal. Owen was impressed.

There was one problem that plagued most rookies that didn't bother Brown. That was the fear of being cut. "I wasn't scared about being cut," Brown explains, simply because I didn't know I could get cut. I thought once they had signed me that that meant I had made the team. I had never seen a pro game and the 1951 NFL championship game that I heard on radio marked the extent of my pro football knowledge."

A few weeks later, Rosey had won a starting job and he held the post for 13 years until an attack of phlebitis forced his retirement after he had reported for summer camp in 1966. During that span, the Giants enjoyed a truly unusual string of successes with six divisional crowns and one NFL title in an eight-year stretch. During the middle 10 years of Brown's career, the Giants compiled a sizzling 86-35-5 mark.”

“As a six-year old, Rosey had been promoted straight from kindergarten to the third grade and so he was only 13 when the Jefferson high school football coach in Charlottesville noticed a big 180-pounder played trombone in the school band. Rosey was drafted against the wishes of his father whose own brother had been killed playing football. It turned out that Mr. Brown was a railroad worker who was out of town much of the time and, since Mrs. Brown said OK to football, Rosey got in his first season, fortunately without injury, before his dad even knew he was playing.

Following a star-studded high school career' Rosey moved to Morgan State because that was the college his high school coach had selected for him. Four years later, as a Morgan State co- captain, Brown won the Black All-America acclaim that in turn led to his unorthodox "discovery" by the Giants...”
http://profootballresearchers.com/archives/Website_Files/Coffin_Corner/06-04-181.pdf

03-27-1953

“Gridders Sign NEW YORK, March 27 Walter Hunter NC A& T and Roosevelt Brown of Morgan State, a pair of huge tackles who made numerous all-star teams restricted to players from [black] colleges.”

The Pittsburgh Courier was a Newspaper prominent in the black community. It would list their all-stars from black colleges every year. An example of the state of the NFL in 1953 concerning black athletes:

08-01-1953 Pittsburgh Courier

“Thirteen former Courier All - Americans are among the bumper crop of candidates trying out for positions with teams in the National Football League this season. Of the thirteen, ten are rookies. Only Tank Younger, Los Angeles Bams; Jack Splnks, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Robert Jackson of the Eagles, have previous experience among the pros. A breakdown of the former All Americans follows: Charley Robinson, Morgan [State]. Guard Baltimore Colts - Roosevelt Brown, Morgan [State], Tackle New York Giants Wlllie Irvin, Florida A. and M., End Philadelphia James Moore, Florida A. and M., Halfback Chicago Bears Iorinzor Clark, Central, End Cleveland Verdese Carter, Wllberforce, Tackle L. A. Rams, George Gilchrist, Tennessee [State], Tackle Chicago Cards James Caldwell, Tennessee [State], Tackle Chicago Bears Willie Brown, Tennessee [State], halfback Cleveland Leo Miles, Virginia State, Fullback New York Giants, Robert Jackson, NC A. and T Fullback Philadelphia, Jack Spinks, Alcorn [State]Fullback Pittsburgh Tank Younger, Grambllng [State], Fullback, L. A. Rams.

A contingent of biege football talent in the history of the game Is already , fighting the summer heat and some of the stillest grid talent In the world In an effort to win a place on one of the ten teams In the NFL circuit. Only the champion Detroit Lions and the Washington Red Skins fail to list a single Negro performer on their roster.

DETROIT, WHO SOLD half back Wally Triplett to the Chicago Cardinals last season, is on record as wanting a Negro In their lineup. Bud Erickson, the team's publicity man writes: "We are on record, In searching for player talent, to Include any Negroes that our coaches feel may have an opportunity to make our club. Believe me," he says, "if Parker (Detroit's head coach, Buddy Parker) could find a Dan Towler or Tank Younger there is nothing he wouldn't do to get him. however, since the Lions won the title last year, our coaches have not come across a player they felt could break into the lineup this fall." Washington, which has never used a Negro on their team, had nothing to say about player personnel. Ironically, both Detroit and Washington are, two of the cities where Negro population in the league Is high. Again this season the Cleveland Browns, with ten Negroes trying out for team berths, lead the group. The Browps, who make it a habit to field a championship eleven, have such old stand ins as Marion Motley, Bill Willis, Len .Ford, Horace Glllom and Sherman Howard, returning for another season. Their roster also includes rookies Harold Bradley and Cleo Wallace, a couple of strong guards; halfback Bob Johnson, from Loyola University, and fullbacks Willie Carter, Tennessee State, and Harry Davis, just out of the Army, fighting for team berths.

' OTHER TEAMS with large contingents of Negroes trying out for the team Include the Los Angeles Rams, with seven; Chicago Cards, six; Chicago Bears, and the New York Giants with five each. The Bears, who are going all out to recapture the top spot they once held In the professional league, feel they have an all - star crop of Negroes battllng for spots on the squad. The Chicago coaching staff is really sold on 235 - pound tackle Art Davis, recently released from the Marines where he starred in the camp Lejeune eleven. They believe the former Alabama State College giant may be one of the greatest new players In the pro ranxs. A lot of consideration Is also being given James Moore, speedy Florida A. and M. halfback: Blllv Anderson, Compton College halfback, and James Caldwell, 245 pound tackle from Tennessee State University. Returning from last year are Eddie Macon, halfback, and Emerson Cole, former Cleveland Browns fullback.

NEW YORK GIANTS Roosevelt Brown, tackle; Walter Hunter, tackle; Emlen Tunnell, halfback; Leo Miles, fullback.”

Maybe the same Pittsburgh Courier All-American team led to Hunter and Miles getting invites by the Giants:

If Brown was drafted because of an article in the Pittsburgh Courier, maybe that explains Walter Hunter

“Walter Hunter, posthumously inducted, was a graduate of North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University, where he was a four year football letterwinner. He started each year, playing both offensive and defensive tackle. He earned All-CIAA honors in 1950, 1951, and 1952. In 1950, he led his team to a CIAA Football Championship. The following season (1951), he led the Aggies to a #1 rank in the nation in Black College Football and earned All-American status by the Pittsburgh Courier. He repeated as an All-American in 1952. In 1953, he received a letter of interest from the Los Angeles Rams, but was eventually drafted by New York Giants.”
http://www.theciaa.com/hall_of_fame/bios/Walter_Hunter?view=bio

While Hunter was actually not drafted he was invited to camp.

Miles made the Giants and played in three games in 1953

“Mr. Miles attended Virginia State University, where he received bachelor's and master's degrees. Twice he was an all-America running back, and he became the first man to receive all-Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association honors on both offense and defense. He also lettered in basketball and baseball.

In 1953, after graduation from college, Mr. Miles was a running back for the New York Giants of the NFL.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1995/09/22/leo-miles-dies/50948715-dff6-4601-aa8e-626ba1c30aea/?utm_term=.8289d0f73fcd

10-29-1953

Wright UP: Roosevelt Brown, Giant tackle glad he tried Pro gameplay

“How does it feel to be a rookie tackle trying to make good in the rugged national football league?

“Just fine, “ said Roosevelt Brown, a 245 pound tackle from Morgan State who has won a starting berth on the New York Giants offensive line this year. “ It’s really tougher than college football, but I’m glad I tried the pro game.”

“The main difference seems to be that everyone you go against in pro ball is a top man, big and smart and fast. In college I didn’t run into boys as big as I am every Saturday. I’ve been in five pro games and all the men across the line seem as big or bigger than me.”

The twenty one year old Brown stands 6-3. He is built like a museum statute, slender hips and broad shoulders. But he is no statute on the field. He surprised the Giants but outrunning Arnie Weinmeister, New York’s fleet defensive tackle in wind sprints.

Brown who regularly sports a mustache, derby hat, and umbrella, has impressed his teammates with fancy street clothing and Coach Steve Owen with his play.

“I believe Brown is gong to make a terrific tackle on either offense or defense. When he gets a year of pro ball under his belt, he’ll be able to go both ways and you won’t have to worry about where he plays, “ Owen said.

Brown like most current pro football players, already is looking beyond his playing days. “I hope to go to Springfield College (Springfield, Mass) after the pro season and begin studying for a masters of education degree. Some day I’d like to get a job as a coach,” he explained.

Brown came out of last Sunday’s game with the Cleveland Browns with a gash on the inside of his lower lip that required four stitches. Brown said the game was played on such a muddy field that he couldn’t form much of an opinion on Cleveland “because nobody could get up a full head of steam. Everybody I’ve come up against has been good,” Brown said, trying to work his injured lip into a grin, “But I’m not very good on remembering names and I’ve been pretty busy trying to do my best.”

11-08-1964

More about the man and his history in a NYT article from 1964:

NYT: Left Tackle; The story of a lineman—Roosevelt Brown—and what it takes to be one

“THE game is about to begin. Down on the field, the players are being introduced, their names resound& #8208;ing from the public address system. Each one runs under the goal posts and down the field, into and out of the view of the television camera placed on the grass. It is a conspicuous but meaningless ceremony, a show& #8208;biz side to professional football.

Although he is no showman and all football player, Roosevelt Brown of the New York Giants makes a production out of his introduction. He bursts forward and really runs downfield, his bare head held high and his hard helmet held low, at the end of a long arm. His stride is smooth and the helmet does not bounce. Rosey could carry eggs in it and not bruise one.

“I do it fast to get it over with,” he says of the introduction bit. “It doesn't have anything to do with the game.”

An unaffected man, Brown is not aware of the tremendous visual impression his physical being projects. By any standards, he is huge. He stands 6& #8208;feet& #8208;3 and weighs 255 pounds. His neck, shoulders and chest are massive. But the body tapers in a heroic way. His waist and buttocks, in proportion to what's above, are small. Then come the legs, similarly massive.

HIS size is not exceptional in this game of big men, but there is also smooth, flowing grace in his movements. That is unique. A lady of certain artistic talent has tried numerous times to capture Rosey Brown on her sketch pad. She has never been satisfied with the results. “T'm not worthy of the subject,” she has said. “I leave him to Michelangelo.”

Vincent Lombardi, head coach of the Green Bay Packers, takes a pragmatic view of Brown& #8208;the& #8208;football& #8208;player, rather than Brown& #8208;the& #8208;body. Says Lombardi, “When you think of great tackles in professional football, you must think of Rosey Brown.”

Brown is a lineman, the left tackle on the offensive platoon of the Giants. He has played that position for a long time. This is his 12th season with the team. He is 32.

Football is a dishonest game in that the public adulation it stimulates is often directed at the wrong players. The true values of the game are so difficult for the spectator to comprehend that the skills of a lineman usually go unrecognized. They are the martyrs and most of them accept their lot. Brown does.

“The backs who carry the ball,” he said recently, “they get the credit, the headlines, the big money. But they know and we know that they wouldn't be anything if it wasn't for us who give them the blocks.

“I get my satisfaction from doing the job. When one of our backs breaks away for a big gain, I feel good because I knocked somebody down on the other side which made the play go. That's my satisfaction. I don't think it takes too much to run with the ball if someone makes the blocks.”

Knock somebody down. That is the name of this game, one of brutal, continuous contact for a lineman. “I hit on every play,” says Brown and that is not true of the backs, who on many occasions merely run a pass route or a fake without any physical contact.

“Nobody plays this game for money,” sdid Brown one time. “You have to enjoy it. You have to have the game in your heart. They can't pay us enough for what we go through on the field.”

Rosey Brown has won eight citations as an all& #8208;pro performer and has had seven invitationsto play in the annual Pro Bowl game—figures which certify him as the first, second or third best player at his position in the National Football League. Because of these facts and, more important, because of his value to his team, his worth in terms of salary can be estimated at $20,000 a year. (Pro teams never disclose salaries, but close estimates can be made.)

Jim Brown, the Cleveland Browns' fullback, who is the game's best runner, is a $50,000& #8208;a& #8208;year man. So is Y. A. Tittle, the Giants' venerable quarterback. Frank Gifford, the player for whose benefit Brown has thrown hundreds of blocks in their 11 seasons together, has established an image as a television sportcaster and endorser of sports clothes. His income, from football and the side businesses that grow out of it, can be said to be three or four times that of Brown's. But is his value that many times greater than Rosey's ?

OF the game's displaced values, Brown shrugs and says, “That's the way it is.” He has no desire to be a reformer.

Nor is he a violent man. Like most players, he is temperate and gentle off the field. On the field, he has often performed with controlled anger. “I only remember Rosey being thrown out of one game,” recalls Emlen Tunnell, the Giant scout who is his great friend. “He got in a fight on the field with Jerry Groom. The referee kicked them both out. Rosey was real mad.”

When excited, Brown's words are likely to stick together. “He came to the bench,” Tunnell went on, “and he was swearing. The other players couldn't understand what he was saying. The words sounded so funny, they laughed at him. When he heard them laughing, he quieted down. I wouldn't have wanted to mess with him then.”

Brown enjoys the contact that football requires. “I like the hitting.” he has said in a matter& #8208;of& #8208;fact way. “Everybody does—or they ought to. If you don't, you can't stay in this game. You'll never make it.”

BROWN'S hitting began years ago in his home town, Charlottesville, Va. This is how he tells his story.

“I was always a big boy. When I was 6, my mother put me in school and I took a test. I must have passed it because they put me in third grade. No first grade and no second grade. That meant I graduated from high school when I was 15 and from college at 19. When I played my first game for the Giants, in 1953, I was still 19.”

(Brown was the most precocious of all pro football players. The majority start when they have finished college, at 21 or 22. A few are 20. None are 19.)

“I didn't play any football until I was in Jefferson High School. At first I played trombone in the band. The coach saw me and I guess he liked my size. I weighed about 180, even though 1 was only 13. I wanted to play. He spoke to my mother and she said all right.

“My father worked on the railroad, the Southern Railroad. He was gone all week, home only on weekends. His brother had been hurt playing football and died because of the injury. My father didn't like it.

“Well, I played and we didn't tell him. The next year he found out and raised all of trouble. But there wasn't anything he could do then. It was too late.”

For college, Brown went to Morgan State, in Baltimore, on a football scholarship. He was co& #8208;captain and good enough to be named twice to a Negro college all& #8208;star team—nominations that brought him to the Giants in a roundabout way.

The pro teams 10 years ago did not have the extensive player & #8208; scouting systems on which they now spend $100,000 or more each year. In those days, each of the league teams was allowed to choose 30 men from the college candidates. By the 27th round of the 1953 draft, the Giant management was bare of ideas.

The Giant officials were sitting around a table and one of them had a copy of The Pittsburgh Courier, a Negro newspaper, which showed in its sports pages the all& #8208;star team on which Brown of Morgan State played. “So we took him,” recalls Wellington Mara, the Giant vice president. “It didn't seem to make much difference who we took then.”

The Giants thus stole a star from obscurity. Brown was the 318th college player chosen in the draft and only four others from that group are still playing in the N.F.L, Fewer than 50 were good enough to play at all.

Tunnell, then a star with the Giants, went down to Baltimore to meet Brown in the spring. “He didn't look like much when I first saw him,” said Emlen. “He wore those big glasses of his. He had on a homburg hat and he carried a wrapped umbrella around all weekend. I didn't know if he was a football player or not.”

The Giants, and Tunnell, found out that summer. Brown was raw and untutored, a 225 pound growing boy. Al DeRogatis, a Giant player scout who served as a coach in the training camp, remembers the rookie Rosey well. “Ed Kolman [the team's line coach] had to teach him almost everything,” said DeRogatis. “He didn't even know how to take a proper stance. But he had that tremendous body. He also had the speed, the reflexes and the balance. We knew that if he could learn all Kolman had to tell him, the Giants would have a great player. Rosey learned all right.”

Brown has been hurt numerous times, but in the fashion of the true professional he has played on, disregarding the injuries. There have been three exceptions.

In 1958, playing against Baltimore, Brown fractured a cheekbone. “There was a big hole in my face,” he said. How did it happen? “Gifford had the ball and he was runningaround a lot back there. They were after him pretty good. I tried to pick off two of them so he could get out of there. I got squeezed between Gino Marchetti and Big Daddy Lipscomb.”

The Colts' Lipscomb weighed 290. A teammate, Marchetti, at 245 pounds, hits as hard as any man in pro football. There was a tremendous impact and the three men went down. The plastic helmet can withstand considerable pressures, but Brown's was shattered as he hit the ground and some force —one that Rosey never could could identify — struck and fractured his cheekbone. He missed the subsequent game but not the next one. He has been absent from only two other games. One absence came after a twisted ankle in the fifth game this season: another after a concussion in 1962. He has been knocked silly many times.

Dr. Francis Sweeney, the Giants' physician, has a way of dealing with players who have mislaid their wits in a certain way. He comes on the field and asks the groggy athlete what day it is. what team the Giants are playing, and what's the score ? If the answers are faulty, the player goes to the sidelines to recuperate,

HE has asked me those things a lot of times,” said Brown. “Bill Svoboda, who used to play for us, he'd give Doc the answers before Doc could ask the questions. He'd say, ‘Sunday, Pittsburgh, we're behind 14& #8208;7, go away.’ ” And Brown gave forth with that big pleasant laugh of his, framed by a mass of teeth.

Brown was asked recently what role he thought football had played in his life. “It's been my whole life,” he said. “The friendships I've had, the good times, the championships we've won, I wouldn't trade that for all of everything.”

But he has built another life. He and his wife, a pretty, quiet girl named Thelma, live in Teaneck, N. J., and Brown works in the off& #8208;season as a promotion and good& #8208;will representative for Ballantine's beer. The Browns' friends are not necessarily from the world of sport, although a good one—and a neighbor — is Elston Howard, the catcher for the New York Yankees.

ROSEY likes music, cars and clothes (his suits are size 50). “I've always liked music,” he says. “At first only classical, but now all kinds except that rock ‘n’ roll. I don't need that.” Cars? He has indulged himself with a Ford Thunderbird and a Cadillac.

He knows his days as a Giant are numbered because linemen do not last much longer than a dozen years. “You lose a step and you're done,” he explains. “You know how to do things, but you can't do them any more.”

There is humility in him. “I'll go a while longer,” he says. “I don't like to say just how long. A fellow says he's going to play one more, two more years—how can he know that? You can always stay too long.”



RIP Gene Ceppetelli who had a brief Giants career consisting of 6 games in 1969
“Gene graduated from Villanova University Class of 1963, where he also excelled at football. After Villanova, Gene played in the Canadian Football League for the Hamilton Tiger Cats and the Montreal Alouettes, where he won multiple Grey Cup Championships. He is a member of the Sudbury Ontario Hall of Fame. He also played center in the National Football League for the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants from 1968-1969.”

He was signed by the Giants to replace injured LS Chuck Hinton as the snapback man on punts.
http://m.legacy.com/obituaries/delcotimes/obituary.aspx?n=eugene-c-ceppetelli-gene& pid=189304941& referrer=0& preview=false

Giants Birthdays 6-19

Ed Eagan WR 2017 NYG 2017 6-18-1993

Art Hauser DT/G 1959 NYG 1959 6-19-1929

Nico Johnson LB 2015 NYG 2015 6-19-1990