Friday Reading

Giants

Duggan The Athletic: Giants’ salary cap situation: Where the team stands a month before free agency begins
https://theathletic.com/805601/2019/02/08/giants-salary-cap-situation-where-the-team-stands-just-over-a-month-before-free-agency-begins/

Schneier 247 Sports: 10 biggest Giants question marks heading into the 2019 offseason
https://247sports.com/nfl/new-york-giants/LongFormArticle/Giants-needs-questions-2019-offseason-128836284/

Schneier 247 Sports: The 10 positions Giants need to fix first in the 2019 offseason
https://247sports.com/nfl/new-york-giants/LongFormArticle/Giants-Offseason-needs-2019-positions-127969991/Amp/

RV SNY: Giants, Jets should put egos aside and trade draft picks with each other
https://www.sny.tv/giants/news/giants-jets-should-put-egos-aside-and-trade-draft-picks-with-each-other/303648462

Leonard NYDN: Giants Mailbag: Why doesn't Odell Beckham, Jr., run Julian Edelman routes?

“I continue to believe that Gettleman is more likely to draft a position player at No. 6 overall, but it’s undeniable that the Giants need a QB upgrade for both now and years to come. I consider Foles the Giants’ No. 1 option this offseason -- that would make waiting until 2020 to draft the QB of the future palatable.”

https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/giants/ny-sports-giants-mailbag-odell-beckham-routes-nick-foles-20190207-story.html

Schneier/Turchyn: New ep: BigBlueBanter podcast:
Full analysis of every Senior Bowl QB from Lock to Jones to Grier to Tyree
Update on all Giants news and brief free agent O-line preview
Your Qs and more (Audio)
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/giants-offseason-senior-bowl-recap-and-fa-preview/id1387339234?i=1000429427309& mt=2

Offense

Traina Locked on Giants Podcast: MattWaldman joins the LockedOn Giants podcast today and provides a very detailed breakdown of the Giants skill position players on offense (Audio)
http://dcs.megaphone.fm/LKN8335326020.mp3?key=5997a82be37d75627889fd0f852556f5& listener=883079dd-0667-40b1-89ef-b32136b71659

QB

Giants.com: Inside the Film Room: Eli Manning
Bob Papa and Shaun O'Hara view game tape to break down Eli Manning's 2018 season
https://www.giants.com/video/inside-the-film-room-eli-manning

Matt Lombardo (@MattLombardoNFL)
2/7/19, 3:46 PM
Food for thought. Per & #8294;& #8234;PFF& #8236;& #8297; Eli Manning was only sacked once and faced just 13 pressures over the second half of 2018. Even with improved O line play, Manning only threw 13 touchdown passes and Giants were just 4-4 over that span with 3 straight losses to close out the season

Dan Schneier (@DanSchneierNFL)
2/7/19, 3:51 PM
It's not just an O-line thing with Eli Manning anymore. Within these eight games, defensive coordinators (TEN, CHI) who switched coverages pre to post snap and bluffed looks gave the Giants passing game trouble. That's one of several factors. It's not a black and white issue

Raanan ESPN NY: Cost for quarterback Dwayne Haskins could be steep for Giants
http://www.espn.com/blog/new-york-giants/post/_/id/58560/cost-for-quarterback-dwayne-haskins-could-be-steep-for-giants?

Art Stapleton (@art_stapleton)
2/7/19, 4:14 PM
When I watch Dwayne Haskins, he reminds me some of a young Ben Roethlisberger. I'm not claiming to have watched all of his film from this past season, but that's who I see in what I've watched to this point

Lombardo NJ.com: Here's why the Giants should dump Eli Manning for Eagles' Nick Foles
https://www.nj.com/expo/sports/g66l-2019/02/4a5a83bf8d2652/heres-why-the-giants-should-dump-eli-manning-for-eagles-nick-foles.html

Dan Schneier (@DanSchneierNFL)
2/7/19, 10:21 AM
I would rather sign Teddy Bridgewater than draft Daniel Jones with pick 6 (or even pick 38). Jones offers so little upside, IMO. I could be off on that. As for Haskins/Lock, hitching yourselves to them now also brings one additional risk: you pull yourself out of the 2020 class

Defense

Dan Schneier (@DanSchneierNFL)
2/7/19, 3:35 PM
Gettleman has made it clear he wants to improve: rushing the passer, stopping the run, and running the football. The Giants poured resources into fixing all three last offseason but saw immediate dividends with the latter. This is why a pass rusher is certainly in play at No. 6

OLB

Salomone Giants.com: Kareem Martin eager to see defense in Year 2 under Bettcher
https://www.giants.com/news/kareem-martin-eager-to-see-defense-in-year-2-under-bettcher

Dan Schneier (@DanSchneierNFL)
2/7/19, 2:54 PM
Would not be surprised if Devin Bush interests the Giants as they look to continue after Year 1 under Gettleman/Shurmur where they completely revamped their process and approach at the linebacker position. They are looking for diff. kinds of players now, investing, and Bush fits

SS

Schneier 247 Sports: What it would cost the Giants to franchise tag Landon Collins
https://247sports.com/nfl/new-york-giants/Article/Landon-Collins-Giants-franchise-tag-2019-what-it-will-cost-128849074/Amp/

NFL

Wilson CBS Sports.com: 2019 NFL Free Agency: Nick Foles, Teddy Bridgewater headline a weak QB class
https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/2019-nfl-free-agency-nick-foles-teddy-bridgewater-headline-a-weak-qb-class/amp/

ARIZONA
Bergman NFL.com: Cardinals sign CB Robert Alford to three-year deal
https://amp.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000001017331/article/cardinals-sign-cb-robert-alford-to-threeyear-deal?

Cox SB Nation: Todd McShay’s 2019 Mock Draft 2.0 has the Arizona Cardinals taking Nick Bosa

“McShay’s top ten.
2. 49ers - Josh Allen, Edge, Kentucky
3. Jets - Rashan Gary, Edge, Michigan
4. Raiders - Quinnen Williams, DL, Alabama
5. Buccaneers - Jonah Williams, OT, Alabama
6. Giants - Dwayne Haskins, QB, Ohio State
7. Jaguars - Jeffery Simmons, DT, Mississippi State
8. Lions - Greedy Williams, CB, LSU
9. Bills - Jawaan Taylor, OT, Florida
10. Broncos - Deandre Baker, CB, Georgia”

https://www.revengeofthebirds.com/platform/amp/2019/2/7/18215457/todd-mcshay-2019-mock-draft-2-0-cardinals-nick-bosa-giants-dwayne-haskins-dolphins-kyler-murray

BALTIMORE
Hensley ESPN Baltimore: Lamar Jackson provides more freedom in building Ravens' offense
http://www.espn.com/blog/baltimore-ravens/post/_/id/48665/lamar-jackson-provides-more-freedom-in-building-ravens-offense?

Preston Baltimore Sun: Joe Flacco still has value in NFL, and plenty of teams could use him
https://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/ravens/bs-sp-preston-flacco-trade-value-20190207-story.html

CAROLINA
Rodrigue Charlotte Observer: Cam Newton’s new vlog gives intimate details on his recent shoulder procedure
https://amp.charlotteobserver.com/sports/nfl/carolina-panthers/article225923520.html

CINCINNATI
Page Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Bengals announce Brian Callahan as offensive coordinator
https://amp.cincinnati.com/amp/2791677002

Terrell ESPN Cincinnati: Zac Taylor defends adding Jim Turner, fired in Dolphins' bullying scandal, to Bengals staff
http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/25945471/zac-taylor-defends-adding-jim-turner-fired-dolphins-bully-case-bengals-staff?

CLEVELAND
Labbe Cleveland Plain Dealer: Browns’ trio of new coordinators want to seize opportunity to win in Cleveland
https://www.cleveland.com/browns/2019/02/browns-trio-of-new-coordinators-want-to-seize-opportunity-to-win-in-cleveland.html

Cabot Cleveland Plain Dealer: Browns offensive coordinator Todd Monken: Baker Mayfield was the No. 1 draw
https://www.cleveland.com/browns/2019/02/browns-oc-todd-monken-baker-mayfield-was-the-no-1-draw.html

Williams PFT: Todd Monken: Air Raid is throwing to win, but run game plays a part

“Balance is multiple skill players touching the football,” Monken said. “To me, it is not always just run-pass [balance]. It is do you have enough skill players where they can touch the football. Last year at Tampa, we almost had six guys – if [Bucs tight end] O.J. [Howard] doesn’t get hurt – with 700-plus yards from the line of scrimmage. That, to me, is balance. You have a number of guys who can hurt you from a matchup standpoint. Is running the football important? Sure because in order to win, you have to be explosive and not turn the ball over. How do you become explosive? Space players and throwing it over their heads or throwing in intermediate pockets, and running the football adds to that.”

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2019/02/07/todd-monken-air-raid-is-throwing-to-win-but-run-game-plays-a-part/

Watkins Browns.com: Steve Wilks chose the Browns because he believes in what they're building
https://www.clevelandbrowns.com/news/steve-wilks-chose-the-browns-because-he-believes-in-what-they-re-building

Labbe Cleveland Plain Dealer: Steve Wilks is ready to get right back to work with Browns
https://www.cleveland.com/browns/2019/02/steve-wilks-is-ready-to-get-right-back-to-work-with-browns.html

Cabot Cleveland Plain Dealer: Browns defensive coordinator Steve Wilks might enlist Julius Peppers to help Myles Garrett take it up a notch
https://www.cleveland.com/browns/2019/02/browns-steve-wilks-might-enlist-julius-peppers-to-help-myles-garrett-take-it-up-a-notch.html

DALLAS
Archer ESPN Dallas: Why a new deal between Cowboys, DeMarcus Lawrence is a no-brainer
http://www.espn.com/blog/dallas-cowboys/post/_/id/4768697/why-a-new-deal-between-cowboys-demarcus-lawrence-is-a-no-brainer?

DETROIT
Birkett Detroit Free Press: Best Detroit Lions RB since Barry Sanders? Kerryon Johnson has a case
https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nfl/lions/2019/02/07/detroit-lions-best-rb-barry-sanders-kerryon-johnson/2799960002/

GREEN BAY
Chicago Tribune: Packers hire Illinois offensive line coach Luke Butkus, nephew of Bears Hall of Famer
https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/ct-spt-luke-butkus-packers-illinois-20190207-story.html

HOUSTON
Wilson Houston Chronicle: Brian Cushing on becoming a Texans assistant: 'It's unique'
https://www.chron.com/sports/texans/amp/Brian-Cushing-on-Texans-assistant-coach-unique-13597984.php

INDIANAPOLIS
Erickson Indianapolis Star: Colts bring back legendary coach Howard Mudd to help offensive line
https://amp.indystar.com/amp/2800938002

KANSAS CITY
Kissel Chiefs.com: Seven Things We Learned from Chiefs GM Brett Veach on Thursday 
https://www.chiefs.com/news/seven-things-we-learned-from-chiefs-gm-brett-veach-on-thursday

Kerkhoff KC Star: Chiefs consider contracts of Ford, Houston, Berry, Hill, Jones: Who stays, who goes?
https://amp.kansascity.com/sports/nfl/kansas-city-chiefs/article225934990.html

Field Yates (@FieldYates)
2/7/19, 5:16 PM
The Chiefs are hiring former Jaguars assistant DL coach David Merritt as their defensive backs coach, per source. He previously worked with new DC Steve Spagnuolo

LOS ANGELES RAMS
Dennis Rams.com: Familiar with “the business” of the NFL, C.J. Anderson hopeful about staying in L.A.
https://www.therams.com/news/familiar-with-the-business-of-the-nfl-c-j-anderson-hopeful-about-staying-in-l-a

Dennis Rams.com: Whitworth taking time to decide whether or not he’ll retire, Rams support decision either way
https://www.therams.com/news/whitworth-taking-time-to-decide-whether-or-not-he-ll-retire-rams-support-decisio

MIAMI
Jackson Miami Herald: Issues looming for Dolphins’ defensive backfield and what not to read into Grier’s comment
https://amp.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/barry-jackson/article225564570.html

NEW ENGLAND
McBride Boston Globe: Patriots roster breakdown heading into the offseason
https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/patriots/2019/02/07/patriots-roster-breakdown-heading-into-offseason/bAzvmjfGdDh2UsPOPh1QNI/amp.html

Duffy Boston Herald: Patriots free agents: Trey Flowers is the top priority
https://www.bostonherald.com/2019/02/07/patriots-free-agents-trey-flowers-is-the-top-priority/amp/

Princiotti Boston Globe: Patriots safety Patrick Chung to undergo two surgeries
https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/patriots/2019/02/07/patriots-safety-patrick-chung-undergo-two-surgeries/HwiO7sdsOR11dOXlu0WdQP/amp.html

Guregian Boston Herald: Will Patriots punt on Super star Ryan Allen?
https://www.bostonherald.com/2019/02/07/guregian-will-patriots-punt-on-super-star-ryan-allen/amp/

NEW ORLEANS
Underhill NO Advocate: Saints DT David Onyemata cited for illegal marijuana possession at Elmwood apartment
https://www.theadvocate.com/new_orleans/news/crime_police/article_5c29259e-2aec-11e9-8d57-03c9c3a55017.amp.html

OAKLAND
Raiders.com: Donald Penn appears on NFL Total Access to break down film, talk Raiders football
https://www.raiders.com/news/donald-penn-appears-on-nfl-total-access-to-break-down-film-and-talk-raiders-foot

PITTSBURGH
Bouchette Pittsburgh Post Gazette: Steelers analysis: Receiving corps could be among NFL's best. Or not
https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/steelers/2019/02/07/antonio-brown-trade-rumors-steelers-nfl-draft-prospects-receivers/stories/201901310019

Adamski Pittsburgh Tribune Review: After 4 years with Steelers, B.J. Finney's understanding of offense has him prepared if needed
https://triblive.com/sports/steelers/14588824-74/after-4-years-with-steelers-bj-finneys-understanding-of-offense-has-him

SAN FRANCISCO
Branch SF Chronicle: Source: Miles Austin will join Wes Welker on 49ers coaching staff
https://www.sfchronicle.com/49ers/article/Source-49ers-will-add-ex-NFL-WR-Miles-Austin-to-13599708.php

TAMPA BAY
Vitali Buccaneers.com: Buccaneers Coordinator Q& A: Todd Bowles
https://www.buccaneers.com/news/buccaneers-coordinator-q-a-todd-bowles

Smith Buccaneers.com: Bucs Sign Kicker Phillip Andersen from German League
https://www.buccaneers.com/news/bucs-sign-kicker-phillip-andersen-from-german-league

TENNESSEE
Wyatt Titans.com: Titans RB Derrick Henry a Big Fan of New OC Arthur Smith and His “Physical Mindset”
https://www.titansonline.com/news/titans-rb-derrick-henry-a-big-fan-of-new-oc-arthur-smith-and-his-physical-mindse

Wyatt Titans.com: Titans Add Veteran Offensive Lineman Hroniss Grasu
https://www.titansonline.com/news/titans-add-veteran-offensive-lineman-hroniss-grasu

WASHINGTON
Keim ESPN Washington: Redskins need a QB, but other draft areas could bring better results
http://www.espn.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/293804/redskins-need-a-qb-but-other-draft-areas-could-bring-better-results?

Colleges/Draft

NFL.com: Full list of 338 invitees for 2019 combine
https://amp.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000001017299/article/2019-nfl-scouting-combine-full-list-of-338-participants?

Jeremiah NFL.com: Which prospect will draw most buzz at combine?
https://amp.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000001017284/article/ask-5-which-draft-prospect-will-generate-most-buzz-at-combine?

Zeirlein NFL.com: Here are my current NFL Draft grades for 2019. Keep in mind there are still several players who are Combine invites who are in the system but I haven't written up yet. There are a few changes to "Overviews" and grades that have to be made too

Williams, Quinnen (DL) Alabama 6.7
Allen, Josh (EDGE) Kentucky 6.7
Bosa, Nick (DL) Ohio St. 6.5
Hockenson, T.J. (TE) Iowa 6.4
Gary, Rashan (DL) Michigan 6.4
Williams, Jonah (T) Alabama 6.3
Sweat, Montez (EDGE) Mississippi St. 6.3
Polite, Jachai (EDGE) Florida 6.3
Oliver, Ed (DL) Houston 6.3
Metcalf, D.K. (WR) Mississippi 6.3
Jacobs, Josh (RB) Alabama 6.3
Brown, Marquise (WR) Oklahoma 6.3
Williams, Greedy (CB) LSU 6.2
White, Devin (LB) LSU 6.2
Murray, Kyler (QB) Oklahoma 6.2
Lawrence, Dexter (DL) Clemson 6.2
Haskins, Dwayne (QB) Ohio St. 6.2

http://www.nfl.com/combine/participants?campaign=tw-cf-sf207401743-sf207401743& sf207401743=1

McClain/Wilson Houston Chronicle: John McClain's and Aaron Wilson's 2019 NFL mock draft 1.0

6. N.Y. Giants
McClain: Dwayne Haskins, QB, Ohio State
Wilson: Dwayne Haskins, QB, Ohio State

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/texas-sports-nation/texans/amp/John-McClain-s-and-Aaron-Wilson-s-2019-NFL-mock-13595262.php

QB
Kahler MMQB: Daniel Jones, Coach Cut and the Manning Connection
https://amp.si.com/nfl/2019/02/07/daniel-jones-draft-quarterback-duke-david-cutcliffe-peyton-manning-eli-manning#click=https://t.co/ikB1Ak1MzF

Breer MMQB: What’s Next for Kyler Murray, the Most Intriguing Draft Prospect of 2019
https://www.si.com/nfl/2019/02/07/2019-draft-kyler-murray-football-baseball-decision-offseason-storyines

WR
Fran Duffy (@fduffy3)
2/7/19, 5:00 PM
Metcalf is like a WR version of Patrick Mahomes. Dripping with tools but unrefined in some key areas. Can he overcome the shortcomings? His upside is through the roof. People view those kinds of prospects differently. Have to love his physical gifts

Kelly The Draft Network: Video Content Kelly breaks down Jakobi Meyers
https://thedraftnetwork.com/2019/02/07/video-content-jakobi-meyers-shows-his-versatility/

T
Pflum BBV: 2019 NFL Draft prospect profile: Yodny Cajuste, OT, West Virginia
https://www.bigblueview.com/platform/amp/2019/2/7/18215234/2019-nfl-draft-prospect-profile-yodny-cajuste-ot-west-virginia-ny-giants-scouting-report

DT
NFL.com: Quinnen Williams: Why I should be the No. 1 pick
https://amp.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000001017307/article/quinnen-williams-why-i-should-go-no-1-in-2019-nfl-draft?


AAF

Dunleavy NJ.com: These 25 former Giants made Alliance of American Football rosters: Where to watch Will Hill, Damontre Moore, Brad Wing and more
https://www.nj.com/expo/sports/g66l-2019/02/56e9a6b7513496/-these-25-former-giants-made-alliance-of-american-football-rosters-where-to-watch-will-hill-damontre-moore-brad-wing-and-more.html

Giants Birthdays 2-08

Mike Busch QB UDFA-South Dakota State 1987 NYG 1987 2-08-1962

Capital Journal.com: 7-10-2018
“Mike Busch was hired as principal of Stanley County High School at Monday's regular meeting of the Stanley County School Board.

Busch has coached football previously at Mobridge and at T.F. Riggs among other places. He played quarterback for the New York Giants in 1987.”

https://www.capjournal.com/news/mike-busch-returns-to-pierre-area-to-helm-stanley-county/article_d24e8cb0-84b0-11e8-80ea-2bf82b63ab3d.html

Don Harris DB W-WAS 1980 NYG 1980 2-08-1954

In Memoriam

Bruce Caldwell B UDFA-Yale 1928 NYG 1928 Born 2-08-1906 Died 2-15-1959

Society of Baseball Reseach:

“The pride of Ashton, Rhode Island, stood 6 feet tall and was made of 190 pounds of rippled muscle. He was a blond-haired, freckle-faced boy with a good-natured smile. Behind his friendly face an above-average mind was at work. Coming from a home with no economic advantages, he rose to academic heights and professional success; he became an All-American college football player at Yale, played in major-league baseball and football, managed prizefighters, and briefly was more famous than Babe Ruth in the year the Bambino hit his record 60 home runs.

He lived a cosmopolitan life but always remained a country boy, returning to the small town.

In his lifetime, he wore the flannels of the 1928 Cleveland Indians and the 1932 Brooklyn Dodgers, the shoulder pads of the New York Giants, the bars of a lieutenant commander in the US Navy, and the robes of a judge.

Bruce Caldwell was not the typical Yale boy. He wasn’t the well-to-do and well-prepped student who normally came to wear the Elis’ blue quilted football jersey or the baseball uniform with the Handsome Dan patch over the heart.

Instead of the leafy suburbs, Caldwell came from the impoverished American melting pot. He was born on February 8, 1906, in Ashton, Rhode Island, a mill village a few miles north of Providence. His father, James Young Caldwell, came with his family from Scotland when he was 5 years old and went to work at 9 as a weaver in the Ashton Mill on the banks of the Blackstone River, one of the conduits of the Industrial Revolution. James also pushed a broom at the Central Grammar School in nearby Valley Falls.

Bruce’s mother, Harriet Amanda Jackson, was born in Ashton. She and James had two children, Bruce and a daughter, Eva. At St. John’s Episcopal Church, the family heard the homilies of the Rev. William Pressey who baptized and confirmed the reserved youngster.

James and Harriet named their son after Robert Bruce, the 14th-century Scottish king. Bruce was a good student and a fine athlete at Cumberland High School, from which he graduated with 31 classmates on June 23, 1923. Though he stood out physically, Bruce was no dumb jock. He was a member of the National Honor Society. At the high-school graduation he participated in a debate the US government should own and operate coal mines.

Ashton is a part of the town of Cumberland. The town is not without its distinctions in baseball culture. Outfielder Rocco Baldelli and the Farrelly brothers, who wrote and directed the baseball-themed film Fever Pitch, grew up there. So did Bruce Caldwell. But the memory of Caldwell, one of the greatest Rhode Island-born athletes ever, is unknown to most people in his home state. His deeds blow anonymously by like a summer breeze.

As a halfback at Yale, Caldwell was a fast, physical ball carrier who cut well and punished his tacklers. (The 1927 Elis were retrospectively named the national champion by the College Football Researchers Association.) In his sophomore year he had been knocked out of a starting role by injuries. At the start of the 1927 season he was the sixth-string halfback. By season’s end he had been named an All-American by the Central Press Association, the Hearst Newspapers, and New York Sun sportswriter Lawrence Perry. This despite the fact that he was suddenly kicked off the Eli team with two games left.

Socially, Caldwell was out of place in the Yale backfield. His teammates prepped at the blue-blooded academies of Andover, Exeter, Hill, Hotchkiss, Carteret, Loomis, and St. Mark’s. Bruce graduated from Cumberland High, where he earned recognition for perfect attendance. At Yale he cleared tables at the Y Club in exchange for his meals and worked summers at a loom in the Ashton Mills to repay the loans for his Ivy League education.

On November 8, 1927, the Providence Evening Bulletin startled its readers with the news that their local favorite had been declared ineligible. Before enrolling at Yale, he had entered Brown University in the fall of 1923 and played in two Brown freshman games. Yale’s regulations, in an effort to end what was called tramp football in those days, barred students from a particular sport if they had played in freshman or varsity athletics in the sport at any other college. Caldwell had played two minutes for the Brown freshmen.

Though barred from the Eli gridiron, Calwell remained at Yale and in the spring he returned to the Yale baseball team, coached by Smoky Joe Wood. A second baseman, he could hit for average and power. Major-league teams were interested in him. He finished the baseball season with a .413 average.

After the last game of the season, Caldwell signed with the Cleveland Indians for a $3,000 bonus and a contract calling for $600 a month. His coach, Smoky Joe, had advised him. (Wood had played as an outfielder for the Indians after his arm went bad while he was with the Boston Red Sox.) The Indians were in fifth place at the time and the team’s first-year general manager, Billy Evans, was trying to strengthen the team. Wood predicted that within a couple of years Caldwell would rival Rogers Hornsby as a batter. (Caldwell certainly outranked the Rajah as a scholar; he graduated from Yale magna cum laude.

At the time Caldwell signed, the Indians needed a hitter with star potential. That season they were hot in April, good in May, and sinking like a stone in June. They had lost 21 of their last 27 games, including 11 losses in12 games, in the month before Caldwell signed. Caldwell seemed like an offensive cure, a puzzle piece to help right the team.

The Sporting News suggested that Caldwell’s fielding might be a hindrance: “It is said that the boy is a natural hitter, but only an ordinary fielder. That he will never become a major league second baseman is certain, and Billy Evans intends trying him at first base.

Cleveland tried Caldwell and six others at first base that year, including 34-year-old George Burns and the versatile Lew Fonseca. That didn’t leave much room for the subpar fielding Caldwell, except as a pinch-hitter. Between June 30 and September 7 he played in 14 games, pinch-hitting in all but one.

Suddenly the outlook brightened. Manager Roger Peckinpaugh installed Caldwell in right field on September 8. He started in four consecutive games and went 4-for-14. He singled and tripled against the Chicago White Sox. He singled, doubled, and stole a base against the St. Louis Browns. He handled seven fly balls in the field without trouble, and recorded one assist.

But the skein was a farewell jaunt. Caldwell’s cumulative batting average was .222. It was clear that he was not going to bring the offensive thunder that he had demonstrated in New Haven. His future with the Indians may have been bleak, but football beckoned. Caldwell signed a one-year contract with the New York Giants of the National Football League. He was to be paid $500 per game plus 25 percent of the net profits.

Caldwell said signing with the Giants for just one year was intentional. “I always liked baseball better. … That’s why I haven’t any plans beyond this season with the Giants,” he told F.G. Vosburgh of the New Haven Journal Courier. “After the football season is over, I’m going to start thinking about the baseball season with the Cleveland Indians … and most of all, I want to make good as a big-league ball player. It’s the game of games for me.”

Caldwell had an off-and-on season with the Giants. Often hampered by injuries, he played seldom, often riding the bench entirely in a game. Complete statistics for the period are not available, but Caldwell appears to have gained less than 100 yards rushing. He completed one pass and had two pass receptions. A shining moment came against the Green Bay Packers when he scored the Giants’ only touchdown in their 6-0 victory on a 30-yard pass reception. Against the Giants’ intracity rival the New York Yankees, Caldwell ran for a touchdown and drop-kicked a field goal as the Giants won, 10-9. (The game was played at Yankee Stadium, then five years old.)

But the competition in the NFL was tougher than in college. Caldwell was slowing down under the pressure of larger, stronger, and older opponents than he faced in college. This was grind-it-out football in light pads. You played both ways. You got hit, hurt, and continued to take the handoff, progressing a yard at a time. In the game against the Yankees, three different Giants took the ball in the last three yards gained before Caldwell plunged over. This was slug-it-out warfare.

The transient nature of pro football was no doubt evident to someone as intelligent as Bruce. Five days before the Yankees game he said he much preferred horsehide to pigskin. For the second time in three months, he was making other plans.

On Sunday, Nov. 4, The Giants played in the mud before a tiny Polo Grounds crowd of 3,000. It was a wet, frustrating 0-0 tie with the Frankford Yellow Jackets. Unable to gain traction, both teams spent the day burying their faces and cleats in the mud, poking fists, attempting vainly to force fumbles. There were 29 punts. A missed field goal in the opening minutes was the only legitimate scoring attempt. The Giants tried an aerial attack, tossing 12 passes in their last possession, but they couldn’t reach the red zone. Caldwell injured his leg on the first play of the day and left the game.

The Giants played again two days later, and Caldwell rode the bench as teammates Hinky Haines and Bill Eckhardt scored touchdowns to lead the team over Pottsville, 13-7, before 20,000 at the Polo Grounds. Haines swept around the ends with immunity. Eckhardt consistently ripped through the Maroons’ defense for good gains. Caldwell had plenty of time on the bench to contemplate his future.

Caldwell sat out the next game, on the 11th, and played briefly on the 18th after injuring his ankle. On the 25th the Giants played the Providence Steam Roller in Providence, more or less Caldwell’s home turf. The Steam Roller, who eventually won the league championship, blanked the Giants, 16-0. Caldwell was on the field in three quarters but carried the ball just twice. The first time he barely reached the line of scrimmage. Before the game the hometown crowd honored him and presented him with luggage. It could well be that he used the luggage to pack up and leave the Giants. He had just two weeks left as a New York Giant.

On December 2 the Giants lost to the Yankees again. Caldwell started the game, playing the first half until Mule Wilson took his place, and “failed to make any headway against the Yanks,” said the New York Times. He started his last game as a Giant the following week against Frankford in the cold and snow, but carried the ball just twice before he was replaced.

It was almost a ceremonial ending.  Caldwell was still a name. His status was featured in the newspaper accounts, “Led by Bruce Caldwell, former Yale back, the Giants could not get started. …”

Had the Giants kept him on the team just to sell tickets? His return to Providence had set an attendance record. And the Polo Grounds crowds were consistently averaging 20,000 despite what emerged as a disappointing 4-7-2 record, good for only sixth place in the 10-team league.

The parting came on December 11, 1928, when the Giants released Caldwell. The next day, the New Haven Journal Courier wrote that team officials believed that Caldwell was “not … rugged enough to stand the pro game.”

 “Caldwell is well liked by everyone on the club,” team secretary Harry March told the paper. “He has a fine disposition, a good football brain and is an all-around gentleman on and off the field. He is just too fragile for the heavy going.”

Within two days, the papers announced that Caldwell would take a stab at professional hockey, having secured a tryout with the Providence Reds of the Canadian American Hockey League. But little is known about his tryout with the Reds.

One thing went right for Caldwell in 1928. He had put his $3,000 signing bonus from the Indians into radio stock and it had doubled in five weeks. He cashed out quickly.  

Caldwell stuck with his plan to make it as an Indian, though it was clear that he wouldn’t be with the big club until his fielding improved...”

https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/80ee0141

John Cannella G UDFA-Fordham 1933 NYG 1933-1934 Born 2-08-1908 Died 10-30-1996

“By 1963, when President John F. Kennedy appointed him to the Federal bench, Judge Cannella had displayed a certain nimbleness in his career.
The son of a Manhattan shoemaker who became a bailiff, he had dreamed of becoming a doctor, but after he completed a pre-med course at Fordham in 1930, the reality of Depression finances forced him to switch to a less costly career.
Fortunately, Mr. Cannella had a marketable skill to help pay his law school bills. At Fordham he had been one of as many as 10 linemen who formed the original Seven Blocks of Granite, a designation later dusted off for the 1936 edition that included Vince Lombardi.
After playing two seasons with the Giants, Mr. Cannella received his law degree from Fordham in 1933 and joined a law firm closely connected with the Democratic political machine. However, with New York City under Republican control, he had to look to the Federal level for an assist into public service, becoming an assistant United States Attorney in charge of narcotics prosecutions in Manhattan in 1940, and later serving as a lawyer with the Internal Revenue Service in New York.
When William O'Dwyer succeeded Fiorello H. La Guardia and restored Tammany's influence over patronage in 1946, Mr. Cannella was on his way, becoming Commissioner of Water, Sewer, Gas and Electricity in 1946, then Commissioner of Licenses in 1948, and winning the first of a series of municipal judicial appointments, to the old Court of Special Sessions, in 1949.
After his appointment to the Federal bench in 1963, Judge Cannella handled a number of celebrated cases. It was he, for example, who imposed a 2 1/2-year sentence on Clifford Irving in 1972 after the author pleaded guilty to conspiracy in connection with his bogus biography of Howard Hughes.
In 1981, Judge Cannella upheld the right of New York City to stop collecting dues for the teachers' union because of a nine-day strike in 1975, and in 1985 he issued a crucial ruling that cleared the way for Carl C. Icahn's takeover of T.W.A.
In 1987, while presiding over the early stages of the Wedtech corruption trials, Judge Cannella, who thought he had seen and heard it all, was dumbfounded when Representative Mario Biaggi, the Bronx Democrat who had been indicted on bribery and other charges in the Wedtech case, entered a thunderous plea of "absolutely not guilty." Until then, Judge Cannella mused from the bench, he had been aware of only four pleas in criminal cases: guilty, not guilty, remains mute, and nolo contendere, or no contest.
"Now I have heard a fifth one," he said. (The novel plea proved little help to Mr. Biaggi. He was eventually convicted of 18 felony counts, sentenced to eight years in prison, and released for health reasons after serving two.)
A long time resident of Douglaston, Queens, John M. Cannella was 88 at the time of his death in 1996, and had been active as a senior judge in the Southern District of New York until late 1994.”

http://www.dlnhs.org/neighborhoods/douglastonhill/modules/residents/Cannella.cfm

Jim White RT/LT UDFA-Notre Dame 1946 NYG 1946-1950 Born 2-08-1920 Died 4-1987

“Jim was a big guy—6 foot two, weighing 219 pounds, when Frank Leahy, Notre Dame football coach, assigned him to left tackle on the Irish powerhouse.  Jim was considered one of the finest tackles coach Frank Leahy had at Notre Dame in the 1940s. White was instrumental in leading the Fighting Irish to the national championship in 1943 and helping his quarterback, Angelo Bertelli, win the Heisman Trophy.  White was honored for his outstanding line play by finishing ninth in the Heisman voting himself and being named a consensus All-American.

There was no Super Bowl back then, but there were outstanding players and teams who were recognized as consensus players and a consensus team, chosen by votes from sports writers and members of news organizations that followed sports and formed opinions as to who were the best players and what team would consist of these players.
Thus there were chosen by a consensus of writers, editors and experts of various degrees.  The players were known as All-Americans and the consensus team named in 1942 was known as The 1943 College Football All-America team, composed of college football players selected as All-Americans by various organizations and writers. The organizations choosing the teams included: the United Press, the Associated Press, Collier’s Weekly magazine, the New York Sun newspaper, and Sporting News.
The 1943 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 1943 college football season. The Irish, coached by Frank Leahy, ended the season with 9 wins and 1 loss, winning the national championship by consensus.  The 1943 team became the fourth Fighting Irish team to win the national title and the first for coach Leahy.  Led by Notre Dame’s first Heisman Trophy winner, Angelo Bertelli, Notre Dame beat seven teams ranked in the top 13 and played seven of its ten games on the road. Despite a season ending loss to Great Lakes, Notre Dame was awarded its first national title by the Associated Press.
As the world continued to be enveloped by war from Europe and North Africa to the Far East where we were at war with Japan since they bombed Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941, the war had a larger and larger impact on the home front of the United States.  On the campus of Notre Dame the U.S. Navy had a growing presence in the lives of the students, including the now-acclaimed football team.  The fighting Irish were going to war...”

“In early 1942, Notre Dame turned over four of its resident halls to the Navy for its training, which also was known as the Midshipmen’s School.  With the United States fully engaged in World War II by 1943, the Navy needed more men to serve and it again teamed with Notre Dame to form an additional program.
In 1943, Notre Dame defeated the teams that finished No. 2 (Iowa Pre-Flight, a semi-pro World War II outfit), No. 3 (Michigan) and No. 4 — none other than the Naval Academy in Annapolis.
A 9-1 season concluded in 1943 Notre Dame suffered a 19-14 loss to the Great Lakes Bluejackets.   Great Lakes, which finished No. 6, also a semi-pro operation during the war years, was comprised of seamen (hence Bluejackets).  After the 1943 season, Notre Dame’s Coach Leahy and his entire staff volunteered for active duty in World War II. They joined — what else? — the Navy.  So it’s no surprise that Jim White got into the war in the Navy.  But he was still got to play some football in, in 1944 as a member of the College All-Stars in a game with the Chicago Bears.
Jim White turned pro at the end of the war when his tour of duty with the Navy ended.  He was recruited by the New York Giants and played on that team from 1946 until 1950.”

http://www.edgewaterresidential.com/2014/03/edgewater-recalls-football-hero-of-wwii-era/

1-30-1946

NYT:
“The New York Football Giants yesterday laid one of the foundation stones in the new structure they are building for the 1946 season. They signed Jim White, key lineman of the great 1943 Notre Dame football team that beat Army, 26 0.”