Friday Reading

Giants

QB

Traina Football Maven: Training Camp Roster Preview: Eli Manning
https://footballmaven.io/nygiants/api/amp/nygiants/news/training-camp-roster-preview-eli-manning-vzaqMDYOYU6fhlac2vaaqw/

WR

Giants.com: Giants Insider: Corey Coleman on feeling more comfortable in the offense
WR Corey Coleman says having a full offseason within the offense has helped him get ready for the 2019 season (Video)
https://www.giants.com/video/giants-insider-corey-coleman-on-feeling-more-comfortable-in-the-offense

Giants.com: Giants Insider: Russell Shepard on depth at wide receiver
Wide receiver Russell Shepard on the competition at the WR position and the potential of the offense in 2019 (Video)
https://www.giants.com/video/giants-insider-russell-shepard-on-depth-at-wide-receiver

TE

Schwartz NYP: Giants tight ends: Potential star followed by workmanlike group
https://nypost.com/2019/07/05/giants-tight-ends-potential-star-followed-by-workmanlike-group/amp/

DL

Stapleton The Record: NY Giants training camp preview: Breaking down the defensive line
https://amp.northjersey.com/amp/1566582001

SS

Dunleavy NJ.com: Will Giants use Jabrill Peppers in way they were afraid to with Odell Beckham? Trying to plug 1 of last year’s big holes
https://www.nj.com/giants/2019/07/will-giants-use-jabrill-peppers-in-way-they-were-afraid-to-with-odell-beckham-trying-to-plug-1-of-last-years-big-holes.html

FS

Pflum BBV: The Giants should consider Washington State S Jalen Thompson
https://www.bigblueview.com/2019/7/5/20678955/2019-ny-giants-nfl-supplemental-draft-washington-state-safety-jalen-thompson-scouting-report

PK

Valentine BBV: Giants’ 90-man roster: Patience with Aldrick Rosas paid off
https://www.bigblueview.com/2019/7/5/20001818/giants-90-man-roster-patience-with-aldrick-rosas-paid-off

NFL

Heifetz The Ringer: A Second-Year Head Coach Is Guaranteed to Make the Super Bowl This Season
At least that’s what recent history tells us. Let’s run down the options.
https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2019/7/5/20681669/second-year-head-coach-super-bowl-matt-nagy-frank-reich

BUFFALO
Veronica Buffalo News: Continuity in secondary gives Bills 'more brains that are on one page'
https://buffalonews.com/2019/07/05/bn-blitz-newsletter-continuity-in-secondary-gives-bills-more-brains-that-are-on-one-page/

CLEVELAND
Labbe Cleveland Plain Dealer: Can Drew Stanton win games for the Browns? Cleveland Browns 19 questions
https://www.cleveland.com/browns/2019/07/can-drew-stanton-win-games-for-the-browns-cleveland-browns-19-questions.html

DENVER
Broncos.com: Coach's Corner: Former Kansas State HC Bill Snyder on what makes Dalton Risner 'quicker than the clock would indicate'
https://www.denverbroncos.com/news/coach-s-corner-former-kansas-state-hc-bill-snyder-on-what-makes-dalton-risner-qu

DETROIT
Twentyman Lions.com: Reshaped TE room gives Lions versatility and flexibility
https://www.detroitlions.com/news/twentyman-reshaped-te-room-gives-lions-versatility-and-flexibility

JACKSONVILLE
Schwab Yahoo Sports: 2019 NFL preview: With Nick Foles, Jaguars try to recapture a brief run at glory
https://sports.yahoo.com/amphtml/2019-nfl-preview-with-nick-foles-jaguars-try-to-recapture-a-brief-run-at-glory-124058901.html

NEW ENGLAND
Grenham NESN: Rob Gronkowski ‘Can’t Say’ How He’ll Feel When NFL Season Begins
https://nesn.com/2019/07/rob-gronkowski-cant-say-how-hell-feel-when-nfl-season-begins/amp/

McBride Boston Globe: Trey Flowers left a big hole to fill on the Patriots defensive line
https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/patriots/2019/07/04/trey-flowers-left-big-hole-fill-patriots-defensive-line/Qx2EEOlFYb2vFmgjrXXUTJ/story.html

NEW YORK JETS
Stypulkoski NJ.com: Jets Top 20: Can Brian Poole solve Jets’ years-long inconsistency at slot corner
https://www.nj.com/jets/2019/07/jets-top-20-can-brian-poole-solve-jets-years-long-inconsistency-at-slot-corner.html

OAKLAND
Williams NBC Bay Area: Raiders Players See Antonio Brown as a Positive Force
https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Raiders-Players-See-Antonio-Brown-as-a-Positive-Force-512222011.html

PHILADELPHIA
Kempski Phillyvoice: Eagles 2018 dropped passes tally, with analysis
https://www.phillyvoice.com/eagles-2018-dropped-passes-tally-analysis/amp/#click=https://t.co/SgcuQahcqM

PITTSBURGH
Adamski Pittsburgh Tribune Review: Steelers 2-a-days: Ramon Foster extends decade-long tenure; Lavon Hooks keeps sticking
https://triblive.com/sports/steelers-2-a-days-ramon-foster-extends-decade-long-tenure-lavon-hooks-keeps-sticking/

SAN FRANCISCO
Williams NBC Bay Area: Ford and Bosa Expected to Give 49ers' Defense an Edge
https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Ford-and-Bosa-Expected-to-Give-49ers-Defense-an-Edge-512221141.html

Colleges/Draft

OL
Mellor PFF: Oregon's offensive line returns five potential All-American candidates
https://www.profootballfocus.com/news/college-oregons-offensive-line-returns-five-potential-all-american-candidates

DB
Reid The Draft Network: PROSPECT MICROSCOPE: A SIT-DOWN INTERVIEW WITH LEVONTA TAYLOR
https://thedraftnetwork.com/articles/prospect-microscope--a-sit-down-interview-with-florida-state-db-levonta-taylor

History

Timms/Bacharach The Tennessean: Tracing a tragedy: Reconstructing the final days of former NFL QB Steve McNair
https://amp.usatoday.com/amp/1647508001

Turney PFJ: Deep Dive into the Hall of Fame Credentials of Ken Riley and Lemar Parrish
http://nflfootballjournal.blogspot.com/2019/07/deep-dive-into-hall-of-fame-credentials.html

Giants Birthdays 7-05

Kevin Boothe C/LG/RG W-OAK 2007 NYG 2007-2013 7-05-1983

John Johnson DT W-CHI 1969 NYG 1969 7-05-1941

Jim Miller P W-DAL 1987 NYG 1987 7-05-1957

Frank Youso RT D2-Minnesota 1958 NYG 1958-1960 7-05-1936

International Falls Journal (1-26-2009)

“Mark Bowden, author of “The Best Game Ever Played,” refers to that particular game as “the birth of the modern NFL.”
The game’s fame was illustrated recently as Youso’s 6-foot, 4-inch titanic frame was ensconced in an airline seat destined for Baltimore. He and son Shawn were headed for the 50th anniversary reunion of the game’s surviving players.
As word quickly spread aboard that December flight, passengers were soon asking Youso for his autograph — something which is fairly routine in the 72-year-old’s life after pro-football. His mail still includes collector cards and other items from fans asking for his signature. But Youso, whose pro tenure includes the New York Giants, the Minnesota Vikings and the Oakland Raiders, clearly got a kick out of one woman’s request:
“She asked if she could touch me,” he said, looking amused.
The flight itself was a memory in the making for passengers who were also fans. Youso entertained them with his personal sketches of Vince Lombardi and Tom Landry who went on to become coaching legends, and of his renowned NFL colleagues such as Frank Gifford, Johnny Unitas and many others.
Deboarding, another woman shared a parting sentiment with Youso. “She said that ‘meeting me was the best Christmas gift she ever had,’” he recounted.
So what was it about that particular game in old Yankee Stadium that has propelled it through the decades as the single-most memorable contest in the history of football? The answers lie in the essence of a timely trio, say the analysts.

The primary reason is that for the very first time the championship game was nationally broadcast on television — and 45 million people were watching. Add to that combined fumbles and the fact that the game went into the NFL’s first-ever overtime — an occurrence which was then unformatted and unanticipated. The excitement “had people glued to their TVs,” Youso said.
Thirdly, the outcome was unexpected — the Colts won 23-17. “If the Giants had won, it might have been just another game,” added Youso, whose position on the field would be changed for the second half of the game.
Born in South International Falls, the 1954 Falls High School graduate got his first athletic direction from local coaches Wayne Haglund, Les Hamalainen and Butch Larson. They were three of the best he ever had, Youso said. Youso was designated All State in his senior year and he chose to play football for the University of Minnesota Gophers, where he was selected All American in his junior year.
The No. 2 draft choice by the Giants in 1958, the offensive tackle was a rookie on that monumental evening when the greatest game was played.
The Colts were leading 14-3 at halftime when an injury to Giants defensive lineman Rosey Grier (who, as Bobby Kennedy’s bodyguard, would one day wrestle the gun from the hands of assassin Sirhan Sirhan) changed the course of the game.
Giants coach Jim Lee Howell paced the bench in a quandary, wondering who should replace Grier. Vince Lombardi (then the Giants’ offensive coordinator) suggested Youso because of his formidable size. Fatefully, the offensive tackle found himself playing defense in the second half, with lacerated and bleeding fingers.
The Giants took a 17-14 lead but the teams tied when the Colts rallied with 7 seconds remaining. Superstar plays by Unitas and Alan Ameche wrote history for the Baltimore Colts as well as for the NFL when the team’s victory arrived as the clock ticked into overtime.

Youso recently told another newspaper how he felt about being pulled from his usual position when the Colts’ touchdown brought sudden death for the Giants: “I was on the other side — I was always glad about that.”
Youso told The Daily Journal about the intimidating rage exhibited by New York fans when the Giants lost a game. “They loved you when you won, but they were vicious when you lost,” he said.
In 1958, football was playing second fiddle to the nation’s favorite pastime — baseball. Gifford, the golden boy of the New York Giants who became a well-known sportscaster, wrote in his recently published book “The Glory Game,” that football players in those days didn’t play for the fame: “... celebrity hadn’t really attached itself to professional football back then.” Seventeen of those involved in the 1958 Giants-Colts game were future Hall-of-Famers.
Half a century later, Youso found himself reunited with five of the 15 still-living Giants (from an original team of 38) and 15 Colts alumni, in a gigantic room at the M& T Bank Stadium (home of the Baltimore Ravens). Neither Gifford or Grier attended, but Youso has kept in touch with them over the years.
Back during that first-televised championship, it would have been impossible to imagine the electronic evolution that would eventually create the high-tech media on hand to cover the reunion of its players 50 years later. The reunion included interviews by ESPN and Youso also shared his views on the famous game at the podium. Recently, ESPN ran a colorized version of the game which the alumnus said made him feel like he was on the field again.
The opening event of the three-day reunion drew about 2,500 fans and also raised over $500,000 for abused children, Lou Gehrig’s Disease, and aging and destitute pro-football veterans. The alumni would also attend a private dinner with the Ravens and a reception with the top sponsors for the reunion.
Gifford’s book also included a description of who made up the team: “History remembers the bold-faced names from the game that day. But most of the men who played ... in that glory game ... weren’t bold-faced guys. They were men of their time: war veterans, Depression small-town kids. They were down-to-earth Al Barry, and the always-laughing Frank Youso...”

Youso talked with The Journal about what moving to The Big Apple was like for a young guy raised on the isolated Canadian border.
“I went from Minnesota right to New York City,” he said. “But the team all stayed in one little area of the Bronx, near the stadium.” Youso brought his wife Mary to New York and she would deliver their first child, Raynita, in the same month as the famous game.
During the season, the athletes would spend their time between practice camp in Vermont and New York City, where the Yousos lived with the other players and their families in the fancy Concourse Plaza Hotel. It was just up the hill from the stadium and the Giants went back and forth on foot, past quaint little shops in the borough.
Youso can vividly recall the Yankee Stadium locker room and its camaraderie. And he got to know the clientele at a small Irish pub the players frequented — priests such as Father O’Malley and a group of Irish cops. The young couple would sometimes go to the Copacabana (of the famous Barry Manilow song) on East 60th Street where they heard Nat King Cole perform. Dozens of famous singers made their debut at the Copa in the 1940s and ‘50s.
Borderland photos depict Youso’s return after the big game. One shows the hometown hero being interviewed by FHS Coach Larson at the airport; another shows him waving from a car in a main street parade which welcomed him home. Youso would play for the Giants through 1960 after which he went on to play for the Vikings, and finally the Oakland Raiders.
But Youso returned to his hometown for good after a knee injury ended his pro football career. He has lived most of his life in Borderland.

SI 2-06-1961

“FOOTBALL—MINNESOTA VIKINGS, placing the accent on youth, included 13 first-year men among 36 selections from 12 other National Football League teams to form their first roster. They also picked experienced pros Frank Youso of New York, Hugh McElhenny of San Francisco and Don Joyce of Baltimore. Already at quarterback for the Vikings is George Shaw, acquired from New York earlier in a trade.”

SI 11-04-1963

“Not all of Al Davis' player changes have required salesmanship. A week before the opening game against Houston it was clear that Davis would have to cut one offensive tackle from the squad. The Raiders had two experienced offensive tackles who had looked miserable during the exhibition season. Everyone wondered which would go and which would stay. Davis aggressively released both and signed on Frank Youso, a former New York Giant who had just been cut by Minnesota. "That really jolted the team," says an Oakland official. "It made them realize that no one's job was secure. It was a dangerous move to make, bringing in a new man just before our first game. If Youso hadn't worked out, Al might have lost the confidence of the team." But Youso did work out, and the team has come to look upon Davis as some sort of miracle man...”

St.George News Tribune (11-22-2016)

“For as long as the recently settled class-action lawsuit against the NFL, filed on behalf of retired players now plagued by concussion-related brain injuries, had dragged on, International Falls’ Frank Youso wasn’t terribly optimistic that a resolution was imminent.
“They’ve got so much money that they just keep pushing it aside,” the 80-year-old Youso said by phone earlier this month of the richest sports league in the world.

Less than a week after Youso spoke those words, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the league’s $1 billion settlement that covers more than 20,000 former players.

He played for the New York Giants, Minnesota Vikings and Oakland Raiders, then a member of the American Football League. In 1958, the year Youso was drafted in the second round by New York, he appeared in the NFL championship game - the “Greatest Game Ever Played” - where the Giants lost in overtime to Johnny Unitas and the Baltimore Colts. After three years in New York, the Giants released Youso so he could play closer to home, with the expansion Vikings. The offensive tackle became the first player ever signed by the Vikings, butted heads with coach Norm Van Brocklin for two seasons (1961-62) and, following a short-lived retirement, spent his final three years with Al Davis and the Raiders.

Youso says he tore up both knees in Oakland - an injury to the right one ultimately ended his career. Today, he says, “I can’t feel anything in either leg, from my knees down to my toes.”
While those health issues are debilitating in their own right, more concerning is the effect of countless head impacts Youso endured on the field.
According to the complaint: “As a result, Youso has experienced cognitive and other difficulties including, but not limited to, headaches, dizziness, loss of memory, dementia, depression, fatigue, sleep problems, irritability, and neck and cervical spine arthritis and associated numbness/tingling.”
He says his neurosurgeon has told him he has signs of Alzheimer’s disease.
“If I’m going to get something in the garage, I have to go back about three, four times before I remember what it is,” Youso said.
The NFL estimates that “6,000 former players - or nearly three in 10 - could develop Alzheimer’s disease or moderate dementia,” according to the Associated Press.
Youso is a 1954 graduate of International Falls. He went on to play football at the University of Minnesota.
He says his first salary in the NFL was $8,000, plus a $2,000 bonus. When he retired from the Raiders, he was making about $14,000. The recent settlement with the league stipulates that the average payout will be about $190,000, but that is dependent on several variables, including age and playing experience. Because Youso is 80, his payment will be significantly less.
He hated to see the lawsuit repeatedly shoved to the backburner, not so much because of what it meant for him but because others needed the financial assistance.
“I know people, people that I played with, who are worse off than me,” Youso had said. “They’re just hoping this comes through and they get a little money.”