Land of the Giants: Court-room edition

by Ed Valentine on Jul 30, 2009 7:00 AM EDT in New York Giants News

New York Giants' middle linebacker Antonio Pierce will testify todau in front of the grand jury investigating Plaxico Burress' shooting

Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News has the details.

Pierce’s testimony will come one day after Burress took his turn in front of the grand jury in the hopes of convincing them not to indict him on charges of carrying an unlicensed and loaded firearm in Manhattan. Pierce, of course, was with Burress at The Latin Quarter club in Manhattan on Nov. 29 of last year when the ex-Giants receiver shot himself in the leg.

Pierce allegedly removed the gun from the scene and took it to Burress’ home in Totowa, N.J. As a result of that, the Manhattan DA recently informed Pierce’s attorney, Michael Bachner, that Pierce could be facing charges, too.

Of course, some skeptics thought the DA’s public sabre rattling was a way of getting Pierce to testify against his former teammate and friend. For months it had been assumed Pierce wasn’t going to face charges at all for his role in the shooting. Yesterday Giants co-owner John Mara came out in defense of Pierce, saying any charges against the linebacker would be "unwarranted".

Now let's look around at some of the other stories floating around the Inter-Google about the Giants. Hopefully, they are a little more pleasant to discuss.

Eagles' blogger has his say

Wednesday I linked to a piece I did for The Washington Post regarding the recent comments by Team President Joe Banner that the Eagles have the NFL's best roster. Well, JasonB from Bleeding Green Nation is also part of The Post's panel. He has also weighed in on Banner's comments. Here is some what he wrote in The Post.

Optimism and grand declarations are fairly common with the Eagles. The question Eagles fans have always asked is whether they really believe what they say, or if they just like positive talk? All that said, I think Banner has a strong argument to make here.

This Eagles team probably has more talent than the one that went to the Super Bowl in 2004. The defense is younger and more athletic. The linebacking corps especially, which doesn't have a member older than 25, is miles better than that 2004 team. The wide receiver position is deeper now than it ever has been in the Reid era. There are very few positions on this Eagles team that a person can point to as an obvious weakness.

Cold, Hard Football Facts names its best 8 NFL quarterbacks

The fact that Eli Manning did not make this list didn't really bother me. What did bug me is CHFF's statement that the two quarterbacks they had the hardest time leaving off their list were Joe Flacco of Baltimore and Matt Ryan of Atlanta. I like Flacco and Ryan, but at this point in their careers ranking them ahead of Eli is ridiculous.

Rucker confident heading into camp

At 24, Micah Rucker has already failed in a couple of opportunities to make NFL teams in both Kansas City and Pittsburgh. Despite heavy competition, it seems the 6-foot-6 Rucker feels good about his chances.

Mostly, Rucker said, immaturity tackled him, but he’s wiser now and much more mature. He said he knows the playbook and all receiving positions for the defending NFC East champion Giants. He feels his time is now.

"You know what, man, I really think it is," Rucker said. "I feel like there’s a real opportunity here and the sky can be the limit. I’ve been putting in the work, I’ve been putting in the time. I feel like this camp can really be different because of everything I’ve learned in the past year to get ready for this thing."

Tyree Keeping the faith

David Tyree knows it won't be easy for him to make the team this season.

"I'm a particular man of faith, and I really felt like God did something great in my life -- not about me -- but he put something great in my life," Tyree said about the XLII catch. "Then to have it snatched away at a whim. At first it was a raw taste of humility to get you to understand how short-lived some moments can be, even though it's had a tremendous impact.

"My greatest desire was not to be defined by one moment. I still feel the catch was more the beginning of something than the end of something. That's what I am anxious about this year."

By the way, NFL.com will be following Tyree throughout camp.

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Comments

Eagles are definitely a well balanced and deep team

and they get all this love to go all the way. The Giants also are a well balanced and deep team… and they get love to maybe get a wildcard berth. This is not an indictment of the Eagles (who I happen to agree are quite strong), but more of the writers who seem to have written off the Giants. I know some out there still like the G-Men a bit to do something, but what more do they have to do to get some love?

Then again, as it has been pointed out, this team tends to play well when disrespected for some reason, so maybe it is all for the best.

by brisulph on Jul 30, 2009 7:44 AM EDT reply actions

same thing happened last year

with the cowboys. I’m not saying the eagles are going to implode that badly, but the darlings of the press in the pre-season (with the possible exception of the patriots) rarely go all the way.

by catsmeat84 on Jul 30, 2009 8:01 AM EDT up reply actions

interesting defense

I always thought that the Super Bowl team was the weakest of the of the Eagles run. Then again I thought that about the Colts too, and you could definitely make the same argument for our championship too.

by queler on Jul 30, 2009 8:59 AM EDT reply actions

Schadenfreude

Is a word that means that the bad person inside me is gleeful with the knowledge that the higher the expectations, the greater the misery when it all comes to pieces!
You know the fan base is at a fever pitch because of the troll action over here being so constant. It reminds me of how, if you have two dogs of different ages, the puppy will always try to engage the older dog in a little scrapping. It gets me wondering, do we have a bunch of trolls over there proclaiming our certain glory this coming season?
Six weeks to football! tick tock tick tock….

You play to win the game!

by Simms-McConkey on Jul 30, 2009 9:06 AM EDT reply actions

LB Depth

Alot of talk about what if something happens to Pierce be it injury or “other”. Dont forget that Kiwanuka can play LB and others can be shuffeled around a bit to play the middle. Phili may look great on paper but injuries are such a huge factor in the NFL I think the Giants depth make them the a far superior team.

by chris_NYG on Jul 30, 2009 10:21 AM EDT reply actions