Yes, you read that correctly. Mets VP of Media Relations Jay Horwitz has been a New York Giants season ticket holder since 1963, which means he's seen a lot of the good and a lot of the bad over the years. We had the chance to ask Jay a few questions as we head into the big showdown with the Jets on Saturday:

Big Blue View: How long have you been a Giants fan, and what are your top two or three memories of them?

Jay Horwitz: I have been a Giants fans since 1956. I have had season tickets since 1963. Phil Simms' 22-25 against Denver in the Super Bowl; the Patriots' Super Bowl game; and YA Tittle throwing seven TD passes against the Redskins, I believe in the early 1960's.

BBV: How do you think the last two games of the season will play out?

JH: I think the Giants will rise up and beat both the Jets and the Cowboys, and get into the playoffs. Look for a big game for Eli.

BBV: Being an employee of the Mets for so many years, do you remember anything specifically about when the Jets played at Shea?

JH: I wasn't much of a Jets fans so I didn't pay much attention. I only remember they opened on the road a lot so they wouldn't conflict with us.

BBV: Do you think Eli Manning should receive MVP consideration this year and why or why not?

JH: Eli should certainly be considered for MVP Really, no one has been better in the fourth quarter. He has proven he is one of the Elite QB's in the league.

BBV: Prediction for the game this Saturday?

JH: Giants 31, Jets 24

I like that prediction. How about you guys?

Watch Spencer Paysinger play for the New York Giants -- on special teams and at outside linebacker -- and he does not look like what he is. Meaning he does not look like an undrafted rookie free agent trying to figure out what is going on and make an NFL roster without the benefit of any offseason mini-camps or opportunities to learn the playbook.

What Paysinger looks like is an athletic player who appears to know more about what he is doing than you would expect from a 23-year-old who has been in an NFL camp for a month.

Maybe that should not be surprising, considering Paysinger's pedigree. The former Oregon Duck grew up in a football family. His father, Donald Paysinger, was once an assistant with Division I San Jose State and is now head coach at Beverly Hills School. His uncle, Carter Paysinger, was head coach at Beverly Hills High for 19 seasons before turning over the reins to Donald.

"I was a ballboy when I was two years old and a waterboy when I was five years old, so I've been around sports since forever," Paysinger said Wednesday while taking a brief break from the Giants' hectic schedule to chat by phone. "It did give me an advantage being around a coaching environment such as that."

It is not difficult to make the argument that it is Paysinger, not any of the players drafted by the Giants last April, who has been the most impressive rookie during this preseason. Heading into Thursday's final preseason game against the New England Patriots Paysinger has a team-leading 14 tackles in three games.

Continue reading this post »

Some of you here at Big Blue View were recently enjoying the video clip of Tyler Sash smashing into a cameraman during the NFL Scouting Combine a few months back. So, when I had the opportunity to talk to Sash, drafted in the sixth round by the New York Giants (198th overall) I could not resist asking him about it.

"I told the quarterback, I think it was Yates from North Carolina, ‘throw it,' because I wanted to go get it, I didn't want to have an underthrow. I didn't want to waste a rep, I wanted to show the coaches that I could go get the ball," said Sash, who chuckled good-naturedly when discussing the incident over the phone. "He threw the ball about five yards out of bounds and I just kept running. I wasn't going to stop like the play was over.

"I ran the guy over. I felt bad that I did it, I think everybody thought I was a jerk."

More likely, it showed Sash's determination to make plays -- and probably helped him in the eyes of scouts and general managers around the NFL.

Sash was one of the players we profiled prior to the draft. From that profile, here is a snippet from our friends at Mocking The Draft.

"Sash plays in a pro-style zone defense and should be able to immediately step onto the field for whatever team drafts him. He has good speed and is a sound tackler. He's also shown that he can lead a defense."

From the National Football Post in that same profile:

"He isn't the most athletically gifted safety and needs to mature as a tackler, but he has good instincts, finds the football and knows how to make plays on the ball."

Continue reading this post »

As bloody a reputation as the physically grueling NFC East has developed over time, speed remains invaluable.

New York Giants fans will remember the Philadelphia Eagles' DeSean Jackson effectively dashing their postseason hopes with a last-second punt return in Week 15, and the rest of the division has already felt the impact of young, explosive players like Jeremy Maclin, Dez Bryant and Miles Austin.

When the Giants selected Jerrel Jernigan in the third round of April's 2011 NFL Draft, the pick was widely seen as an effort to keep pace with the burgeoning explosiveness of their division.

The 5-foot-8, 181-pound wide receiver from Troy set school career records in receptions (262), receptions per game (5.24) and receiving yards (3,128) in his four years as a Trojan, and his abilities as a kick and punt returner also caught the eyes of the Giants' front office. Jernigan is Troy's third all-time leading kickoff returner with 67 returns for 1,580 yards, and he also is 12th in program history with 372 punt return yards. At the NFL Scouting Combine in late February, Jernigan ran a 4.46-second 40-yard dash, tied for ninth among wide receivers.

"My speed, [gaining] yards after contact, making guys miss, ability to run past people," Jernigan answered when asked about the strengths of his game.

Continue reading this post »

The New York Giants are the fourth NFL organization cornerback/return specialist Brian Witherspoon has been with since his career began in 2008. He would, of course, like to stick around for a while.

"I know this is my chance. I was going all out for the other teams, but I've got to go all out and beyond," Witherspoon said via phone earlier this week. "I've gotta lay everything out on the table. This could probably be my last shot."

Witherspoon, 25, played the final game of the season for the Giants at the end of 2010 after the team placed cornerback/return man Will Blackmon on injured reserve. For the past couple of seasons he has lived the vagabond NFL existence of a player trying to find a home, trying to prove once and for all that he belongs in the league.

Witherspoon made the Jacksonville Jaguars roster in 2008 as an undrafted free agent from tiny Stillman College. He played in 14 games that season and made an impact as a kickoff and punt return specialist. He averaged 11.3 yards per return on 17 punts that season, ninth in the league. He was also one of the league's top kickoff return men, averaging 24 yards per return on 52 attempts. His 1,250 kickoff return yards were ninth in the league.

Continue reading this post »

When the New York Giants drafted USF linebacker Jacquian Williams in the sixth round of the 2011 NFL Draft (202nd overall) the general reaction among draft analysts was "the Giants did WHAT?" ESPN did not have its standard profile data ready to display about Williams. In his post-draft analysis of the Giants' draft , Draft Countdown's Scott Wright said "I was a little surprised he was drafted."

Williams is used to dealing with the doubts. During a recent conversation he said it seems he has always heard them.

"That's something that's been going on all my life," Williams said. "I've always been underrated, so that would be nothing new. When I hear it it's just another reason why I start working even harder to prove my point that I'm a good player and I put in the work and I love this game and I'm good at this game."

Williams said it seems like he has had to prove he belongs ever since he began playing football.

"I think it's been like that since high school, even Pop Warner I was always underrated," Williams said. "It's something that I've always been through in my life, and I accepted it and continued to work and wait for my time."

Continue reading this post »

Da'Rel Scott Highlights 2010 (via r48sweep)

Let's get the bad news with Da'Rel Scott out of the way right now. Scott grew up in Conshohocken, Pa., just outside of Philadelphia. That means he grew up surrounded by, and in a family of, Philadelphia Eagles fans. And he admits he was one. Until the Giants selected him in the seventh round of the 2011 NFL Draft, that is.

"My family is with me 100 percent," Scott said via phone Sunday evening. "We all grew up Eagles fans, but they changed to Giants fans automatically when I got the call."

Now that we have that out of the way let's talk about what Scott brings to the Giants, and his potential impact. What he brings is speed, and lots of it. To be exact, 4.34 40-yard dash speed. He brings big-play ability, having averaged 5.6 yards per carry at the University of Maryland. He brings the ability to catch the ball out of the backfield, having caught 48 passes during his time with the Terrapins.

Continue reading this post »

When the New York Giants drafted Michigan State linebacker Greg Jones in the sixth round of the 2011 NFL Draft the reaction around here was almost universally positive. I had an opportunity to speak with Jones Tuesday afternoon, and subsequently learn much more about him.

Read through this, and the links at the end of the post, and my guess is you will like the young man even more.

Want an example? Try this quote:

"I know that the Giants fans will see a player who [is] hard-working, who will step up when the time is called upon, who will be a leader," Jones said. "I'm always the type of guy that just leads. I don't mean to do it on purpose, I don't mean to step on people's toes or anything like that. I feel the need to step up and then I do it. I do the very best job I can do."

Jones was selected in the sixth round by the Giants, 185th overall. He said the selection surprised him.

"I had no clue that they were even interested in me," Jones said. "We talked at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, but other than that we didn't really talk much at all.

"I didn't know what their linebacker situation was. Looking at the type of guys they have already and the type of defense that's already there ... I really think it's going to be a good fit."

The Giants obviously hope so.

Continue reading this post »