I know we have covered the Giants' draft choices in a variety of wats this week, but I hope you guys are up for just a little bit more about the players we hope will be future stars for Big Blue.
That's because I have been scouring the Inter-Google for interesting, and maybe off-beat, stories about the Giants' newest players. I have found a few things worth sharing.
- The Charlotte Observer spoke with a former high school coach of No. 1 pick Hakeem Nicks. The coach, Phil Williams, was effusive in his praise.
“Hakeem Nicks is the best kid and best athlete,” he said.
Williams said in his coaching career, which spanned four decades, he often coached good kids who weren't the best players and great players who weren't the best people. It's rare to have Nicks' combination, he said.
“Nicks is a fun kid to be around,” Williams said. “He does everything you ask him to do, says ‘Yes, sir' and ‘No, sir' and he works himself to death even though he's already better than everybody else.
“I remember he didn't drop one pass during Shrine Bowl practice, not one. He's just a fabulous young man. I hope he makes $50 billion in the NFL.”
- I know 'mahmoodzaky' linked to a piece about Ramses Barden in a recent Fanpost. It's a great piece, and I thought I would expand on it here by sharing a couple of quotes from it.
Here's Barden.
“I would like to say that I’m a complete receiver,” he said. “That’s my goal — to be able to do everything you’d ask a receiver to do: to stay on the field, be it intermediate, short gain, quick outs, run blocking, leadership. I think those are the things I’m going to bring to the table.”
Here's Ian Shields, Cal-Poly's offensive coordinator.
“I have no doubt in my mind he’s going to be an all-pro receiver at the next level,” Shields said. “When this all plays out, he’ll have a wonderful NFL career.”
- This story about Rhett Bomar came out before the draft began, but it's a great look at how Bomar's mistakes cost him millions of dollars.
Once upon a time, Rhett Bomar was supposed to be Matthew Stafford. A Texas native and quarterback like Bomar, Stafford and the Detroit Lions agreed to a six-year deal on Friday night, making him the No. 1 pick in the draft.
But a not-so-funny-thing happened on Bomar's road to fame in the Big Apple. He drove that once-in-a-lifetime dream into the ditch when he accepted $7,406.88 from a Norman car dealership for work he didn't do. When OU coach Bob Stoops stunned everyone by tossing his starting QB off the team, Bomar had to know his dream of making NFL millions was bankrupt.
After this, I promise we will move on to some other topics. But these stories were too good not to mention.