It wasn't easy to find enough stories for a 'Land of the Giants' post without discussing a certain former New York Giants receiver. But, I have a few things for your Friday afternoon reading please, so go ahead and waste some work time while you wait for the weekend.
- Here is a great snippet from Eli Manning about Ramses Barden, the mountainous 6-foot-6, 230-pound rookie wide receiver.
"I’m not sure I can throw a bad ball to him. He just seems to catch everything." One notable reception involved him leaping to full ability, reaching up his right arm (achieving nearly a 10-foot height) and hauling in a long sideline pass with one hand. "Nobody can cover that," Manning said.
- Free-agent defensive tackle Rocky Bernard has been back to practice for a couple of days. Thursday, he also returned to speaking to the media, which he had stopped doing after a bad experience in Seattle. Bernard said he is feeling pretty good.
"I don't feel like I'm too far behind," Bernard said. "The main thing is getting in football shape. You can run and ride the elliptical, but there's nothing like putting the pads on and playing. That's probably the main thing."
- Newsday's Neil Best caught up with ex-Giant Jason Sehorn to find out what he is up to these days.
- SI.com lists the most indespensable players on NFC teams. The Giant on the list? Brandon Jacobs. I can't argue with that, though Manning should also be in that discussion.
- SI has also ranked backup quarterbacks, and has the Giants David Carr 27th out of 32. I want to believe Carr is much better than that, but the more I see him up close in training camp the more he scares me. He has taken so many beatings over the years, he is jittery in the pocket even when he's wearing the red jersey -- which means he can't be hit. He can make plays, but he also makes a lot of problems for himself.