Here are a few stories of interest for New York Giants fans on a Friday without football.
We know the Giants are scouring the globe, looking far and wide for a middle linebacker to add to their defense. Giants brass was out in force the other day for Rolando McClain's Pro Day. There is also a short list of restricted free agent MLBs. One of those, Kirk Morrison of Oakland, did not offer any hints during a radio appearance Thursday as to whether not the Giants are among teams interested in his services.
"I'm technically an Oakland Raider still. That's No. 1," Morrison said. "But at the same time, you have to explore your options for the future, for the long term. There are some teams out there that would be a good fit, I feel like. But we just have to wait and see."
Morrison declined to name those teams right now. I'd have a hard time believing the Giants wouldn't be one of them. I'd think they would have at least had preliminary discussions with Morrison's agent, Bruce Tollner, who said earlier Thursday there's nothing to report.
"There are some teams we're looking at and we've talked to," Morrison said. "Hopefully, in the next couple of weeks we can get something done ... either with the Raiders or with other teams. I know next year I'm going to be playing football. I just want to make sure I'm in the best, most comfortable position I can be in."
"The biggest thing is I just want to go out and win," Morrison said when asked what he'd be looking for in a a new team, should he decide to go that route. "Get into a situation that puts you in the best opportunity to win football games. Being in this league for five years already and losing more games than you win week in and week out, it's hard to play at the kind of level that you want to being on the losing end. But you never give up your effort, you never give up who you are as a football player."
- Don Banks of SI.com had an interesting post Thursday about the impact of free agency on the upcoming draft. Here is what he said about the Giants.
New York chose to not pursue Karlos Dansby as an option to fill its need at inside linebacker, but the Giants are certainly glad it was the Dolphins who landed the ex-Cardinal. That's because it might just put New York in the driver's seat to draft Alabama inside linebacker Rolando McClain with its No. 15 pick. It would be a perfect union of need and first-round value if that scenario unfolds. Having signed another ex-Cardinal free agent in safety Antrel Rolle, the Giants are no longer a potential home for either Texas safety Earl Thomas or USC safety Travis Mays. If McClain isn't available when New York's turn rolls around, defensive tackle is the likely focus, with Tennessee's Dan Williams carrying a solid mid-round grade.
Funny that Banks mentioned Williams, the 327-pound defensive tackle from Tennessee. The Giants are a 4-3 team, but they ave occasionally used alignments the past couple of seasons which require a nose tackle. That guy had been Fred Robbins, who is now in St. Louis. Pat Traina of Inside Football mentioned the Giants need for a nose-tackle type during our radio show Thursday night, and Williams name immediately came to mind. - Speaking of the Blog Talk Radio show Traina and I co-host, if you missed the latest edition of 'New York Giants Talk' you can still listen to the podcast. Lots of good topics last night, including Antrel Rolle, Osi Umenyiora and the hunt for middle linebacker. Missed connections with D.J. Ware, who was scheduled to join us, but we will have him on at a later date.
- The Giants were supposed to be among the NFL teams represented at C.J. Spiller's Pro Day on Thursday at Clemson. Spiller, though, chose not to run.
``There really was no need to run it. Why waste the energy?'' said Spiller, the Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year. ``Everyone knows that I'm fast.'' Spiller and Ford, who also ran track together at Clemson, proved that last month at the NFL's scouting combine in Indianapolis. Spiller clocked 4.37 seconds, second best among running backs to Cal's Jahvid Best. Ford outdid his friend and teammate - and everyone at the combine - with a 4.28.
- This last one is not a Giants story, but it's too good not to mention. A long-time Pittsburgh sportscaster completely shredded Ben Roethlisberger Thursday. Check out this rant from radio guy John Steigerwald.
"First of all, none of this surprises me. Ben is a bad citizen. He doesn't know how to treat people and he definitely doesn't know how to handle being the quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers. In my more than 30 years of working in the Pittsburgh sports media, I have never had any player come close to generating as many unsolicited questions from fans as Roethlisberger has. They want to know why he's such a jackass. And these aren't just Steelers fans who got turned down for an autograph. It's men and women from all walks of life."
Wow! I can't imagine anyone ever referring to Eli Manning as a bad citizen. Say what you will about Eli, he is a terrific representative for a fabulous franchise.