New York Giants News and Notes: Post Draft Hump Day Edition

Good morning fellow Giants fans. Well, I guess the draft is in the rear view mirror and there won't be much to talk about for a few weeks, save for our buddy Osi Umenyiora who seems to be keeping the Giants Google alerts bubbling at a slow simmer. And since it's Hump Day, let's have a look at our Hump Day calendar--yes, only 18 weeks until the start of the NFL season. You just read that correctly. You are just a few days hanging out by the pool and about 36 cases of beer away from kickoff. What, 36 isn't enough? Anyway, let's see what else is happening around Osi's team....

NY Giants GM Jerry Reese dismisses Osi Umenyiora’s ‘greedy pig’ remarks, wants DE to retire with Big Blue - NY Daily News
It’s not personal, Jerry Reese insisted. It’s only business, no matter how ugly his feud with angry Osi Umenyiora gets. That was the reaction by the Giants GM to essentially being called a liar by Umeyiora for the second offseason in a row. In an interview on ESPN Radio 98.7 FM Tuesday, Reese dismissed the defensive end’s sharp words as "offseason chatter." That’s exactly what he called it last summer, too. "I don’t carry grudges," Reese insisted. "That’s the offseason. That’s part of the job. In the offseason there’s always some controversies about contracts. It’s never personal. I don’t think it’s personal with respect to players. It’s definitely not personal with respect to me. It’s just part of the business."

Kudos to Reese for keeping a cool head amid all this.

Giants’ Amukamara says Nebraska teammate Dennard will reward Pats for picking him in 7th round - The Washington Post
New York Giants cornerback Prince Amukamara says his old Nebraska teammate Alfonzo Dennard has the ability to be a seventh-round steal for the New England Patriots. Amukamara and Dennard formed one of the best cornerback combinations in college football in 2010. The Super Bowl champion Giants picked Amukamara in the first round last year.

UAB OT Matt McCants says goodbye Birmingham, hello New York Giants | Kaleidoscope - UAB Campus News
For UAB’s Matt McCants that big league dream just became a reality, as he was drafted in the 6th round by the NY Giants. McCants still has to make it through training camp, but the 6’6 300-pound offensive tackle has the right tools to start at the next level. McCants was a major reason why the Blazers surrendered just 1.5 sacks per game this season. Over the past two years, McCants and his offensive linemates yielded just 30 sacks in 24 games. McCants was also on the watch list for this season’s Rotary Lombardi Award.

Now that's good information courtesy of the UAB student newspaper.

Redskins add former Giants LB Goff - NFC East Blog - ESPN
From Goff's perspective, it appears he misread the market. The Giants would have had him back (at their price, which was what they told all of their own free agents), but he wanted to see if he could find greener pastures. But while he visited places like Cleveland and Miami, the Giants went out and traded for linebacker Keith Rivers, likely costing Goff a chance to go back to New York and reclaim his starting middle linebacker job.

New York Giants tight end coach Mike Pope will work with draftee Adrien Robinson - NYPOST.com
Sometimes too much can be read into a situation, but not in a situation like this. Not when it comes to the absolute faith the Giants have that Mike Pope, their venerable tight ends coach, can spin straw into gold when it comes to developing the players delivered onto his doorstep. The newest Pope pupil is Adrien Robinson, an athletic tight end from Cincinnati taken by the Giants in the fourth round of the NFL Draft. This was such an out-of-the-box pick that several minutes after the selection, the Giants were still scurrying to dig up biographical information on Robinson.

Great State Debate - New York - SportsNation - ESPN
ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine are teaming up to find out what you, the fans, think are the best sports moments of each U.S. state. Anything related to the state is eligible, from an event held in the state to a player native to the state. The final results will be tallied in the June 15 issue of ESPN The Magazine.

Wow, this was a tough one. Personally, I think it's impossible to not pick the Olympic hockey game, but take that away and I'd be hard -pressed to choose between the Mets Game 6 and Tyree's catch.

An early look at the Week 1 lines - Yahoo! Sports
The Giants have come away victorious in six of the last eight meetings between these two teams (including a 3-1 mark at home). But New York was just 3-4-1 against the spread at home last season and faces a revamped Dallas defense in the opener that will be looking to produce big results on the field in 2012. Barring any major injuries, this line may hold tight right up until kickoff.

Already the underdogs, gotta love it!

And hey, don't forget Eli Manning hosts SNL this Saturday!