:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/27898983/20140201_rnb_al2_127.0.jpg)
Good morning, New York Giants' fans! Today, of course, is Super Bowl Sunday with the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks set to meet at MetLife Stadium. Super Bowl aside, however, there are plenty of Giants-related stories for you today. So, let's take a look.
In case you somehow missed the news, Michael Strahan was selected Saturday night for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2014. Sorry, Warren Sapp. You will just have to get used to the idea.
Ralph Vacchiano of the Daily News said there is no doubt Strahan belongs in the Hall of Fame:
The truth is, it’s an honor he deserved a year ago, too, when the 46-member selection committee somehow chose Warren Sapp instead. As disappointing as that may have seemed, it set up a perfect stage for Strahan, a man who has become an even bigger celebrity since he retired. He seemed destined to get the Hall call in a year when the Super Bowl — and the Hall of Fame announcement — was in New York.
It’s hard to argue against Strahan’s credentials — no matter how hard Sapp tried. With a Giants-record 141½ sacks in 15 seasons, he’s up there with all the NFL’s pass-rushing greats. Even his single-season record of 22½ is a Hall-caliber achievement, whether or not Brett Favre tarnished it forever with his dive/slide on Jan. 6, 2002.
Strahan had everything the Hall of Fame committee could possibly want. He had the numbers, a championship, and acknowledgement by almost everyone that he was one of the greatest defensive ends ever when playing the run. His teammates considered him a leader. And they know he made them better, too.
Giants' Free Agency Notes
With Justin Tuck making the media rounds all week leading up to the Super Bowl much of the talk has been about his impending free agency. Tuck first guaranteed he would hit the free-agent market then left the door open to re-sign with the Giants before free agency.
The truth is Tuck would like to be back with the Giants, which he admitted on Friday, but really doesn't know what is going to happen.
"I honestly think the Giants are going to do everything in their power to make it work," Tuck said. "They want me to be back. I think I want to be back.
"The Giants are a great organization, but everyone understands it’s a business," said Tuck, who turns 31 next month and is coming off one of his best seasons after being sidetracked by injuries each of the previous two years. "We’ll do our due diligence — on both sides — and see what happens."
Tuck is getting some 'stay with the Giants' advice from an unlikely source -- former Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora.
"I've talked to Justin and I told him he should try whatever he can to stay in New York," Umenyiora said. "Because he is New York."
After an often-contentious relationship with the Giants' front office, Umenyiora finally left via free agency before the 2013 season, signing with the Atlanta Falcons.
Free-agent safety Stevie Brown said on PFT Live that he and the Giants have held some contract talks.
Could Super Bowl return to NY/NJ?
Star-Ledger columnist Steve Politi says things must go smoothly Sunday night for a return engagement to be considered.
This is a prediction you can take to Vegas: The first Super Bowl in New Jersey will be the last one if the host stadium or the logistics are a major story line in the days that follow the game.
This happens more than you’d think. In New Orleans last year, all anybody could talk about was a power outage that delayed the game for 34 minutes. In Dallas two years before that, a controversy involving several sections of condemned temporary seating ended a disastrous week in which ice storms all but shut down the region.
In Jacksonville? Put it this way: The Super Bowl in Jacksonville was such a debacle, it felt like everyone was racing to the airport to leave town when the game ended — which, of course, was impossible given the city had one working taxicab.
So the story now has to be about the football game.
