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Zebra Report: Controversy Swirls Once Again

Posted: Dec 16th 2008 2:00PM by Matt Snyder (author feed)
Filed under: 49ers, Bengals, Dolphins, Giants, Rams, Ravens, Redskins, Seahawks, Steelers, AFC East, AFC North, NFC East, NFC West, NFL Media Watch, Overpaid NFL Players, NFL Referees

16 COMMENTS
FanHouse's resident referee will chime in weekly with thoughts on major topics relating to officiating. We call it The Zebra Report. Matt Snyder is a high school official with eight years experience. While this is like a third-year resident critiquing the work of a world-renowned surgeon, it's still better than someone who has never worn the stripes.

Wow, this was a long weekend to those who support the boys in stripes. That group may only consist of myself at this point, but I still do. Those people who like to call the officials "blind" -- which, by the way, is incredibly uncreative and lame -- or believe they are out to screw a team out of a game, really don't have any idea what it takes to officiate at that level. Hell, I don't. I do know what it's like to be on the field and be a constant scapegoat for people who aren't accountable for themselves and/or their favorite team.
Continue Reading Zebra Report: Controversy Swirls Once Again

Plax Reportedly Hung Out at a Strip Club, Got Drunk and Ate Turkey Before Shooting Himself

Posted: Dec 12th 2008 11:45AM by Will Brinson (author feed)
Filed under: Giants, NFL Police Blotter, NFL Media Watch, NFL Rumors

21 COMMENTS
Plaxico Burress' road show of unbelievably intelligent decisions continues, apparently, with the news that the Giants wideout didn't just hop out of the shower, pull on some sweatpants, stuff a gun in his trousers and head out to a nightclub.

No sirree -- he went to a strip club first, according to the New York Post, and while there, he drank some liquor and pounded some turkey, just like every good-souled American that finds themselves in 'Head Quarters' does.
Hours before shooting himself, Giants receiver Plaxico Burress and two Big Blue buddies hit a high-class West Side strip club - where they hooked up with three ladies, guzzled two bottles of top-shelf tequila, and gobbled the staff's post-Thanksgiving dinner, The Post has learned.

A surly, slobbish Burress ate "like an animal," using his bare hands to snatch pieces of workers' turkey and stuff his face at the Head Quarters club on Nov. 28, a source said.
To sum up: this situation can't really get any better for Plaxico from this point on. It's especially bad news because, as The Post mentions, the New York City police -- and by extension, presumably Mayor Bloomberg too -- are quite interested in the going-ons of Burress and Giant teammates Antonio Pierce and Ahmad Bradshow at said strip club.

And the downward spiral continues too, because we get to find out that Plax is dirt cheap too -- he, according to "sources," only pays the minimum $20 for lap dances and has been called "cheap," "rude," and the "least popular celebrity" to grace the clean environment of Head Quarters. Although, you never know, this could end up giving him a logical motive for carrying a handgun.

Giants Official Confirms What Most of Us Suspected: Plaxico Burress Is a Selfish Idiot

Posted: Dec 7th 2008 11:35AM by Ryan Wilson (author feed)
Filed under: Giants, NFC East, NFL Police Blotter, NFL Fans

3 COMMENTS
You may have heard something about the Giants suspending Plaxico Burress for the rest of the season after he blew a hole in his leg at a Manhattan nightclub last weekend. He's facing criminal charges for carrying a concealed weapon without a permit, and, in theory, could face three-and-a-half years in the slammer.

This morning, on ESPN's NFL Countdown, Chris Mortensen has more on the whole sordid affair.
"... Burress is a heckuva player, but this is a team that lost Tiki Barber and won a Super Bowl. Then they've lost Michael Strahan, Jeremy Shockey, Osi Umenyiora, and what -- they're 12-1.

So, as I encountered a Giants source -- a very high-ranking source there -- I asked him about Plaxico's future, he gave me a very simple answer and I'm going to read it straight:

'How many times does an individual get to put a whole organization through the stuff he's put us through, and you know only part of it -- it's mind-boggling. The organization is guilty of only one thing: helping somebody repeatedly who refuses to help themselves.'"
Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce, who was with Burress at the time of the shooting and stashed the weapon, faced obstruction charges earlier this week but has since agreed to cooperate with authorities. Mort spoke of Pierce's future, too.
Continue Reading Giants Official Confirms What Most of Us Suspected: Plaxico Burress Is a Selfish Idiot

Plaxico Burress Expected to Be Arrested, Antonio Pierce Could Face Criminal Charges

Posted: Nov 30th 2008 9:30AM by Ryan Wilson (author feed)
Filed under: Giants, NFL Fans, NFL Injuries

104 COMMENTS

Twenty-four hours later and Plaxico Burress is still dumb. Yesterday, we learned that he accidentally shot himself in the leg on Friday at a Manhattan nightclub. And while that's almost impossible to fathom -- billions of people manage to make it through life without ever putting a bullet into their thigh -- the details of exactly how it happened are, well, stupefying.

The New York Daily News reports that Burress, "who was sporting flashy jewelry and carrying loads of cash," was initially turned away from the LQ nightclub because he was packing heat, but explained that he needed the weapon for protection. Presumably because he was sporting flashy jewelry and carrying loads of cash.

[UPDATE: The Star-Ledger reports that Burress will surrender to authorities as soon as tomorrow. Hooray, U.S. justice system.]

And from there it just got worse:
Continue Reading Plaxico Burress Expected to Be Arrested, Antonio Pierce Could Face Criminal Charges

Michael Strahan Can Say Things Which Tiki Barber Can Not

Posted: Sep 8th 2008 2:57PM by Tom Mantzouranis (author feed)
Filed under: Giants, NFC East, NFL Media Watch

5 COMMENTS
Yesterday, Michael Strahan did that whole "hey, look, I'm an unbiased TV personality" thing yesterday, predicting a Super Bowl win for the Cowboys a few days after popping out of a giant Lombardi Trophy at Giants Stadium like the world's scariest-looking stripper emerging from a cake. You might remember Jerome Bettis and Tiki Barber pulling similar acts of defiance upon becoming talking heads, neither of which went over particularly well in said head's NFL city.

According to Antonio Pierce, it's still all love between the Giants and Strahan, however.
"If I was an analyst, I'd probably pick the Cowboys, too," LB Antonio Pierce said with a smirk today. "That's not outrageous; that's the norm. ... Pierce was asked if the Giants will put Strahan's words on a bulletin board. "No, no, no. We just send Mike text messages and laugh about it," Pierce said. "We know where Mike's heart is...."
And then Pierce was asked about the contrast between Strahan's words and those spoken by Tiki.
"Who?"
Nice. Before you accuse Pierce of holding a double standard, there are a few key differences. As Pierce said, they know where Strahan's heart is, because he spent his last season leading them to a trophy, as opposed to Tiki, who spent his last season disinterested, insulting, obnoxious, and isolated. And then there are the words themselves. Strahan predicted a pretty damn good division rival would win the title; Tiki more directly said very unkind things about the Giants themselves. So, yeah, the continued vitriol is kinda understandable, no?

When informed of Pierce's dig, Tiki called him a "total medal count."

Mathias Kiwanuka: '... It Was a Dirty Play'

Posted: Sep 5th 2008 3:34PM by Tom Mantzouranis (author feed)
Filed under: Giants, Redskins, NFC East

12 COMMENTS
You might not have seen it if Thursday night's sloppy play in the second half lulled you to sleep or if you were running to the fridge to grab snacks for the McCain speech, but as the clock dwindled down on last night's game, Redskins left tackle Chris Samuels fell on DE>LB>DE Mathias Kiwanuka, being called for holding and leaving Kiwanuka on the ground clutching his ankle. Kiwanuka's fine in the medical sense. But he's not pleased with Samuels.
"Honestly, I thought it was a dirty play," Kiwanuka said. "There's no question about it, he was definitely beat. Instead of recovering or giving up or whatever options you have ... I don't think there's any place for that in the NFL."
Justin Tuck alluded to the fact that Samuels was aiming to injure Kiwanuka on the play, and Antonio Pierce defended Samuels intention -- protecting Jason Campbell -- while hinting at, and admonishing, Samuels' attempt to hurt Kiwanuka. Tom Coughlin said Samuels told him it wasn't intentional.

Losing Kiwanuka would have been a major blow and some ridiculously bad luck for the Giants, but he's feeling fine and is expected to play next week against St. Louis.

As Pierce noted, Kiwanuka's health is all that really matters in the issue, but you can bet the competition between he and Samuels will be a lot more intense when the teams meet again later this season.

Plaxico Proves His Priorities Right, Returns to Practice Sans Extension

Posted: Sep 2nd 2008 11:42AM by Tom Mantzouranis (author feed)
Filed under: Giants, NFC East

1 COMMENT
Cynics like me noticed a correlation between Plaxico Burress' bum ankle and his lingering desire to get a new deal and figured Burress' ankle would suddenly (conveniently) be healthy enough to practice when he got his upsized extension, even though Burress dealt with ankle problems all last year and didn't practice despite playing (and playing well) on Sundays.

Hey, I never said my logic makes sense.

Regardless, while you were filling your holiday weekend with the three Bs of any successful holiday (beer, bong rips, and barbecue), Plax was putting the labor in Labor Day, returning to full-speed practice for the first time in a year.

The Giants and Burress' camp are still working out a deal, so you can't question Plax's motivation, and it's refreshing to see him willing to risk further injury to the ankle (and, with it, any chance at the type of deal he wants) in order to show the team's he's working in good faith. Unless the team told him there'd be no chance of a contract without some sort of proof that Plax wasn't overly-damaged goods.

But the truth is, if Plax is healthy, both teams want the same thing, which makes the delay sort of puzzling. Short of aggravating the injury, however, the deal will be signed sooner than later. And Antonio Pierce will pout.

FanHouse NFL Season Preview: New York Giants - The Title Defense Begins

Posted: Aug 24th 2008 12:57PM by Tom Mantzouranis (author feed)
Filed under: Giants, NFC East

11 COMMENTS
Training camps are underway, the NFL season is a month off, and to get you ready for 2008, FanHouse previews all 32 teams, "heat index" style. We'll rate each club in 10 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.

Quarterback: Who would have thought a year ago that the perception of Eli Manning would have changed so drastically? That's what happens when you win a Super Bowl. But can you really expect Manning to be as precise as he was during that improbable championship run? Either the light finally went on for Manning, or he simply found a zone. Or a combination of the two. Last year was a step forward, for sure, but I expect Eli Manning v.2008 to resemble something in between the lows and highs of the two Eli Mannings circa 2007. Still, that's good enough to win games. What isn't good enough to win games is David Carr, the team's new backup, so Manning better stay upright for all 16. Heat Index: 7

Running back: The Giants found out exactly how critical depth at running back is, and they also found out that they luckily have it. Great contributions came from Brandon Jacobs, Ahmad Bradshaw, Derrick Ward, and Reuben Droughns. Danny Ware will likely take Droughns' place this year, but the team is still set in the backfield. Jacobs' combination of speed and power is pretty unstoppable, and while punishing backs don't typically have long shelf lives, Jacobs is in his prime now if he stays healthy this year. Heat Index: 8
Continue Reading FanHouse NFL Season Preview: New York Giants - The Title Defense Begins

Rodney Harrison Is Still the Dirtiest Player in the League, Brian Billick Still Loves Him

Posted: Jul 1st 2008 12:33PM by Ryan Wilson (author feed)
Filed under: Patriots, NFL Fans

0 COMMENTS


It's the deadest part of the offseason, which means we'll be reading about things marginally related to football like top-50 players, doctored videos, visits to the Playboy Mansion, and, of course, Rodney Harrison, the NFL's dirtiest player.

While some NFL coaches agree that Harrison is one of the league's dirtiest players, ESPN.com's Mike Sando writes that there are plenty of other guys worthy of a little finger-pointing:
A review of data since 2001 shows Arizona Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson with a league-high 17 personal fouls. Harrison and New Orleans Saints defensive end Will Smith are tied for second with 14, followed by Patriots defensive lineman Richard Seymour (13), Miami Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor (12), late Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor (12) and Cleveland Browns defensive lineman Shaun Rogers (11).
According to 11 of 18 head coaches who responded to Sando, Cowboys' safety Roy Williams finished second behind Harrison (interestingly, Wade Phillips voted for Williams. Twice.*), followed by Antonio Pierce, Hines Ward, Kevin Mawae and Olin Kreutz.

Former Patriots teammate Deion Branch "draws a line between Harrison's hard-nosed play" and, say, Travis Johnson talking smack over a dying Trent Green. Not sure anybody would disagree on that on.

Brandon Stokley, who said he would've "bet his life savings" on Harrison earning top honors, also singled out Titans cornerback Cortland Finnegan "as a player with bad intentions." And I'm pretty sure he doesn't mean that in a topless, sausage-party, "what about the kids?" way.

* Joke. Coaches were only allowed to vote once.

In Case You Were Wondering How the Giants Were Able to Pressure Tom Brady

Posted: Feb 19th 2008 2:21PM by Ryan Wilson (author feed)
Filed under: NY Giants, Patriots, NFL Fans, Super Bowl

10 COMMENTS

In the wake of the Giants surprising Super Bowl victory, much was made of the defense's ability to pressure Tom Brady, something the Patriots quarterback seldom had to deal with during New England's previous 18 games.

Today, in his Monday Morning Back (Tuesday Edition) column, Peter King pimps NFL Films' The New York Giants: Super Bowl XLII Champions DVD, which shows exactly how defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo matched wits with Brady.
Early in the game, we see Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, surrounded by his defense, talking about how to trump Tom Brady's reading of the Giants pass-rush. "Listen,'' Spagnuolo yells to his players, referring to the blitz, "it's going to be set to the back unless A.P. [Antonio Pierce] changes it. If Brady changes the protection, we gotta be ready to change our blitz.''

NFL Films caught one of the chess moves, with linebacker Kawika Mitchell. Lined up over center Dan Koppen, faking like he was dropping into coverage, when Koppen moved to his right to block, Mitchell turned around and flooded the gap, causing a sack.
Pierce was on NFL Network earlier this week and discussed the Mitchell play. Ultimately, though, Pierce points out that you can have the best scheme in the world, but it all comes down to execution. He also mentioned something about giving 110 percent, taking it one play at a time, the Giants playing the hand they were dealt, so on and so forth.

Whatever, I'm sure we'll see a lot more defenses using similar schemes to get to Brady next season.

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