Team Giants

Giants 2000 What's new for this season

GIANTS 2000 REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE

All Giants games are on Sunday except for Dec 23rd.
Home Games are in CAPS.

NFL POSTSEASON SCHEDULE
Wild Card Weekend December 30-31
Divisional Playoffs January 6-7
Conference Championships January 14
Super Bowl XXXV, Tampa, Fla. January 28
AFC-NFC Pro Bowl, Honolulu, Hawaii February 4

Giants - Summer Camp Training Schedule in Albany

Helpful Links - NFL Team by team schedule     FOX Week by week schedule

New Uniforms
The Giants are scheduled to unveil their new uniforms at a press conference on April 5. Here's what we've found out so far.
For the 2000 season, the NY logo will be back on the Giants' helmets.
The Helmets will be metallic as opposed to the dull finish. The uniforms and helmets will be Royal blue instead of Navy blue. Uniform pants will be gray, instead of white for home and away.
The away jerseys will use red numerals, letters and stripes. There will be block numbers on the front and the back of the helmets.

Updated - April 5, NFL Photo link for - The new uniforms.
Other Uniform stories - NY Giants - Star Ledger - The Record - The Record

Did you know:
The last five teams to change outfits have reached the playoffs that same season.
Denver was 0-4 going into the Superbowl before changing uniforms.

New Players - from other teams
CB Dave Thomas - Jacksonville (2 years / undisclosed)
DB Tawambi Settles - Jacksonville
DL Carl Hansen - Packers
OL Glenn Parker - Kansas City Chiefs (7 years / undisclosed)
OL Dusty Zeigler - Buffalo Bills (5 years / $5.9 million)
LB Micheal Barrow - Carolina Panthers (6 years / $24 million)
QB Jason Garrett - Dallas Cowboys (3 years / $2.94 million)
LT Lomas Brown - Cleveland Browns (3 years / $5.1 million)
DE Jomo Cousins - Arizona Cardinals
TE Adam Young - (Dartmouth)
DE Lavell Ellis - (Kent)
LB Vernon Strickland - (Georgia Tech)

New Coaches
Linebackers coach Tom Olivadotti
Tight ends coach Mike Pope

See Player Watch - Offense, and Player Watch Defense for articles and stories..

New Players - from the draft
RB Ron Dayne - (Wisconsin)
DL Cornelius Griffin - (Alabama)
WR Ronald Dixon - (Lambuth)
LB Brandon Short - (Penn State)
CB Ralph Brown - (Nebraska)
LB Dhani Jones - (Michigan)
DE Jeremiah Parker - (California)

See Giants Draft 2000, for more player information and draft details..

Retained Players
SS-Sam Garnes (undisclosed)
CB-Conrad Hamilton (3 years/$3.8 million)
C-Derek Engler (undisclosed)
DT-Christian Peter (1 year/$472,000)
LB-Pete Monty (1 year/$472,000)
LB-Ryan Phillips (1 year/$472,000)
CB-Emmanuel McDaniel (1 year/$358,000)
CB-Bashir Levingston (1 year/$275,000)
LB-O.J. Childress (1 year/$275,000)
TE-Mark Thomas (undisclosed)

Former Players (1999)
LB Corey Widmer
FB Charles Way - (Retired)
CB Jeremy Lincoln - Denver Broncos
FS Percy Ellsworth - Cleveland Browns
K Cary Blanchard - Arizona Cardinals
LB Sott Galyon - Miami Dolphins
QB Kent Graham - Pittsburgh Steelers
OT Roman Oben - Cleveland Browns
DL Bernard Holsey - Indianapolis Colts
LB Marcus Buckley - Atlanta Falcons
T - Toby Myles - Oakland Raiders
WR David Patten - Cleveland Browns
OL Lance Scott - New England Patriots
DT Robert Harris
RB Gary Brown
C Brian Williams
CB Phillipi Sparks
CB Conrad Hamilton
RT Scott Gragg
S-Brandon Sanders

Former Coaches (1999)
Linebackers coach Mike Haluchak
Tight ends coach Dick Rehbeing

See Player Watch - Former Players, for articles and stories on your old favorites.

Grass Playing Field
The 2000 season brings with it new turf for the Giants.
Here is the Team Giants report on this from Sept 29:
A poll showed that 96 to 97 percent of NFL players prefer grass to Astroturf, and Giants Stadium will have it for the year 2000 football season. The change to natural turf had been under discussion for the past four years, with the problem being finding a grass strain that could hold up into November and December with two football teams playing.

Jets president, Steve Gutman, said that this was the first time the provider could guarantee a good playing surface throughout the year. Giants president, John Mara, suggested that since the players like natural grass so much, it could be beneficial in attracting free agents. The field will cost about $1 million to install and about $450,000 annually to maintain, and during a season worn sections could be replaced three times.

The Stadium undergoes some changes Turf field at stadium

Update: 9/23/00 - The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority originally said the new grass at Giants Stadium would have to be replaced four times a year and estimated the cost at $500,000-$700,000. Sports Authority chief executive James DiEleuterio Jr. said yesterday it is likely the grass will be replaced as many as six times this year, raising maintenance costs by about $100,000.

New grass at Stadium is tray expensive - Story

Giants Opponents for 2000
Home: Washington, Dallas, Arizona, Philadelphia, Detroit, St. Louis, Jacksonville, Pittsburgh
Away: Washington, Dallas, Arizona, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, Tennessee, Cleveland

To see the opponents for all the NFL Teams: NFC 2000 Opponents

Summer Camp - July 21 - August 17
Check the link for the day by day schedule

Giants - Summer Camp Training Schedule in Albany

Veterans Mini-Camp - May 31- June 21
This mandatory veterans minicamp will consist of three weeks of on-field workouts.
After the first week they go to a two-week passing camp.
Then the team gets a month off before training camp which begins on July 21st.

The Record - Mini-camp review

Rookie Mini-Camp - April 20-22
Although the Giants mini-camp is geared to the rookies, a number of other players worked out as well. Some such as Jason Garrett, Dusty Zeigler, Lomas Brown, Glenn Parker and Mike Barrow were new to the team, and some younger Giants players such as Joe Montgomery, Mike Cherry, Joe Jurevicius, Derek Engler, Luke Petitgout, Mike Rosenthal, and Brian Alford attended as well. Check the article below to see how they looked on the field.

Giant Insider article - Mini-camp update

Off Season Practice and Training
Head coach Jim Fassel is focusing on team unity as part of his off season training program. Other factors of concern are the turnover ratio and injuries.
He shortened the offseason conditioning program which started on March 20, three weeks later than in 1999.
The June summer school workouts will last two weeks, one week less than last year.
Although considered "voluntary", everyone is expected to attend, with the only mandatory event being the veteran minicamp, which begins the day after Memorial Day.

This is the Giants Off Season Philosophy

This is the how it worked out Giants remained healthy with help of fitness guru