E-GIANTS
Dave Klein was the Giants' beat writer
for The Star-Ledger from 1961 to 1995.
He is the author of 26 books and he is one of
only four sportswriters to have covered all the Super Bowls.
Dave has allowed TEAM GIANTS to reprint some of his articles.

By DAVE KLEIN
What was it Ray Perkins said about Joe Morris when the Giants drafted the running back from Syracuse in 1982?

Oh, right. "He may be short," he said of the 5-6, 200-pounder, "but he sure ain't small."

The same might be said 24 years later about Sinorice Moss, who wasn't even born when Morris joined the Giants. He is 5-8, and in a world of amazingly tall wide receivers, he is noticeable for his lack of height. But he weighs 185 pounds, and is as compactly built as a quality foreign sports car.

And he is fast. Slippery fast, sneaky fast, "jukey" fast as quarterback Eli Manning put it.

He is also supremely confident, as evidenced by his demeanor during his first official press conference yesterday as the Giants opened a two-day (Saturday, Monday) rookie minicamp.

"I just come in with a positive attitude," he said, this younger brother of Washington Redskins' superstar wide receiver Santana Moss. "I'm prepared. I'm short but short receivers are faster. I'm very fast [4.37 in the 40 at the combine workouts]. And I have a bit of warning for defensive backs -- don't ever doubt a small receiver."

During the morning workouts, he was close to embarrassing those unfortunate free agents and draft picks who play the secondary. He'd run downfield, stop on a dime, fake a couple of moves, put a feint here and a feint there and suddenly he'd be running free farther downfield.

"The Giants drafted me in the second round," he said, "so they expect me to make plays. I'm getting a sense that they want me to be ready right away, to provide immediate help, and I'm up for that."

The product of the University of Miami (Fla.), a favorite hunting ground for Giants' general manager Ernie Accorsi, seems to not be a rookie at all. He knows lots of NFL players who were stars for the Hurricanes -- including but not limited to his brother. "The Miami guys tell me stuff," he said. "How to behave, what to look for, how to act."

Does Jeremy Shockey? "Oh, sure, Jeremy tells me the do's and don'ts of being in the NFL, but I think some of his 'do's' are really don'ts."

Smart kid, this Sinorice Moss, who has no idea where the name came from. "My mother asked my aunt to come up with a name starting with S, and she came up with Sinorice," he smiled. "I can't tell you the number of times it has been mispronounced and misspelled. But it doesn't really matter. I am who I am, and right now I am a football player for the New York Giants and I have a lot of studying to do."

That was a direct reference to the playbook he was handed last night, one that dwarfs anything he saw at a Hurricane and probably more than any college player saw wherever he played. "I took a look at the beginning of it," Moss said, "and I knew that it meant I had a lot of studying to do."

Moss was right when he said that the Giants anticipate immediate help from him, probably more so than from the first round pick, defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka. He will be the slot receiver. He will run deep patterns down the middle of the field, and when he runs them in 4.37 fashion, he is going to take defenders with him. Shockey will run downfield patterns underneath him, and the help he is going to demand from defensive players is going to free up with wide receivers such as Plaxico Burress and Amani Toomer.

Burress and Shockey are 6-5. Toomer is 6-3. Even superstar running back Tiki Barber is 5-10. Manning is 6-4. But this entire electrified offense may finally have acquired its missing piece -- a 5-8 kid with the unlikely name of Sinorice.

EXTRA POINTS -- Among the 16 free agents signed was the first set of identical twins in Giants' history, safety Trevis Coley (6-1, 227) and linebacker Kevis Coley (6-1, 231). ... They played at Mississippi State and both were starters through their college career.

Observations from the smaller-than-ever media sideline area: Free agent running back James Sims (6-0, 211, Washington) has some good moves and cutting ability and might be able to play. Wide receiver Anthony Mix (6-4, 235, Auburn) is "gigantic" for his position and showed good hands and speed; he dropped one pass out there in the open but made several others in close quarters.

The two free agent quarterbacks, Ryan Hart (Rutgers, 6-0 and 205, probably too small for the NFL) and Gino Guidugli (Cincinnati, 6-3, 228) threw sharp and accurately, but nobody was rushing the passer -- certainly not NFL-type defensive ends and linebackers.

The basketball star, Jai Lewis of George Mason, presented a huge body (he's 6-5, 292) and is going to be used as an offensive tackle ["I never played there in high school"] and a long snapper ["I was the backup there in high school"]. He said several of the other free agents came up to him and congratulated him on the George Mason march to the NFCC Final Four. "That was basketball and now I'm a football player," he smiled. "I think I'm using muscles and body parts now that I never used in basketball." Lewis has an interesting tattoo on his arm -- "Laugh Now, Cry Later."

It's just Day One but first round pick Mathias Kiwanuka didn't take on blocks very well. He stood too high too quickly and was stalemated by fourth round pick Guy Whimper, a tackle from East Carolina. Defensive tackle Barry Cofield, the other fourth round pick (6-4, 306) said he chose colleges from a short list of Northwestern, Georgia Tech, Notre Dame and Ohio State. "I love the education I got [at Northwestern]," he said. "We weren't the best football team but I got an Ivy League education with a Big Ten football background."

Workouts will resume Monday after a cessation for Mother's Day.

Check out Dave's website at E-GIANTS where you can subscribe to his newsletters which run much more frequently than what is available here.
- Team Giants

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