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
It wasn't much of a holiday weekend for Will Peterson.

The Giants released the five-year veteran cornerback because he couldn't pass their physical, and the injury is such that he probably spent a long, long time wondering what to do next since football is almost certainly out of the question.

Peterson is suffering from a stress fracture of the transverse process (lower back). It has occurred twice in the last three seasons, costing him 14 games plus the playoff game last season and 11 in 2003.

And yes, it is definitely a risk factor that could possibly leave him paralyzed should he suffer the same injury again, or worsen the status of the transverse process as it currently exists.

"This is a very disappointing development for our team," said general manager Ernie Accorsi. "Will Peterson was a rising star and just ran into very touch luck last year with the back injury. We wanted to wait as long as we possibly could on his recovery. We just had him in here for a battery of tests and reached the conclusion that we could not wait any longer. He was a fine young player for the Giants and I personally really hate to see him go."

When Peterson was drafted, in 2001, the Giants had a clear and present need for cornerbacks. So Accorsi maneuvered a first round pick a few spots higher than the Giants were situated and took Will Allen from Syracuse. There was no second-round pick, and in the third he took Peterson.

But just before the draft, former player personnel director Rick Donohue said the most remarkable thing about the available corners in the draft, after discussing such as Nate Clements of Ohio State, Willie Middlebrooks of Minnesota, Jamar Fletcher of Wisconsin, Derrick Gibson of Florida State and Andre Dyson of Utah:

"There's a kid at Western Illinois," he said, "who might be better than all of them."

Right. He was speaking about Will Peterson.

The truth was that Peterson had started as a prized recruit at the University of Michigan and played his first two seasons there. He was good; no, make that very good. Then there was a juvenile prank following his sophomore season that got him into extremely hot water, and rather than exacerbate the problem he transferred to Western Illinois.

In talking about it once, he just smiled a sad little smile and said: "It was something stupid. I should have known better. I was raised better than that."

Then, asked how good he thought he was, he smiled (again that boyish, disarming smile): "I was the best corner in the country this year," he said. "Just ask David Terrell." For those who might have forgotten, Terrell was the best wide receiver in the country. He also played at Michigan and during two years' worth of practices, according to Peterson, "he didn't beat me once."

A telephone call to a friend in Chicago (the Bears had drafted Terrell in the first round), produced this response from the player. "Will Peterson? Do we have to play the Giants this year? I never could get past him or even fool him."

Oh, well, the decision was made and it is painfully final. In fact, the Giants' bright hopes for both corners -- the "Two Wills" (Allen and Peterson) -- have blown up in their faces. Allen was a disappointing first round pick and early in the spring signed on as an Unrestricted Free Agent in Miami. Now Peterson is gone, too.

At this point, the starting corners would appear to be Corey Webster, last year's second round pick via LSU, and Sam Madison, signed in the UFA period from Miami -- in effect, a "trade" between the Giants and Dolphins for Allen and Madison.

The other piece of news concerning the Giants happened, as well, over the Memorial Day weekend.

They signed quarterback Rob Johnson, adding to the number of second-team hopefuls along with Tim Hasselbeck, Jared Lorenzen and free agent Josh Harris.

If you're looking for a hook between Johnson and the Giants, look no further than the fact that he was drafted in the fourth round (99th overall selection) in 1995 out of Southern Cal by the Jacksonville Jaguars -- and guess who was the head coach? Right, Tom Coughlin.

He played there for three years, starting once, seeing action in seven other games, and in February of 1998 was traded to Buffalo for the Bills' first and fourth round selections. That first round pick, incidentally, turned out to be safety DonovIn Darius, who is still there and is a veteran of the Pro Bowl veteran.

There have been rumors of Coughlin's dissatisfaction with his backup stable of quarterbacks for months now, and it may well be that there will be no competition for that backup position. Johnson may get the job, hands down.

Of course, you have heard the name Jay Fiedler, but he is apparently playing so hard to get that he will wind up sitting around not being "gotten" by anybody when the season starts. You have heard the name Kerry Collins, too, but that's a decided longshot and one should not count on it.

When Coughlin got here, he referred to the 2004 Giants as "a work in progress." The same phrase was used last year, even though the 2005 version won 11 games and the NFC East championship. Now it might be more accurate to call various positional areas on the team works in progress -- like the offensive line, the defensive tackles, the secondary (until proven different) and the backup quarterback alignment.

Then, maybe, the Giants can go from a work in progress to a work that has progressed to excellence.

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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