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 five sportswriters to have covered all the Super Bowls.
Dave has allowed TEAM GIANTS to reprint some of his articles.

By DAVE KLEIN
ALBANY, N.Y. - Ernie Accorsi, the Giants' general manager you like to hate (well, at least dislike), was standing on the sidelines at practice yesterday morning watching one of his draft picks begin punching a ticket for stardom.

That would be the fourth round draft pick, running back Brandon Jacobs, who is 6-4 and weighs 256 pounds (that’s down from 267) and looks more like a defensive end or a tight end than a running back.

In fact, college coaches cajoled him to consider making a choice of those other two positions, but Jacobs remained steadfast. "I'm a halfback, why would I do something else?" he asked. But more on him in a moment.

Accorsi was asked how Jacobs could manage to be drafted in the fourth round - the 13th pick in the fourth round - with such size and speed (clocked in a definitely amazing 4.34 last spring) and the ability to run inside over people and outside around people.

"Well, he transferred from Auburn and signed on with a Division 1-AA team [Southern Illinois],"Accorsi smiled, as if enjoying a private joke for the thousandth time. "But playing behind Ronnie Brown and Carnell Williams, people wouldn't have been surprised if Red Grange transferred out of that."

The other answer might have been, simply: "Stupidity." That would be stupidity on the part of 31 other teams, who sometimes allow too much analysis to turn into paralysis.

"He wasn't going to get enough playing time," Accorsi said, referring to the two starters at Auburn - Brown was the second overall pick in the draft, Williams the fifth. "Nobody blamed him for making the move, but you know, going to a smaller school was one negative, and the fact that Southern Illinois just rolled over its opponents was another. They said he didn't get enough of a challenge."

Accorsi looked up as the fans in attendance roared. Yeah, it was Jacobs, blowing through the middle of the line and then busting up a linebacker and a cornerback on his way downfield. He smiled again. Jacobs is giving him a lot of reasons to smile early in training camp.

The athlete, as big out of pads and in them, direct and frank and pragmatic, didn't want to talk about the fourth round status he earned. "It's done," he said. "If it was meant for me to be in the NFL, then I'm here. I don't like to reflect on the past. I thought probably the transfer hurt me, and where I transferred to hurt me, but I'm here. I believe the Division 1-AA teams can compete with the Division-1 teams, but of course not if one of them was put in the Big 10 or the Big Eight or the SEC."

Jacobs said when he transferred there was no enmity, that the Auburn coaching staff even helped him, searched out a school that wanted to run the ball, a1-AA team so that he wouldn't have to sit out a season, as the NCAA rule is interpreted. "Oh, I had a lot of offers from the big schools," he said."They would put me on scholarship and I'd wait that year. I heard from Clemson, Nebraska, Alabama, a few others. But I wanted to get moving. Do the college thing, then get to the NFL and see if I was supposed to be here."

And since he has been with the Giants, has anything surprised him about the NFL? "No, nothing," he said.

Has anything intimidated him? "No, I am not intimidated by anybody here," he said.

Does he expect to make the team and play? "Sure, why else would I be here?" he asked, noticeably annoyed. "I expect to make the team and play. It's why I'm here."

Clearly, head coach Tom Coughlin expects that, too. When asked about Jacobs and his performance thus far, he said: "Jacobs has done OK."

Golly, coach, you think?

EXTRA POINTS - Among the former superstars wandering around on the campus were Giants' tight end Mark Bavaro, Jacksonville tackle Tony Boselli and 49ers' and Redskins' (among other teams) defensive tackle Dana Stubblefield. ... They are part of a Coughlin plan that will bring various former stars into camp for a week at a time, to observe and talk to the players. ... Bavaro is working in a unique stock market endeavor with former Giant wide receiver Phil McConkey. ... Bavaro's office is located in Boston, McConkey is out of the way in Newport Beach, Cal., and the company's home office is in Connecticut. ... "It's like a hedge fund," he says. "We buy things for institutional customers, mostly."

Observations from the sidelines: Defensive tackle William Joseph, the first round pick in 2003, is still playing with the third team line. ... Almost consistently, it should be noted. ... Tight end Jeremy Shockey was lining up at split end during practice. ... It would appear that a few veterans (let's say three years or more of experience) on the verge of being released include cornerback Frank Walker, strong safety Shaun Williams and special teams-safety Jack Brewer.

Coughlin was upset with the morning work done by the offense. ..."The defense was moving and crisp," he said, "but not the offense. When you're wearing pads [which they were] you would expect a better showing" ... Reserve guard-center Wayne Lucier was sidelined with a strained calf muscle and wearing a "boot" on the sidelines.

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

NEW - Send a request to davesklein@aol.com for a free week's worth of news!

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