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.

BRANDON LONDON, A YEAR BIGGER AND BETTER, MAY HAVE A HOLD ON A WIDE RECEIVER SPOT
By DAVE KLEIN

ALBANY, N.Y. - Assuming this all works out the way it appears to be heading, wide receiver Brandon London will provide the classic study of how to mold an athlete from a smaller school into one worthy of NFL stature.

The 6-4, 215-pounder from the University of Massachusetts spent some time with the Giants last season, then spent the season on the practice squad.

You see, there was too much talent to waive, but it wasn't nearly refined or defined enough to give up a roster spot. "I understood that," he said yesterday, huddling under a canopy with several other players being interviewed by reporters at the team's summer training camp site on the campus of UAlbany. "I knew I wasn't ready. I was just happy that the coaches thought I had the talent, and that made me determined to work as hard as possible, to find a way to improve."

That has apparently been accomplished. London, with another free agent wide receiver, Domenic Hixon, has been a standout in camp. "I am a lot better than I was last year," he smiled. "I learned so much all last season on the practice squad. I was the 'star receiver' for the other team and I went against the 'ones' [the first team defense] all the time. I learned how it felt to be double teamed, how to get out of it, how to run the patterns that crossed zones. I had to be the star receiver every time in order to get the defense ready for the next game.

"I worked hard all year, and I learned every day," he continued, "and now I think I'm ready to make another effort. I realize how much I didn't learn in Division 1-AA, how not prepared I really was. But the Giants showed a lot of interest in me. Coach [Mike] Sullivan spent time with me before the draft last year, went to my pro day, watched films with me and told me that if I didn't get drafted in the sixth or seven round that the Giants were going to offer me a free agent contract."

He smiled. "From what I hear, they almost took me in the seventh round, but they decided on Ahmad [Bradshaw] instead. I think they made the right choice. He was terrific last year. But as soon as the draft was over I got calls from teams like Atlanta, Cleveland, Baltimore and the Giants. I remembered coach Sullivan and all the interest he showed in me, so I took the Giants' offer."

Another smile. London is a happy kid and his grin is contagious. "Oh, they also offered me more money," he added, giggling.

So how, he was asked, is he a better player this year than he was last year? "That's not the truth," he said. "This year I am a MUCH better player. I am a much better blocker. I know the routes and I know the quarterbacks and I know when I am supposed to help out by changing the route. I have better technique. I can 'sell' the 'go' route and come back to the ball. I know that when I'm part of the passing game, that passing tree you hear about, and if the guy just ahead of me runs an 'in' route, I know I have to run a 'curl.' I have learned a lot. Now I just hope to be able to put it into practice."

The rain continued to make staccato sounds on the awning and London continued as if he didn't hear it. He was totally focused on trying to make his interviewer understand the changes he has gone through. "I worked hard all during the off-season," he said. "I took a yoga course run by the Giants and it was very helpful. I worked hard to put on some pounds. I'm 215 now, I added eight or nine pounds of muscle.

"You see," he added, "when I was at UMass we ran an offense that concentrated on the run and all the passing routes were set. We couldn't change them. Here you can break route off and move around to make sure you're open, but the rule is that if you do that, you have to make sure it's a definitive move so the quarterback can see you do it and understand where you're going."

London has a deep respect for Eli Manning and works hard to make him look good. "When I drop a pass, he'll correct me, not on the drop but maybe on the way I ran the route," he says. "If I ran a bad route, he'll tell me. But if I drop a ball, well, then he's just pissed. But he won't yell. He'll wait, maybe until we're in the locker room, and then he’ll say something in a joking way ... you know, like 'well, maybe you would have caught it if you were concentrating' ... and then he'll forget about it. He does a great job of cheering up us young receivers."

Finally, London beams when asked about his blocking. "I am a very good blocker," he says. "I have worked hard on it. I know that the more things you can do the better your chances are of making the team. I am on special teams, too, Sometimes I'm the gunner, sometimes I'm the 'hold up' guy and sometimes I'm a wedge-buster. I like that. I'm big enough so that I don't have any fear of using my body. It's all in how much you can do."

So Brandon London goes through practices and meetings -- "my goal is to be better at the next practice than I was at the last one, and to learn more at the next meeting than I did at the last one: -- and he refuses to play the numbers game. "I know how many receivers can be kept," he says, "but I never put names to that number. I just do the best I can."

Allow us, then, to put names on the numbers. The starters are Amani Toomer and Plaxico Burress. The next pair, in all likelihood, is Steve Smith and Hixon. Then come London and maybe rookie Mario Manningham. Someone has to figure out where Sinorice Moss stands, along with Craphonso Thorpe and Michael Jennings. It's a dicey game, but as long as London keeps on keeping on, he's going to be one of the six. If the Giants decide to keep only five, he appears to hold that card, too.

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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