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
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - - David Diehl has gone from a fresh-faced kid who wasn't sure if he was a guard or a tackle, wasn't sure if he had enough time to finish his Master's program at the University of Illinois and wasn't sure if he was good enough to make it to the Giants' roster after being a fifth-round draft pick.

Now, three seasons later, he is a fresh-faced kid, albeit slightly older, who still isn't sure if he is a guard or a tackle, did have sufficient time to finish his Master's study and is absolutely sure he has what it takes to play pro football.

He is also fast becoming one of those guys to whom the media gravitates, because he is lucid and articulate and has a down home attitude about many things, including penalties.

Penalties? What's with the penalties?

First of all, he was asked what annoys head coach Thomas Richard Coughlin more than anything else, and he said penalties. Specifically, he said penalties accrued by the offensive linemen. "They just drive him crazy," he said, "because you get a 30- or 35-yard gain and then there's that little yellow flag on the ground. It could be a key moment in the game, and you just destroyed the momentum."

There are, of course, foolishly called penalties. According to coaches as far back as when Terrell Owens didn't know how to speak in public, there is holding on every play of every game. But the officials don't dare call that, because games would take eight hours to play and, who knows, hockey might become the national pastime.

"You kind of understand," says the 6-5, 315-pound Diehl, "that if there is a hold on the other side of the field, not influencing the play at all, that it won't be called. I don't think you can call it selective flagging [which his questioner did], it's just the exercise of common sense. But whether you did it or not, whether it happened away from the play or not, a penalty, however you look at it, is still a penalty and it is going to drive a coach out of his mind."

Diehl understands something else, too. He knows in his heart that you can have Pro Bowl running backs and Pro Bowl wide receivers and a Pro Bowl tight end and a Pro Bowl quarterback, but if the offensive line isn't playing well, they don't really count for much.

"We have a damned good offensive line now," he was saying, standing in front of his locker stall looking much like a Mack truck trying to get into a garage built for a mini-Cooper. 'We take great pride in what we do. We want to be the strong point of the offense, because we know we make things happen."

Asked whether he feels that this offensive line - - from tackle to tackle Luke Petitgout, Diehl, Shaun O'Hara, Chris Snee and Kareem McKenzie - - is indeed the heart of the offense.

He smiled, a big, wide, gap-toothed cat-got-the-cream kind of smile, and said: "Well, our offense is working pretty good, don't you think?"

Point made and point taken.

In speaking about Eli Manning, Diehl is quick to point out that the young heir apparent to whatever he wants to be heir apparent to is improving each day. "He has great pocket presence," he said. "He can side step, move up, just take more time until he sees what he wants, and we hold the blocks for him. In fact, with Eli and Tiki [Barber] and the other offensive threats we have, we can really get something done. It's up to us."

It was a normal segue to the next opponent - - no, not the Minnesota Vikings this week, the Owens-less Eagles the following week in what might be a showdown for the NFC East. Diehl smiled that smile again.

"Nope, not me," he said. "We focus on what's in front of us.That's the only way you can deal with any of this. Yeah, I know we're in first place in our division, and that's really nice. But it's only halfway through the season. When we can look at the standings at the end of the season and we're still in first place, then you have something you can really appreciate."

Yep, that's when the suits in the NFL office decide who's the home team and how many times you get to play before you can go to the Super Bowl and all that good stuff.

So we got back to the holding penalties.

"The league," he says, "does everything it can to avoid penalties being called." But don't start preparing them for gold stars, those suits on Park Avenue. They are doing what they are doing to keep the game flowing, to prevent one group of players from taking advantage and using the rules well, not illegally, but sure as hell bending them.

Like the jerseys, for instance. Have you ever wondered why the NFL insists that jerseys be worn inside the football pants? Have you been aware at every game there is a member of the NFL's "Fashion Police" ensconced in the press box? In the case of Giants' home games, it's former Pro Bowl running back Joe "Wow, Did I Get Fat" Morris?

Jerseys must be worn inside the pants because offensive linemen cannot slide their hands inside and hold the guy by his shoulder pads while the officials don't have a smattering of an idea of what's going on.

Diehl smiled. Clearly, this is a man who was familiar with shoulder-pad holding. "No," he says, "you can’t do that." The look on his face was genuine sadness.

So there is David Diehl, himself only 24 years old, precocious and versatile. He started at right tackle as a rookie, moved to right guard last year and now is the left guard. What does he like the most?

"I kinda like it where I am now," he said. "I like left guard."

That's a good thing, because more and more, the coach likes the idea of him staying there. Just think, next year he may actually not have to move again.

"Nothing to it," he says. "This was easy. I had played guard last year and they told me back in March and April that I was going to left guard. Nothing to it."

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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