Feb 12 The Giants today began the offseason restructuring of their roster when they released three veterans, offensive tackle Luke Petitgout and linebackers Carlos Emmons and LaVar Arrington. Two of the players are former first-round draft choices (Petitgout by the Giants, Arrington by the Washington Redskins). Petitgout has played his entire career with the Giants. Arrington spent one season in New Jersey after six years in the nation's capital. Emmons played four years in both Pittsburgh and Philadelphia before spending the last three seasons with the Giants. Petitgout and Arrington had their 2006 seasons ended prematurely because of injury, while Emmons missed four games with a pectoral injury.

Tiki Barber will work for NBC next year after spending most of the 2006 NFL season entertaining bids from various networks for jobs in both news and sports. The New York Giants' Pro Bowl running back will be introduced Tuesday at a network news conference, according to a person familiar with the deal who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not directly involved in the contract. Barber will work both on the "Today" show and on the network's Sunday night football show.

Feb 11 Carson Palmer leads AFC to 31-28 Pro Bowl win over NFC.
Tiki Barber, the New York Giants' running back who's retiring after a 10-year career, scored on a 1-yard run in the second quarter. Tiki Barber threw an interception and rushed for just 4 yards on seven carries, but the veteran scored the game's first touchdown. He got a standing ovation from the crowd and his fellow players when a video tribute to his career was shown on the scoreboard with 1:58 to play.
"I've been ready for this for a while, and I've been expecting it," said Barber, who is retiring after a stellar 10-year career. "I'm excited. I'm not sad and upset that it's over. I'm just real happy that it happened the way that it did, and I achieved all that I have, and get to go out on my terms."

NFC East News
Philadelphia - Andy Reid's family nightmare raises the issue of whether he will be able to continue as Eagles coach. Reid has not made any statements since his sons got into trouble, but the questions are obvious: Can he do his job as he tries to be there for his sons?

Feb 10 Tiki Barber fans, turn on the TV tonight at 6 and tune it to CBS. The Pro Bowl telecast from Honolulu will be your last opportunity to watch the Giants' running back in action. After that, he rides off into retirement, which becomes official as soon as he signs the league-mandated paperwork Monday upon his return from Hawaii.
As the most prolific running back in Giants' history, Tiki Barber usually is ahead of the pack. And today in Hawaii, when his decade-long career in the NFL sets off on its final sprint, this time into retirement, the durability of the 5-foot-10, 205-pound Barber is one of the most enduringly impressive feats of his three-time Pro Bowl run through the league.

NFC East News
Dallas - Terrell Owens has said he's willing to come back, but isn't sure the team wants him. Just to be safe, he cleared out his locker and stripped off his nameplate. When team owner Jerry Jones gave new head coach Wade Phillips a tour of the locker room Thursday night, it was the only nameplate missing.

Feb 8 Tiki Barber was adamant about enjoying himself to the hilt as he prepared for the final football game of his life. Sure, his Giants career ended Jan. 7 with a 23-20 playoff loss to the Eagles in Philadelphia. No doubt, that's how Giants fans will remember Barber's swan song. He'll never again put on a Giants uniform, but Saturday night he will don the jersey of the NFC squad and compete in the Pro Bowl at Aloha Stadium.
His only regret is not being able to win a Super Bowl. He played in the game in January 2001 when the Giants were beaten by the Baltimore Ravens. "My fear, which ultimately came true, is I wouldn't get a chance to try again," he said. "That's the NFL and the unpredictable nature of team sports. There's been a lot of greats that never got a chance to even play."
The 31-year-old halfback said he still has some game left in him. He proved it this past season by running for 1,662 yards, his fifth consecutive 1,000-yard season and the second-highest total of his career. Barber rushed for 371 yards in the final two games alone, including a team-record 234 yards in a victory against Washington that earned the Giants a playoff berth. "I like the saying, 'Always leave them wanting more. Leave too early rather than too late,' " he said.

Following a 2005 season in which he was selected to the Pro Bowl for his outstanding special teams play, wide receiver David Tyree saw some different looks from opposing teams in 2006. "I guess when you actually make it to the Pro Bowl you really get a lot more attention," said Tyree. "It's no one’s fault, but there just wasn't enough done to free me up. I'm not a big guy who can go down and bust wedges... So I think next year we'll do a little more. Hopefully I can get free and do some scheme things that will help me so I can help this football team a little more." This season, the Giants ranked 27th in opponents' starting field position after being ranked third in that category in 2005. On average, opposing teams started their drives on the 31.6-yard line in 2006 - - up three yards from 28.6 in 2005.

It was announced last Friday, two days before Super Bowl XLI. In the next 72 hours, at least 160,000 fans requested half a million tickets to the NFL's first overseas regular-season game next October 28 at Wembley Stadium in London, England between the Miami Dolphins and New York Giants. The ticket request process will close on February 18 and comes at least two months before tickets go on sale to the general public. A lottery will determine who among the registered fans receives tickets.
Giants-Dolphins Ticket Request Website.

Feb 7 The Pro Bowl on Saturday will be the final game for Tiki Barber, who is retiring after 10 seasons with the New York Giants. His brother Ronde, from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is a cornerback on the NFC team. "It's like a family vacation paid for by the NFL," said Barber, who goes out as the NFL's 17th leading rusher with 10,449 yards. Wearing a floral lei and looking out at the Waikiki skyline, Tiki Barber said he has no second thoughts about his decision to retire.

MGM Mirage has Gang Green as a 25-1 shot to win next year's Super Bowl, ahead of the Giants at 30-1. The odds represent the remarkable turnaround in the perception of the two teams over the last six months. Entering last season, the Jets were the longest of long shots at 100-1, and the Giants one of the favorites in the NFC at 15-1. Both teams made the playoffs this year, but the Jets were the ones who appear to have the promising future while the Tiki Barber-less Giants don't have many believers.

Feb 6 Antonio Pierce has politicked all season for a Pro Bowl selection. Now he can start packing his bags for Honolulu. The Giants linebacker was named a first alternate to the league's star-studded exhibition game after Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher pulled out with an injured toe. Urlacher's decision came just hours after Chicago's 29-17 loss to the Colts in Super Bowl XLI in Miami. Pierce received notice early yesterday morning at home in California and will board a flight for Hawaii today.
The Pro Bowl takes place Saturday at 6 p.m. Pierce is one of three Giants making the trip. He'll join running back Tiki Barber and tight end Jeremy Shockey -- who will not play due to an ankle injury he suffered against the Saints on Dec. 24. Pierce was named an alternate in 2005, but did not play because of a severe ankle injury that caused him to miss the final four games of the regular season.
Pierce just completed his sixth NFL season and second with the Giants, whom he joined as a free agent on March 3, 2005. He led the Giants with 159 tackles (93 solo) and also had a sack, an interception, 11 passes defensed, a forced fumble and two fumble recoveries for a team that earned its second consecutive postseason berth. Pierce was at his California home at 8:30 yesterday morning when he learned he had been chosen to replace Urlacher. He will leave for Honolulu this afternoon.

Peyton's place is now forever a part of Super Bowl lore; will younger brother Eli ever get there, or even close, with the Giants? "I think Eli's gonna be fine," Peyton said. "There's no doubt in my mind as a quarterback he will lead his team to a Super Bowl, probably more than one." Giants fans are no doubt thinking, "From your mouth to God's ears."
Your average right-minded Giants fan can't possibly believe what Peyton said. That fan can't shut his or her eyes and imagine Eli in the role of Peyton Sunday night, defying the driving rain and outsmarting the Bears with short, weather-proof daggers that killed them softly, slowly, but surely. Peyton didn't have a great night, and yet he had his greatest night. He tried to do too much early, tried to force some passes and then caught himself before it was too late. In the worst of all Super Bowl conditions, a perfect storm of all his old postseason haunts, Peyton steadied his own ship.
Peyton just made life so much tougher for Eli one year after Ben Roethlisberger, who would have been the Giants' quarterback if they hadn't traded for Manning in 2004, won the Super Bowl last year for the Steelers. Now all Eli needs is for Philip Rivers to win it for San Diego next season and he could be headed to law school to pursue a new career. Peyton Manning never had to deal much with NFL comparisons to his father Archie, who played 13 seasons in the league and not only never made the playoffs, never played on a team that finished with a winning record. He was better than his teams, of course, but quarterbacks are judged by their rings, so Peyton had to prove a Manning could be a winner.
Eli's Giants started this season playing Peyton's Colts, and for the Manning family, there might have been as much hype for that game as there was for the Super Bowl. The Colts won in September, 26-21, at Giants Stadium and won their next eight, a typical run for Peyton. Eli and the Giants ... well, you know how that went. A 6-2 start, a midgame meltdown against the Bears and a stumble to a .500 finish. Along with plenty of questions about Eli's maturation in his second full season of starting. Sunday night - early yesterday morning, actually - the two were talking football again, even though there are no more games to be played this season. "We talked, like we do after games. We got into the X's and O's," Peyton said. "He sees things like I see things. He said, 'The safety is really holding his looks to the very end and coming down late.' It's fun to talk about a game you just won with your brother, who's an NFL quarterback."

Feb 5 Eli Manning asked anybody he could find; he walked down three separate corridors with his father, Archie, and brother, Cooper, following him. But the Giants' quarterback was having no luck trying to locate his brother Peyton last night after the Colts' 29-17 Super Bowl victory. Eli and the rest of the Manning posse got lost a couple of times trying to find where his brother was conducting interviews. And for a little while, Eli looked annoyed. Just like his entire football life, here was Eli again, trying to find his way while following in the footsteps of his big brother. The Giants quarterback politely declined all interviews. "I'm not talking about him," Eli said. "It's his night. I congratulated him. It was a good game. Let's leave it at that."

Feb 4 Jersey Boys - The Colts Darrell Reid (Freehold High School), and Dan Klecko (Marlboro High School) will be in the Super Bowl today. Joe Klecko would have been a Hall of Famer with the Jets had his career, which ended with one season in Indianapolis, not been cut short by injury. The closest he ever came to playing in a Super Bowl was on a sloppy Orange Bowl field, not far from Dolphins Stadium, when he rushed back from an early-season knee injury only to come up a win short in the 1982 AFC championship game. On Thursday, the Colts Neck resident flew with his 12-year-old son, Joshua, to South Florida, where his 26-year-old son, Dan, a Colts defensive tackle, will try for his third Super Bowl ring in four seasons.

The Giants are coming! The Giants are coming! So why doesn't anyone in London seem to care? Throughout most of Europe, in fact, American football is considered a fairly incomprehensible affair, poorly paced and frighteningly shiny. They don't get us, and you can't really blame them. While our inventions of baseball, basketball and volleyball have caught on elsewhere (though, again, notably not in Britain), our form of football has been knocking its helmet against the English Channel for many years. The Super Bowl may attract 80 million TV viewers today in the U.S., but it is no more than a late-night curiosity in Islington.
The Super Bowl is followed by almost five million people in the UK. Hosting an NFL game in London will bring more than 10,000 international visitors to the city. "London will be working with the NFL to build on this success to ensure that Londoners, NFL fans, international visitors, and the tens of millions who will watch the game on television have a great day of sport and a thrilling experience of London." London’s effort to secure the game was backed by Mayor Ken Livingstone, who flew to New York for a meeting with Goodell to press the capital's case. "London is proud to host the first ever competitive NFL game held outside the American continent," he said.

Feb 3 Special Report. - NOTE:This was sent out last week to subscribers but shouldn't be missed.
We were interviewed, as a quartet, the other day for CBS radio, and that show will be broadcast "sometime" on Super Bowl Sunday. The moderator, Jim Gray, asked several incisive questions, but the most important was how we feel about being the only four survivors from Super Bowl I, which attracted about 500 correspondents.

The Giants are (finally) officially going to London. Now, it's just a matter of settling the logistics -- especially for regimented coach Tom Coughlin. "We'll just set Big Ben back five minutes," defensive end Michael Strahan joked yesterday about Coughlin's early-to-meetings rule.
Tom Coughlin will have the opportunity to do that on Oct. 28 when the Giants play the Miami Dolphins in the first NFL regular-season game ever played outside of North America. The game, which was officially announced yesterday and reported in the Daily News last month, will be played at the new Wembley Stadium at 6 p.m. London time (1 p.m. in New York).
To make the trip a little easier, both teams will have bye weeks immediately following. Tisch and Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga said they would leave the decision of when to arrive in London up to their coaches, Tom Coughlin and Cam Cameron.
This Giants-Dolphins game will be the second NFL regular season game to be played on foreign soil. Arizona defeated San Francisco, 31-14, in Mexico City on Oct. 2, 2005. The league has staged many preseason games in Europe and Japan. This will be the Giants' second European game. On Aug. 13, 1994, they defeated the San Diego Chargers, 28-20, in a preseason game in Berlin.
Giants co-owner Jonathan Tisch described the game as groundbreaking. "That's what the NFL is all about - always pushing for new opportunities, breaking the barriers and understanding what our product means now on a global basis," Tisch said. Giants coach Tom Coughlin didn't attend the luncheon, but quarterback Eli Manning said he looked forward to playing overseas. "It's important for the NFL to try and expand the game," he said.

The Giants will host the following teams in 2007 - Dallas, Philadelphia, Washington, Minnesota, San Francisco, New England, N.Y. Jets, and Green Bay. Brett Favre will be back for another season with the Green Bay Packers. "He didn't tell me exactly why he wanted to come back," Packers general manager Ted Thompson said. "Other than in our conversations prior to the end of the season, I knew he was having a good time and he liked the team."
Thompson was in a meeting on Friday morning when he saw a familiar number pop up on his cell phone and promptly excused himself. A few minutes later, the so-called "Favre watch" was over - bringing the three-time MVP's annual flirtation with retirement to an end far earlier than he had in the previous two offseasons. The Giants away game teams are Dallas, Philadelphia, Washington, Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta, Buffalo, Miami.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell soon will open discussions with union boss Gene Upshaw about banning players suspended for steroid use during the season from being eligible for the Pro Bowl or All-Pro teams. Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor was the first to advocate the ban when he said he didn't think Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman, suspended for four games this season after testing positive for steroids, should be eligible for postseason honors. Taylor was immediately supported by Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey.

Feb 2 Roger Goodell's first news conference as NFL commissioner today will feature the official announcement that the Giants will play the Miami Dolphins in London during the 2007 regular season. The matchup has been rumored for several weeks, ever since the league acknowledged it will be playing a regular-season game in Europe for the first time.
The game will likely be preceded with home games for both teams and followed by a bye week to minimize the effect of the trip. This was originally scheduled as a Miami home game, meaning the Giants get to play one road game on a neutral field. It's expected to be a 1 p.m. start in New York and Miami, making it a 6 p.m. kickoff in England.
According to an Associated Press report from Super Bowl XLI in Miami, the game will be played in either September or October, with each team's bye week being taken into account. The official schedules for all NFL teams come out at some point in the early spring, usually in April or May. The game will be held either at the new 90,000-seat Wembley Stadium, scheduled to open in the spring, or 82,000-seat Twickenham Stadium, which houses rugby.

Antonio Pierce is trying hard to lure Lance Briggs to the Giants, but the Bears' outside linebacker won't come cheap. The 26-year-old Briggs, whom teammate Brian Urlacher called "the best outside linebacker in the NFL," has heard all about the Giants from Pierce, his former teammate at the University of Arizona. But before Briggs considers reuniting with Pierce in New York, he wants to test the free-agent market to see how much he can get.
The speculation has been the Bears will make a strong push to re-sign Briggs and might even slap the franchise tag on him. But he sounds as if he wants to hit the open market. "You play four years as a third-round draft pick and you have your opportunity to get big pay for your work," Briggs said. "You definitely want to see what your worth is."

Brandon Short, who returned to the Giants in 2006 after two years with the Carolina Panthers, is a free agent this offseason, but hopes to return to New York in 2007. He wants to get his face in front of many of the NFL people gathered here for Sunday's Super Bowl XLI. The Giants are in the process of setting their priorities and goals for the offseason. "I haven't heard anything," said Short, who entered the NFL as the Giants' fourth-round draft choice in 2000. "Jerry Reese just became the general manager. I'm sure he needs to get his feet wet and figure out where they want to go as a team. Hopefully, I'll have a little bit better idea after the Pro Bowl if they're interested or not. If they are, hopefully we can come to terms. And if not, you'll be seeing me in other colors and I'll be coming to get you."

Ernie Accorsi will watch on television Sunday because he did not want to be at the Super Bowl so soon after walking away from pro football. But he will watch the big game and think about No. 19 of the Colts as he watches No. 18 try to win his first championship the way Unitas did in 1958. They just won't be his Colts. "I'm rooting for the Bears," Ernie Accorsi said. "They never moved."

Phil Simms has great admiration for Peyton Manning and tremendous empathy for Rex Grossman. Simms, who led the Giants to a Super Bowl victory 20 years ago, will be the analyst for CBS's telecast of Sunday's Super Bowl XLI, which pits Manning's Indianapolis Colts against Grossman's Chicago Bears in Dolphin Stadium. Not surprisingly, Simms has a keen interest in the quarterbacks. Like virtually everyone else in the football world, he considers Manning a great quarterback, an opinion reinforced not only by watching him play many games but by witnessing numerous practices.
Simms can almost feel the pressure on Manning to finally win the NFL's ultimate game. But he also understands what the much-maligned Grossman has endured. Despite the Bears' success this season (15-3), Chicago media outlets and fans have all but begged coach Lovie Smith to bench Grossman and his sometimes anemic passer rating in favor of Brian Griese. Smith has remained strong in his support for Grossman.

Feb 1 One year after recruiting LaVar Arrington, the Giants' man in the middle is trying to convince another Pro Bowl linebacker to join him in East Rutherford: the Bears' Lance Briggs. It would create an ideal scenario for Pierce -- Arrington, his teammate with the Redskins, on one side with Briggs, his longtime friend and fellow Arizona Wildcat, on the other. "I talked to him about that," Briggs said yesterday, four days before the Bears face the Colts in the Super Bowl. "I told him, 'If it doesn't work out in Chicago, maybe.'"
Briggs' comments about the Giants came one day after he told reporters he wants to remain with the Bears. "Sometimes you sacrifice some dough to win championships," he said. Pierce could not be reached for comment yesterday, but one Giants defensive player said Pierce has reached out to Briggs on multiple occasions in recent weeks. The player, who requested anonymity because Briggs won't be a free agent until March 2, said Pierce feels the Giants need another playmaker at linebacker.

This is the second go-round for Brad Maynard at the Super Bowl, and this time he's certain he's better equipped to handle what comes his way. Maynard is an established NFL punter and Sunday gets to kick for the Bears against the Colts in Super Bowl XLI. He likes his chances a whole lot better than his first Super Bowl experience with the Giants. "I think I'm a lot better punter than I was," Maynard said. All sorts of problems crisscrossed to compromise Maynard's performance. He was a small-town Indiana kid in the big city, thrust into a turbulent situation directed by special teams coach Larry MacDuff. The Giants instructed the 175-pound Maynard to gain weight to strengthen himself, and he bulked up to 200 pounds, causing back problems. Fearful of bad kick coverage, the Giants demanded Maynard send virtually every punt sailing out of bounds, a strategy he could not master on a regular basis. Add in the swirling wind of Giants Stadium, and it made for an unsatisfying ride.

After each was rejected by one of the New York teams, Bears GM Jerry Angelo and coach Lovie Smith needed only three seasons together to get Chicago to its first Super Bowl in 21 years. "I was disappointed," Angelo said. "I was disappointed," Smith said. Angelo lost out to Terry Bradway for the Jets general manager's job in 2001. Smith finished behind Tom Coughlin (and Charlie Weis) in the Giants' head-coach search in 2004. Did the Giants and Jets both make mistakes? The Jets never got past the divisional round with Bradway as GM and the Giants can't get past the wild-card round with Coughlin. Angelo built a Super Bowl team and Smith coached it to the big game.
The Giants wanted Coughlin to put an end to the Jim Fassel Country Club, but in three years, he has alienated many of his players and now is on a one-year audition to keep his job. Smith, then the Rams' defensive coordinator, was impressive in his interview with the Giants, but they were comfortable with Coughlin, a former Giants assistant. Angelo never interviewed Coughlin for the Bears' job even though they had been assistants together at Syracuse in the '70s. Angelo decided he would rather take his chances with a first-time coach than hire a recycled one. Coughlin yells a lot and wears out his players. Smith is quieter, but his players play hard for him. Would Smith have been tough enough to deal with New York and handle a difficult group of players? "He's tough," Bears linebacker Lance Briggs said. "He could fit any team. Lovie would be successful anywhere."

The Colts' Jeff Saturday and the Giants' Shaun O'Hara snap the ball for the Manning brothers, have smart-looking beards and are remarkably similar in size - Saturday is 6-2, 295 and O'Hara is 6-3, 303. They have been mistaken for one another since 2003. Both were player representatives at a union meeting during Pro Bowl week in Maui. "Everybody kept calling me Jeff," O'Hara said. "I introduced myself as Shaun, but everybody kept calling me Jeff. Then I was in the breakfast line and I saw him. I felt like I was walking into a mirror. He thought the same thing."

Jan 31 Mike Sweatman, whose distinguished 23-year career as one of the NFL's finest special teams coaches included three Super Bowl appearances and two championships with the Giants, announced his retirement. Tom Coughlin worked with Sweatman when both were members of Bill Parcells' Giants coaching staff from 1988-90. When Coughlin returned to the Giants as the head coach in 2004, he hired Sweatman as his special teams coordinator. "The opportunity to bring Mike Sweatman back to the New York Giants was something that I looked forward to, knowing full well that this is an individual that I could trust completely," Coughlin said. Coughlin announced that Tom Quinn will replace Sweatman as the Giants' special teams coordinator. Quinn, 39, spent the 2006 season, his first in the NFL, as Sweatman's assistant.

Phil Simms didn't even realize the quick math. Or maybe he doesn't have his Roman numerals down pat. But at some point during his preparation for CBS' broadcast of Super Bowl XLI, Simms realized it has been two decades since he led the Giants to a 39-20 win over the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXI. "I didn't pay a lot of attention to it, so when it was brought up to me in the last couple of weeks, I thought, 'My God. Twenty years,'" Simms said yesterday after a CBS press conference. "It's amazing, it really is."

Brad Maynard set a record the first time he played in the Super Bowl, but didn't enjoy one minute of the game. Maynard was the Giants' punter when they lost to the Baltimore Ravens, 34-7, six years ago in Super Bowl XXXV. His 11 punts were the most ever by a player in the Super Bowl – one more than Kyle Richardson, who punted 10 times for Baltimore that evening. He was asked on Tuesday if he would prefer to boot fewer than 11 punts. "Sure - if that means we can win," he said. "I don't have a problem punting as much as we can if it means we're gaining field position and playing great defense."
As a rookie he set a Giants record that still stands with 111 punts, including 13 in an overtime game in Washington. In four seasons he averaged 42.0 yards on 380 punts, including 123 he dropped inside the 20-yard line. Despite his success - and two playoff berths and a Super Bowl in those four years - he was dissatisfied professionally, because, he said, head coach Jim Fassel and special teams coach Larry Mac Duff wanted him to be something he wasn't comfortable being.
"I'm a directional punter, number one," Maynard said. "But you can't do it every time. I'm not the guy that because Deion (Sanders) is standing there, you kick it out of bounds. It's just too hard to ask, especially in Giants Stadium. Our coaching staff here, they let me call the direction all the time, right or left. Sometimes I don't feel good right or left, so I say, 'I'm going to hit this in the middle. Cover your butts off, I'll hit it as high as I can, but I'm going in the middle."

Jan 30 Tom Coughlin ventured outside of his coaching sphere to import a defensive coordinator (Eagles assistant Steve Spagnuolo), but he did not stray far from the familiar for his new quarterbacks coach, hiring veteran Chris Palmer, a blast from Coughlin's past. Palmer, 57, was Coughlin's offensive coordinator in Jacksonville in 1997 and 1998 and is now in charge of fast-forwarding the sluggish development of Eli Manning, a task that will no doubt shape the future of the Giants and determine Coughlin's longevity as head coach. In another move in the ever-changing Giants coaching staff, the team announced the retirement of special teams coach Mike Sweatman, who will be replaced by his assistant, Tom Quinn. Palmer met Manning last Friday and the two spoke for about 25 minutes.
Chris Palmer, 57, comes to the Giants from the Dallas Cowboys, for whom he was the quarterbacks coach in 2006. It was his only season in Dallas and his 17th as an NFL coach. Under Palmer's guidance, Romo enjoyed a meteoric rise from a player who had never thrown a regular season pass in almost 31/2 seasons to a Pro Bowler. Romo, who took over the job at halftime of a loss to the Giants on Oct. 23, won five of his first six starts, finished 6-4 and led the Cowboys to an NFC Wild Card playoff berth. He completed 220 of 337 passes (65.3 percent) for 2,903 yards, 19 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.

Just as Tom Coughlin was officially filling one coaching vacancy, another one popped up on his staff -- which he immediately filled. With Chris Palmer being welcomed aboard as quarterbacks coach Monday, Coughlin announced that Tom Quinn will replace Mike Sweatman as special teams coordinator. Sweatman announced his retirement after 23 seasons as an NFL assistant, including two stints with the Giants. Quinn was Sweatman's assistant last season. So Coughlin will have three different coordinators on his 2007 staff: Kevin Gilbride on offense, Steve Spagnuolo on defense and Quinn on special teams.

Jan 29 Special Report - All right, let's pretend you are Jerry Reese, the Giants' new general manager, and you are sitting at your desk with piles and piles of print-outs in front of you, reports from the various scouts under your employ and the scouting services to which you subscribe and even a few personal e-mails from friends in the college coaching ranks. Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to decide on the team's first round draft choice, and for the sake of this argument we will discount the possibility of trading up in the round or down and out of the round.

Chris Palmer, former coach at the University of New Haven, will be named Giants quarterbacks coach this week. Giants coach Tom Coughlin is expected to make the announcement within a few days, according to a team source. Palmer, an 18-year NFL coaching veteran, was displaced as Cowboys quarterbacks coach by the resignation of Bill Parcells last week. In 1996, Palmer was quarterbacks coach, helping Drew Bledsoe to one of his finest seasons and his second Pro Bowl appearance. He joined the Cowboys after serving as Texans offensive coordinator where he was in charge of the development of David Carr, their first-ever draft selection.
Chris Palmer will now oversee Eli Manning's development after helping Tony Romo reach the Pro Bowl. Palmer, a New York native, spent one season with the Cowboys where he reconnected with Bill Parcells. They were together in New England from 1993 to 1996 when he served as wide receivers and quarterbacks coach. Palmer is the fourth member of the Cowboys offensive staff to leave.

NFC EAST News
Dallas - Norv Turner got the best out of Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin when he was the Dallas Cowboys' offensive coordinator. He thinks he can do the same with Tony Romo, Terrell Owens and the rest of the club as their next head coach. If Turner gets the job, a priority would be continuing the development of Romo, who went from undrafted, unused backup to Pro Bowl pick in only a half-season.

Jan 28 Chris Palmer is no stranger to working with quarterbacks who were drafted No. 1 overall. Now, he'll be working with his fourth top choice -- Eli Manning. The Giants and coach Tom Coughlin have hired Palmer -- the former head coach of the Browns -- as their new quarterbacks coach, according to a member of the organization. The person requested anonymity because the hiring hasn't officially been announced. In addition to his two-year stint in Cleveland from 1999-2000, Palmer has also been an assistant coach with the Patriots, Texans, Cowboys and Coughlin's Jaguars.

Twenty years ago this past Thursday, the Pasadena sun painted an indelible mark on not just a team but on a group of young men. When Super Bowl XXI ended with ol' Blue Eyes serenading Big Blue with "New York, New York," those giddy boys of winter became teammates forever. Go ahead. Call any of the '86 Giants. From Harry Carson to Herb Welch, they remember the year and the moment because, in a sense, they never stopped feeling it.
Of the 40 Super Bowl winners, the '86 Giants are one of the most unique, their story most special. The NFL's flagship franchise hadn't won the championship for 30 years and the ghosts of Yankee Stadium had taken residence at the Meadowlands. But the bad years paid dividends in the draft, with players such as Phil Simms, Lawrence Taylor, Joe Morris, Terry Kinard and Banks. A general manager named George Young would hire (and almost fire) a coach named Bill Parcells, who would lean on old guys from the lean years, such as Carson and George Martin.

It's a long way from fourth-and-17, the most famous play in the Giants' run to the Super Bowl championship 20 years ago, to the indignity of sleeping nights on a park bench next to the Cumberland River. Sadly, it took Bobby Johnson only three years to get there. He blames no one but himself. He caught the last-minute sideline pass from Phil Simms in Minnesota that led to the winning field goal and convinced the Giants they were good enough to win Super Bowl XXI.
"Had it not been for that combination of Simms to Bobby Johnson, I might not be wearing a Super Bowl ring," Hall of Fame linebacker Harry Carson says. But instead of using that catch as the impetus to build a career he hoped would last as long as he could run, Johnson was gone from the NFL the next summer and soon had no money and was trying to satisfy his cocaine addiction.

The NFL has vacillated between allowing one week or two weeks between conference championship weekend and Super Bowl weekend. Under the current two-week format, the Super Bowl falls into February's TV sweeps, which the network, in this case CBS, salivates over. Fans, though, seem to hate the extended break. Most don't know what they'll do with themselves today, during that empty Sunday. And there's no more excuse for putting off Sunday chores they've been avoiding for months.

Here are the Untold Stories, Steve Sabol's Top 10 Super Bowl colorful moments, the true Lost Treasures, released from the NFL Films vault and offered in Letterman style. These are not the greatest plays or the goofiest plays, something the world has watched many times. These are Sabol's behind the scenes Super Bowl stories, the ultimate trip Inside the NFL.

NFC EAST News
Dallas - New Orleans defensive coordinator Gary Gibbs interviewed Saturday with the Dallas Cowboys about their head coaching vacancy. Gibbs, a former Cowboys assistant, was the third outside candidate to visit Valley Ranch for an interview since Bill Parcells retired Monday. San Francisco offensive coordinator Norv Turner was scheduled to interview today. Turner was the Cowboys' offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 1991-93.

Jan 27 Tiki Barber retired after the 2006 season as one of the greatest players in Giants history and one of the very best NFL players of his era. Barber set more than a dozen franchise records and accomplished feats achieved by very few players in league history. "The records are special, because they're a testament to my internal fortitude," Barber said. "They're a testament to my hard work and determination and the fact that, as I've always lived my life, I don't conform to other people's expectations except my own, and I go after them." Read about Barber's honor role.

Ken Kavanaugh, a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, a record-setting professional player and a heroic World War II bomber pilot who later spent 45 years in the Giants organization as a coach and scout, died this week in Sarasota, Fla. He was 90. Kavanaugh passed away Thursday morning of complications from pneumonia. Kavanaugh was an assistant coach with the Giants from 1955-70. He moved into the scouting department in 1971 and remained there until announcing his retirement during the 1999 season. He then retired to Sarasota.
"Ken Kavanaugh was a revered member of the Giants' family," team president and chief executive officer John Mara said. "He led an extraordinary life, from his years of service in World War II through his career in the NFL as a player, coach and scout. He made many important contributions to the Giants over the years."

The next nine days are all about the Colts and the Bears, but Eli doesn't think his Giants are so far removed from being in the thick of a Super Bowl hunt. That Eli will be in Miami in the week preceding the Super Bowl is a bit ironic, considering that is where his top two receiving targets, Plaxico Burress and Jeremy Shockey, race down to every offseason and don't return save for the three days of June minicamp and for training camp in August. Burress' wife, Tiffany, just gave birth to the couple's first child in New Jersey, so Burress may stick around up north for a bit. But Manning is looking for both his playmakers to make more of an effort before they're required to be on hand.

Jeremy Shockey, who missed the Giants' regular-season finale with an ankle injury, will not play in the Pro Bowl. The tight end was selected to his fourth Pro Bowl in his fifth NFL season despite nursing an ankle injury for most of the year. He didn't miss a game until the Dec. 30 finale, then returned for the Giants' lone playoff game but was less than 100%.

The price of the new football stadium for the New York Giants and New York Jets has risen to $1.4 billion. "Costs continue to go up," said Alice McGillion, a spokeswoman for New Meadowlands Stadium Corp., a company that represents the team owners. When the teams announced their unprecedented deal to build, own and operate the stadium together in September 2005, the price was estimated at just over $800 million.
The plan calls for the stadium to be completed in time for the 2010 season, with groundbreaking expected late this spring or early this summer. The company, Skanska AB, previously built Reliant Stadium in Houston and Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. It is also participating in the construction of the new Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. Designs of the exterior of the new stadium are expected to be unveiled late next month. The Giants and Jets, who are financing the project themselves with the help of a $300 million loan from the NFL, have cleared most major hurdles to get the stadium built. They still are awaiting the results of an environmental impact study from the New Jersey Dept. of Environmental Protection. Approval from that department isn't expected until March.

Jan 26 Eli Manning is headed to the Super Bowl, but not the way he wants to get there. Sure, Manning will hit Miami on Thursday and spend the weekend glad-handing, picking up a few extra bucks attending promotional events and mainly basking in the reflected glory of big brother Peyton, who after nine years of individual stardom is finally on the brink of a championship. Eli will root long and hard for Peyton and the Colts to beat the Bears in Super Bowl XLI, never getting out of his mind that where Peyton is, Eli wants to follow.
Eli Manning made his way down to the RCA Dome field in Indianapolis on Sunday and cut through all the confetti and the happy people so he could congratulate his big brother. He was genuinely happy that Peyton finally had made it to the Super Bowl. But that happiness didn't last long. "As you watch it happen, you realize that this is where you want to be," Eli said yesterday. "There's also that mode of kind of disappointment in our season. You kind of want to go through the same emotions that he's going through and have that same excitement. To kind of be there and see it happen, it makes you want it even more."
For however long he spends in Miami over the next 10 days, he'll be the Other Manning, the one not preparing to make his first appearance in the Super Bowl. While Peyton Manning's public appearances will be tightly managed as his Indianapolis Colts focus on the challenges posed by the Chicago Bears, Eli Manning will have plenty of time to mingle with the common folk -- and probably hear all about his more accomplished older brother. If nothing else, the overall experience will give the younger Manning a whiff of the atmosphere every NFL player hungers to experience.

Meanwhile, Eli is already preparing for a 2007 season that will feature a new offensive coordinator, Kevin Gilbride, who was the Giants quarterbacks coach the last three seasons. Coach Tom Coughlin still has not hired a quarterbacks coach. "I think you look for [a quarterbacks coach] who is smart, intelligent, who you can communicate with and build a good relationship with," Eli said. "I hope he is someone who will design good drills, someone who will coach me, be hard on me, who will make sure that everything I am doing will help me play better football." After being promoted to coordinator last week, Gilbride said one of his goals will remain getting Eli to play with more consistency.
Manning also said wide receiver Plaxico Burress has indicated he would be around the area more this off-season, giving the two time to work on a rapport like Peyton has with his top receiver, Marvin Harrison. Burress and tight end Jeremy Shockey have spent the bulk of the past two off-seasons working out in the Miami area. "I have to get with Shockey to see what his plans are," said Manning, who may well run into his tight end next weekend prior to Super Bowl XLI at Dolphin Stadium. "I'm rooting for the Colts, but I guess I'm a little biased," he said when asked to pick the winner "I don't know if I have the answer to 'Who's going to win?' But I'm going to root for my brother and the Colts."
BRIEF: The Giants said SS Gibril Wilson was fine after being held up at gunpoint outside a Manhattan club Monday night. The gunmen took jewelry, Wilson's wallet and the keys to his Mercedes, but the car was not stolen.

LaVar Arrington's first season as a member of the Giants came to an abrupt halt, just as he appeared ready to take off in his new role. Playing against the Cowboys in the sixth game of his New York Giants career, the 28-year old linebacker suffered the injury to his left leg on a freakish second quarter play in which he was hardly even involved. Earlier, in the first quarter, Arrington recorded his first sack as a member of the Giants--flying through the middle of the Cowboys' line to tackle quarterback Drew Bledsoe in the end zone for a safety. Arrington has been coming to Giants Stadium practically every day to continue rehabbing his surgically-repaired left leg as well as to get into the best playing shape possible.

Jan 25 Four years after Phil Simms became the first MVP to do the Disney World shout into the cameras, his fairy tale died. On crutches, he could barely bring himself to watch Jeff Hostetler lead the Giants past the Bills in Super Bowl XXV. The broken foot had broken his spirit. Simms surveyed Buffalo's zone defense from the sidelines and thought, "Oh my God, this team was made for me to throw against." Simms left the field long before Scott Norwood went wide right. He left the locker room before his healthy teammates entered and flipped it upside down.
"Pretty devastating," Simms called the experience. If he could've played against the Bills, Simms would likely be in the Hall of Fame. But in his second career, he's developed into the best analyst in football, CBS' go-to man for the Colts-Bears Super Bowl. And he'll always have Pasadena on his mantle. Some five or six years ago, Simms was flipping channels in another hotel in another town when he happened upon a replay of Super Bowl XXI.
He sat on his bed and relived every precious second of the game. After spending a hard football life in the cold NFC East rain, Simms could almost feel the California sun come over him. "I watched myself and my teammates on that tape and said: 'Damn, Look at us. We were young. We were strong. We were athletic. And wouldn't it be great to be all of those things just one more time.'"

NFL East News
Dallas - Bill Parcells. The questions have been asked in many ways, and one thing that's been constant about Parcells is that you never know. It has infuriated people who have been professionally involved with these decisions, or lack of same. I hope Bill Parcells doesn't go back to ESPN as a studio analyst. I say that from an entirely selfish viewpoint. I mean who's to begrudge a guy like Parcells, who has paid his dues for as long as he has, a chance to do what he enjoys? But I didn't enjoy it when he filled that role before he went to Dallas.

NFL NEWS
The NFL toughened its drug policy yesterday, reaching an agreement with the NFL Players Association in one of Roger Goodell's first major moves as commissioner. The NFL becomes the first professional league in the U.S. to regularly test for erythropoietin (EPO), a blood-boosting agent, and will subject all players to random carbon isotope ratio testing, previously used only to confirm positive results.

Jan 24 Special Report - You probably all remember the game on Dec. 1, 1986, when the Giants went to San Francisco for a Monday night "Game of the Decade." They were 11-2 at the time, the 49ers were almost as good, and it has become clear that one of the teams was going to represent the NFC in Super Bowl XXI. The Giants trailed at halftime, 17-0. In the locker room, he (Bill Parcells) was a angry as he had ever been, cold and nasty to the players, verbally abusive.
He told Phil Simms that he wasn't playing well at all. "What did you do, take a [uh-uh, not here] vacation, Simms? You plan on going out there for the second half? I would vote against it. You are embarrassing yourself."

Jan 23 Tom Coughlin yesterday plucked a coach away from the Eagles, naming Steve Spagnuolo as the Giants' new defensive coordinator. So much for Coughlin bringing in a big-name or high-profile top assistant to run his defense. No Dom Capers, no Jim Mora Jr., no longtime, proven defensive guru with a track record of excellence. Spagnuolo, 47, has never been a coordinator in the NFL, but certainly has knowledge of the Giants, going against them the past eight years with the Eagles. Most recently, he served as Philadelphia's linebackers coach. Spagnuolo (pronounced SPAG-no-low) learned the NFL ropes from one of the best in the business: Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson, a respected mastermind with a penchant for heavy doses of blitzes. That played heavily into Coughlin's thinking.

Tom Coughlin didn't take very long, didn't meet with very many and didn't look very far in finding his new defensive coordinator. Steve Spagnuolo impressed Coughlin during an interview on Sunday -- the only in-person interview Coughlin conducted, though he said on a conference call yesterday that he "spoke to many people over the phone." It's not certain how many candidates Coughlin spoke to, but he likely had a chat with Jim Mora Jr., who accepted a job as the Seahawks' assistant head coach/secondary coach on Sunday. Dom Capers, Coughlin's defensive coordinator in Jacksonville, agreed to a contract extension to remain with the Dolphins before the team even hired a head coach (though he reportedly didn't sign the deal until Miami hired Cam Cameron).
The problem is that the Giants' current situation doesn't offer much security for proven coordinators. Coughlin was given a contract extension through 2008, but he's actually guaranteed only one more year as head coach. The extra year was added so he wouldn't be perceived as a lame duck. But that's exactly what Coughlin is right now. And he has only one year to shed that label, which is why it seemed likely from the start that he would have to settle for an unproven coach looking to make a name for himself as a coordinator.

Steve Spagnuolo, a onetime Rutgers assistant, said he has no reservations making the move to the Giants despite the uncertainty about the security of the Coughlin regime. "When you're in the business I'm in, you aspire to be in certain positions and coordinator was one that I wanted," he said. "There are only 32 of them in this league, and I don't think you ever say no to them." He was the only coach Coughlin personally interviewed for the position, although he did background studies on several others. "I was very impressed by his detail, his energy, his enthusiasm. His resume is outstanding" said Coughlin, who is in Mobile, Ala., to scout the Senior Bowl practices. "He's had a lot of different football jobs. His philosophy is an aggressive philosophy."

Tom Coughlin needed to interview only one candidate to find his new defensive coordinator: Steve Spagnuolo. Now Coughlin hopes the longtime Eagles defensive position coach can bring some of the aggressiveness and zeal from the system run by Philadelphia head coach Andy Reid and defensive coordinator Jim Johnson to a Giants defense that was never healthy and underperformed the past two seasons. You guys have seen the Giants-Eagles games the last few years. That's the bulk of what I can bring, what I do,"
Spagnuolo said yesterday. "What I know about [the Giants' personnel] is real exciting." Tim Lewis, whom Coughlin fired after three seasons as defensive coordinator and who was hired as secondary coach for Carolina last week, had lots of weapons for an aggressive defense at his disposal, but the Giants never found a consistent way to attack opposing quarterbacks.

If Steve Spagnuolo believes in anything, it's being aggressive and getting to the quarterback. The problem is, the Giants didn't do any of that the last half of their 8-8 season. So their new 47-year-old defensive coordinator, named Monday just before head coach Tom Coughlin flew off for a week of Senior Bowl practices in Mobile, Ala., will have to look hard at the talent he has available.
Going from coaching Jeremiah Trotter to the Giants might prove to be a case of culture shock. But Spagnuolo said he's looking forward to it. He goes from a sure thing in Philadelphia, which produced the league's 15th-ranked overall defense and ninth-ranked pass defense, to much uncertainty with the Giants. The fired Tim Lewis' group finished 28th against the pass and 25th in overall defense.

Bill Parcells e-mailed goodbye to Jerry Jones and the Cowboys and retired again yesterday, meaning there will be a Tuna lurking off the shores of East Rutherford if and when Tom Coughlin fails to survive the 2007 season. I offer this advice for the New York football Giants: If you are thinking about a longlost reunion, Fugghedaboutit! By the time the 2008 season starts, Bill Parcells will be a 67-year-old dinosaur. Yes, he has a longstanding relationship with Giants co-owner John Mara, through Wellington Mara. But if Coughlin cannot connect with his players, cannot develop Eli Manning, and Mara must fire him, Parcells should be nowhere near his short list of replacements. If Belichick is free, he is the first choice, hands down. Bill Cowher is the second choice.

NFC East News
Dallas - Is Parcells' retirement as Cowboys coach really the end? "Bill can always tell you his game plan for the next three games. But he rarely can tell you what he'll do the next day, let alone the next month or the next year," the late George Young, Parcells' boss during eight seasons in which he won his only two Super Bowls, often said.
Bill Parcells won two Super Bowls with the Giants, took the Patriots to the Super Bowl and the Jets to the AFC Championship Game. But he was just 34-30 in the regular season in Dallas and 0-2 in the playoffs. "I know my team is a lot better," he said over the phone from Dallas recently. "I just don't have anything to show for it."
Bill Parcells has many enigmatic qualities. And while his decision to leave the Cowboys - with one year and $5 million left on his contract - was surprising, his next move may not be. When Parcells leaves coaching gigs behind, he usually turns to television to keep him around the game.

Jan 22 Giants head coach Tom Coughlin today named Steve Spagnuolo the team's new defensive coordinator. Spagnuolo replaces Tim Lewis, who was dismissed on Jan. 11 after as the Giants' defensive coordinator for the past three years. Spagnuolo comes to the Giants after eight seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, the last three as the club's linebackers coach.

NFC East News
Dallas - Bill Parcells resigned as coach of the Dallas Cowboys Monday after a bitterly disappointing playoff loss to the Seattle Seahawks. "I am in good health and feel lucky to have been able to coach in the NFL for an extended period of time," Parcells said in a statement on the team's Web site.
Philadelphia - Steve Spagnuolo's departure creates a void. He was a well-respected coach and a possible successor to Jim Johnson.

Jan 21 The Post's Steve Serby chatted with the two-time Giants Super Bowl-champion linebacker, who played under Bill Belichick when the coach was Big Blue's defensive coordinator:
Q: How did Belichick push Lawrence Taylor?
A: He'd be screaming if Lawrence didn't run the bag drills right and make him do it over. Lawrence would be cursing and screaming: "Why do I have to run these bags like this?" Bill had no problem stopping the bag drill and explaining why running the bag drill full-speed was important. He'd pick a team, or a player: "If so-and-so's trying to cut your knees while you're running to the football, you can jump over him full-speed and make a play and not have to worry about it."
Harry Carson, the Hall of Fame Giants linebacker who played under Belichick for eight seasons when Belichick was the team's linebackers coach and defensive coordinator in the '80s, says Belichick had to morph into Mr. Freeze around Eric Mangini. "They coached together in New England, but that becomes irrelevant," says Carson. "Mangini has a certain insight into Belichick that a lot of people don't have because he's been intimately involved with him from a standpoint of coaching. I think Bill has to throw in some wrinkles, so he's not as predictable. I don't know if there's any dislike. If you look at the relationship between Belichick and (Bill) Parcells, there's a coolness about that as well."

Jan 20 "I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you," Jerry Reese said to Jeremiah Davis. "No, no," Davis said with his typical humility. "I'm a boiler-room guy. You're a boardroom guy. I don't get any of the credit." Davis, 53, is entering his 20th season as a scout for the Giants. He's found more than a few players for the team, and missed on a few, too. From a hotel room in Houston this week, he spoke about what could turn out to be his biggest find: Reese, who played chess with Davis and displayed the kind of leadership ability that Davis has watched grow over the years. "You could see it, in the way he interacted with the players," said Davis, who essentially was Reese's boss at UT-Martin.

Sean Payton, former Giants offensive coordinator and now New Orleans Saints head coach, had short stints in the Arena Football League, Canadian Football League, even the World Football League, playing for London. He also endured 3 1/2 weeks as a Bear under Mike Ditka during the 1987 players strike. Payton was named NFL Coach of the Year, and his Naperville friends and former coaches find themselves rooting--ever so slightly--for a man who won't be wearing blue and orange Sunday on the Soldier Field sidelines when the Bears play the Saints for the NFC title.
Payton will not feel out of place in Soldier Field. "Home for me is Chicago," Payton said Monday. "It's a great town, great sports town. There are a lot of good memories for me." Those strike games are not among them. Reporters referred to the replacement team as "the spare Bears," but Ditka called them "the real Bears," alienating many players from his 1985 Super Bowl team. "Our last game was against the Saints and the last pass I threw was intercepted," Payton said. "I think he likes me more now as a coach than he did as a player. That's OK."

Jan 19 The New York Giants made Kevin Gilbride their offensive coordinator on Thursday, an expected move after he replaced John Hufnagel in the week leading up to the team's final regular-season game. Gilbride, a former offensive coordinator with the Houston Oilers, Jacksonville, Pittsburgh and Buffalo and a head coach with San Diego, had been the Giants' quarterbacks coach since 2004.
Gilbride's close working relationship with Manning was seemingly a factor in his appointment. Gilbride was more an observer of the offense than a major contributor. He knows his quarterback inside and out, so he should be able to draw up schemes that play to Manning's strengths.
Gilbride was seen on the sideline in Philadelphia screaming at Manning after an interception, and his fiery temper is considered a plus by some of the offensive players polled after the season. "Eli and the offensive team will welcome this announcement," Coughlin said. "[Gilbride is] articulate. He's blunt, but when he makes corrections it's encouraging rather than deflating. That's been a positive."

Last week, the Giants announced who their coach would be for the 2007 season: The same one that's been in charge the past three years. On Tuesday, they named their new general manager: The leading in-house candidate who was considered the favorite from the beginning. Yesterday, they appointed a new offensive coordinator: The one who finished this season as the interim head offensive honcho. Are you sensing a pattern yet? If not, we'll spell it out for you: The Giants are convinced mostly everything is fine with Tom Coughlin's leadership, the front office's personnel moves and Kevin Gilbride's play-calling and game-planning.
It's the defense that needs work. That side of the ball will be addressed in the coming weeks when the team hires a new defensive coordinator. Former Falcons coach Jim Mora Jr. is a strong possibility if he doesn't land a head coaching job. Also, Redskins secondary coach and former Bills coordinator Jerry Gray, who is represented by the same agent as Coughlin, could be brought in for an interview.

Kevin Gilbride has seen enough of Eli Manning in three seasons as his quarterbacks coach to come to this decision: In 2007, he's going to let Manning air it out. That's what he promised yesterday when he was officially introduced as the Giants' new offensive coordinator. Gilbride was not happy with the results of the Giants' downfield passing attack under former offensive coordinator John Hufnagel. And he said there's too much big-play potential on the Giants' offense to let it all go to waste.
The Giants will continue to run what Gilbride calls a "hybrid" offense, with the core remaining Coughlin's approach. The big winner here could be tight end Jeremy Shockey, who averaged a career-low 9.4 yards per catch and had a long reception of 25 yards. With Gilbride calling the shots, the Giants likely will attempt more downfield throws, specifically targeting Shockey.

Gilbride said Coughlin has mentioned "two names" as his potential replacement as quarterback coach, and did not think the head coach was in a rush to make that decision. Gilbride realizes the success of what becomes his offense is directly connected to improvement in the quarterback who, ironically, he's been tutoring for the past three years. "The biggest thing we will be looking for is consistency," he said. "We all see times of brilliance from Eli, but then there are the times where because of a decision-making error or an errant throw, he makes a mistake. ... We have to stay away from those bad plays, those catastrophic plays, plays that jumped up and bit us."

As the Giants prepared for the Super Bowl six years ago, almost as much attention was paid to their coordinators, John Fox and Sean Payton, as their coach, Jim Fassel. There was speculation Fox and Payton would become head coaches like Vince Lombardi and Tom Landry, Giants assistants in the 1950s who left to win titles in Green Bay and Dallas. The conjecture proved correct, albeit premature. Payton, the AP coach of the year in his rookie season, led the Saints to their first division title since 2000. On Sunday in Chicago, the 14th coach in Saints history becomes the first to lead them into an NFC Championship Game.
That didn't surprise Fassel. "He's a guy who is so positive; the glass is always half-full with everything that he looks at," Fassel told WFAN this week. (See media link above) "He'll overcome all the negativity that's been down there [in New Orleans]. They needed the right attitude and he brought it to them." For those who played through the lean years, Payton's arrival was like Mardi Gras on Bourbon Street.

Dear Jerry Reese: The fol lowing advice, while unsolicited, comes from the head and the heart. Forget, for the moment, running backs and linebackers. As the Giants' new GM, the first thing you should bring to the team is a restoration of class. Throughout this past season, I spoke with scores of Giants fans - of all ages - and they shared this sentiment: This was the toughest Giants team to root for - to stomach - since they became fans.
Some of these folks have been live-and-die fans since Charlie Conerly played quarterback. Others don't go back far enough to recall Elvis "Toast" Patterson. But they all said there was just too much compromise of the good senses needed to root hard for this team. It seemed more like the University of Miami than the New York Football Giants.

Jan 18 UPDATE - Kevin Gilbride's two-game stint as the Giants' play-caller earned him a fulltime promotion. Head coach Tom Coughlin today named Gilbride as the team's new offensive coordinator. Gilbride was the team's quarterbacks coach the previous three seasons. He assumed play-calling duties from former coordinator John Hufnagel prior to the regular season finale in Washington. The Giants scored 34 points -- their second-highest total of the season -- and gained 355 yards (261 on the ground) in a victory over the Redskins that virtually clinched a playoff berth. Gilbride again called the plays the following week in a 23-20 loss to Philadelphia in an NFC Wild Card Game.

Jan 18 In an interview with the YES Network that aired last night, Jerry Reese said he was still hoping running back Tiki Barber would decide to play at least one more season. On Tuesday night, during his weekly broadcast of "The Barber Shop" on Sirius Satellite Radio, Barber said he's not going to unretire. "Well, Jerry, I can tell you -- I know you're probably not listening but somebody is listening -- I'm not coming out of retirement," Barber said. "But I appreciate the offer."
The rejection was not surprising since the 31-year-old Barber has been preparing for the next phase of his career for many years. Still, Reese said on Tuesday that he planned to talk to the Giants' all-time leading rusher after he "got his battery recharged and he's been away, relaxed and got his strength back from being beat up. "Then all of a sudden he may say, 'You know what? I can go one more (year),'" Reese added. "'Jerome Bettis did it."
However, Barber has appeared to be recharged by his new opportunities more than he was by the latter stages of his NFL career. He is expected to announce a deal in the near future with either NBC or ABC/ESPN that would allow him to work in both news and sports broadcasting. He has also begun his foray into the business world, reportedly inking a deal to invest in O Water, a brand of flavored bottle water."

Jerry Reese says the cupboard he inherited is by no means bare. "Ernie [Accorsi] has left us with a strong core of players," Reese said at Tuesday's news conference introducing him as Giants general manager. "Even with all the injuries and the bad situations that happened to us this season, our team is good enough to still be playing right now." Reese concedes there are some "hot spots" he must address if the Giants are to be playing at this time next season. The Record takes a preliminary look at the Giants by position, with the real "hot spots" in capital letters.

It was a frustrating 2006 for wide receiver Amani Toomer and defensive end Justin Tuck, two key players who were forced to watch from the sideline during the second half of an 8-8 season. Injuries to defensive ends Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora during large stretches were significant losses to the Giants this season. But not to be overlooked was the loss of Tuck, the team's third defensive end and special teams contributor. And while quarterback Eli Manning's numbers dipped in the second half of 2006, the loss of Toomer certainly had an impact on those statistics.

Bill Belichick has not and will not address his contract status with the Patriots, and neither will the Kraft family; it is as closely guarded a secret as any in the NFL. A person familiar with Belichick's situation told us only that he is signed at least through the 2007 season, but offered no more details. Would the Giants be interested if things didn't work out with Tom Coughlin next season? Of course they would. Consider that they wanted to talk to Belichick's right-hand man, Scott Pioli, about their then-vacant general manager's job. And whom do you think Pioli would have eventually brought in?

The last game Wellington Mara ever saw his beloved New York Football Giants play came in late October of 2005. In failing health the 89-year-old patriarch of the Giants family watched his team play the Denver Broncos. Cancer was his opponent, but this wasn't a battle he could win. He had returned home from the hospital simply to spend the final days of his life in familiar surroundings. The Giants rallied and won the game when Eli Manning hit Amani Toomer from two-yards out with five seconds to play. The final score was Giants 24, Broncos 23.
Mara passed away two days later. His funeral was held at Manhattan's St. Patrick's Cathedral. It was in essence a state funeral for both the Giants and the National Football League. But as an outsider, Wellington Mara was just another old school football owner to me. I knew enough NFL history to know the name, but it wasn't until I read Carlo DeVito's new book, Wellington: The Maras, the Giants, and the City of New York that I gained a true appreciation for this legend of American sports.

Doug Williams, the former Redskins and Buccaneers quarterback and a former Grambling head coach, knows a few things about the progress of minorities in the NFL, since in 1988 he became the first black quarterback to reach and win the Super Bowl. He was a role model for African-Americans everywhere then, and paved the way for black quarterbacks all around the league. Now, as a personnel executive and aspiring GM with Tampa Bay, Williams said Reese - the third African-American GM in the NFL - "is a role model for me."
He just wishes he had a few more role models around the league. "We've gotten past the time when writers would say 'Tampa's black quarterback' or 'Philadelphia's black quarterback,'" Williams said. "Now we call their name, so in that respect there is some progress. Do we need to make some more progress? Yes we do, because it's the same thing with Jerry Reese being named general manager.

Jan 17 Jerry Reese broke in as a Giants scout in 1994, and became their assistant director of pro personnel five years later. In 2002 he was promoted to director of player personnel, making him the highest-ranking black executive in the history of the team. He was so impressive in all of those jobs that he emerged as a candidate in recent years for GM jobs in Tampa Bay and Miami, and he quickly became the early favorite to replace the retiring Ernie Accorsi. He was also on the GM short list of his hometown Tennessee Titans, and Mara believed that if the Giants hadn't promoted him, "I think there's a good chance that we could have lost him."
The luncheon had moments both heartfelt and comical. A video put together by Giants Broadcast Productions Manager Steve Venditti was essentially a journey through Accorsi's career, accompanied by Jimmy Durante singing, "I'll be seeing you." Another video included doctored photos of Accorsi's head on Tiger Woods' body and other such poses. Accorsi received a flat screen television and a travel voucher. The famously happy unmarried Accorsi also accepted a gag gift of a gift certificate to Match.com. "Somebody asked me recently how I would describe the ideal general manager," John Mara said in his luncheon speech. "The qualities I thought of were unquestionable integrity, dignity, intelligence, leadership and courage. As I went on, I realized that I was describing Ernie Accorsi."

Ernie Accorsi was responsible for acquiring the heart of the Giants' roster, including Eli Manning, Luke Petitgout, Jeremy Shockey, Antonio Pierce, Osi Umenyiora and Plaxico Burress. But he is ready for retirement. Accorsi was going to leave following the 2005 season but didn't feel right about walking away after Wellington Mara and Bob Tisch passed away three weeks apart that year. So he stayed on for another season, which became another playoff year. In his remarks at the luncheon, Accorsi remembered Mara and Tisch as Wellington's widow, Ann, and son John (the team's President and Chief Executive Officer), as well as Giants Treasurer Jonathan Tisch sat nearby. Coach Tom Coughlin and several of his assistants also attended the luncheon.

Jerry Reese, 43, is only the third Giants general manager since 1979 and only the third black GM in NFL history. He was hired by the late George Young and groomed by Accorsi, so he is truly an inside hire, though not one made to satisfy any outside pressure. After 13 years with the Giants, moving up from scout to two front-office jobs, Reese is the ideal choice to maintain the stability the Giants crave, although Mara said he wished Patriots vice president of player development Scott Pioli had interviewed.
When Jerry Reese was introduced as the new general manager of the Giants yesterday, his message was clear -- old-school teachings, new-school applications. "I don't know if you can reinvent the wheel," Reese said at a news conference. "But we're going to make a terrific team. I don't think we're that far away." Head coach Tom Coughlin was retained and given a one-year contract extension but he'll be under extreme scrutiny next season. However, Reese said his door is always open to his head coach. "I told him (Coughlin) if there's anything he needs, I'll try and get it for him," Reese said. "But there's some things we can get better at. It kind of makes me sick to look at the playoff games going on right now and I think that our team is still good enough to be playing right now. There are some hot spots that coach Coughlin and I will talk about. We're in the process of doing that right now."

Jerry Reese has the perfect replacement in mind for the now-retired Tiki Barber: Tiki Barber. Though he admits he "thinks the percentage is probably low," the Giants' new GM refused to close the door completely on Barber's 10-year career and plans to ask him if he will consider playing for at least one more season. In an interview that will be broadcast on YES Network's This Week In Football tonight at 10, Reese said he'll have that conversation because "there's always a chance."

For the record, Jerry Reese, the new general manager of the Giants is OK that he's been saddled with Tom Coughlin as his coach. He also insisted he would've made the Eli Manning trade too if he had been the GM on draft day 2004. Of course, it would've been impossible for Reese to say anything else when he was introduced as the new GM of the Giants -- not unless he wanted to ignite a feeding frenzy in the media and sink the credibility and leadership ability of his two most important men before the season even started. Maybe he actually meant what he said.
During the interview process and again last week, the Giants' co-owners, John Mara and Jonathan Tisch, alerted newly promoted general manager Jerry Reese that in 2007 he'd be working with Tom Coughlin as head coach. Normally, it is the job of the GM to hire and fire the coach, but not this time. "They both spoke to me ... and I was very supportive of the decision we made.
Reese said yesterday, "I would've done the same thing" if he had the opportunity to trade for Manning in 2004. He said he's very confident that Manning is "a guy who can take you to a different level." As for Coughlin, he said, "I'm looking forward to Tom being here a long time." It remains to be seen, of course, how Reese will feel about Coughlin one year from now when the new GM will decide whether the coach is fired or gets a contract extension. But Reese won't have to make the same quick decision on his quarterback. He said he's committed to Manning as the Giants' "franchise quarterback," even though he knows Manning hasn't played as well as anyone has hoped.
Just as Accorsi's legacy is tied to Manning's resume, Reese's success or failure is linked to a quarterback who he admits has not developed as rapidly as anticipated. He's only been an NFL starter for two full seasons, Reese said in defense of Manning. Reese, though, is tougher than his pleasant exterior indicates. "Next year the young tag is gone," Reese said of Manning.

On Tom Coughlin, who came a game away from standing on an unemployment line. "Tom is our coach and we hope he'll be here for a long, long time," Reese said. (What else was he going to say? "Tom? Tom who?") On Eli Manning, who was consistently inconsistent. "His progress is not where we want him to be," Reese admitted. "Obviously, it's not where we want it to be. We want him to be a Pro Bowl guy that can lead us into the Super Bowl. We're depending on him taking us where we want to go." He mentioned adding a quarterback coach, "a quarterback guru.
Whatever Coach Coughlin needs, we're going to get it for Eli because we're depending on him. "I don't think we have to make major changes. Tweak some positions...address some hot spots...(but) the team has a strong core." Nobody brought up Tiki Barber and how they'll replace his 1,672 rushing yards (why ruin a pleasant afternoon?). Will the pass rush make a comeback? Will the linebackers get better grades?

Jerry Reese has run the Giants' draft room for years, even though Accorsi had the final say. Now that final say belongs to Reese. "I've had the opportunity to observe Jerry's work firsthand throughout his time here, and he has demonstrated extraordinary leadership skills, intelligence, confidence, a superior work ethic and an outstanding ability to evaluate players," Giants co-owner John Mara said. "Jerry earned this position the old-fashioned way: through hard work and dedication, being promoted through the ranks, and demonstrating a unique set of skills that caused us to take notice of him very early on."
Jerry Reese on scouting: "For the most part, we do a good job. But there are some new ideas I'm going to present to our personnel staff to see if we can get to a different level on the type of players we bring in -- what their history is with injuries, how productive they've been. We've got to be mindful of not just getting a name, we've got to get guys who can contribute right away, especially with free agency." Now, it's clear that Reese, who will oversee the April draft while a new personnel director is brought in, was talking about free agency -- namely, a certain No. 55, in whom the Giants put a ton of faith and who was just starting to come around when he was lost for the season (and, funny enough, LaVar was in the stadium yesterday, rehabbing his torn Achilles).

Reporters had swarmed upon Jerry Reese, cornering him on the podium against the blue backdrop with the "NY" logos. The bright lights of the cameras drew tiny beads of sweat onto his forehead and the top of his freshly shaved head. The new king of the Giants front office was meeting his court at the tail end of a morning that served as his public coronation. At the side of the room, in the shadows and wearing an immaculate cream pinstriped suit, stood Gwen, his wife of nearly 19 years. To her, this wasn't an end. It was just another stop on a journey that began in tiny Tiptonville, Tenn., and has made its latest stop in the general manager's office of the Giants. "He has something (else) in mind already," Gwen Reese said. "Maybe I'd better not say that. In the NFL there are some other things he would like to accomplish. "Probably just sign his name on the football. I'll say that."

It's safe to say the majority of Giants fans don't care whether Jerry Reese is black, blue or green as long as he figures out a way to get the the team to another Super Bowl. But there are plenty who do care, and most of them are African-Americans who believe too many organizations want them on the playing field but not in the front office. "That's [felt] around the league," former Giants great Harry Carson said yesterday. "There are former players and African-Americans around the league that have those frustrations."
The Hall of Fame linebacker is ecstatic that Reese, 43, has been named the third African-American general manager in the NFL. And not just anywhere, either, but in the New York market with one of the league's flagship franchises. That combination means he can do a lot in furthering the alliance's aim -- promoting more diversity in the league's hierarchy. "I think Jerry has the opportunity to become the most powerful minority in sports, not just in the NFL," Carson said of the man named to replace the retired Ernie Accorsi.

NFC East News.
The Washington Redskins fired linebackers coach Dale Lindsey yesterday, marking the first time Coach Joe Gibbs has let go of an assistant coach or position coach in his three-year tenure since returning from retirement. Lindsey had a tremendously strained relationship with star linebacker LaVar Arrington -- who was benched for much of the 2005 season.

Jan 16 Jerry Reese will be officially named Giants general manager this morning at a news conference. Had the Giants not stumbled to an 8-8 record with a 2-6 second half of the season and then lost to the Eagles in the playoffs nine days ago, Reese's appointment would have been made sooner. But Giants president John Mara and treasurer Jonathan Tisch took their time evaluating the front office and coaching staff before deciding to stay the course. So they brought Tom Coughlin back for at least one more season as coach and will name Reese, 43, as Ernie Accorsi's successor, as the retiring Accorsi wanted it.
Ernie Accorsi's 37-year NFL career and his nine seasons as general manager of the Giants officially ended at the close of business yesterday. The Jerry Reese Era begins today. Reese was expected to succeed Accorsi - who will be honored by the team at a retirement luncheon this afternoon - since the moment Accorsi revealed his intentions to retire more than a year ago. The outgoing GM strongly recommended to co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch that they hire him.
The Giants also gave a courtesy interview to Charlie Casserly, the former Washington and Houston general manager, and sought to talk with New England's vice president of player personnel Scott Pioli. But when Pioli declined the interview request, it became apparent Reese would be selected over assistant general manager Kevin Abrams, vice president of player evaluation Chris Mara and director of pro personnel Dave Gettleman.

The Giants last week were waiting to stabilize the Tom Coughlin coaching situation before making a move with Reese, who has worked with Coughlin the past three seasons and no doubt gave his blessing to continue working with the head coach in Reese's new GM role. If Coughlin, who received a one-year contract extension through the 2008 season, does not produce a winner next season, it will be Reese's call to make a move and locate a replacement.
Reese spent five years scouting for the late George Young and Accorsi before being promoted to an assistant in the pro personnel department in 1999. Wellington Mara and Robert Tisch promoted him to the director of player personnel in 2002 and he's been coordinating the team's drafts since. "Little did I know how much of a pressure-cooker the job would be," Reese said a few years ago. "I thought it was a pretty cool deal, but there's a lot more to it than the nice title. ... [The draft is] not a me thing. It's an us thing."
Jerry Reese will arrive in his office today with a sparkling new title, a fatter paycheck and a bigger public profile waiting for him. But there's also a growing to-do list on his desk already. Here are four things he must accomplish in his first year on the job:
1. Evaluate Tom Coughlin. Is this the coach Reese truly wants for the future?
2. Replace RB Tiki Barber. Brandon Jacobs is the heir apparent right now, but the Giants need at least one other option.
3. Fix the defense. Coughlin's working toward finding a new coordinator right now.
4. Save QB Eli Manning. Reese must surround the franchise QB with the right personnel.

During a round of golf in the summer of 2004, Giants Hall of Fame linebacker Harry Carson's cell phone rang. On the other end was a young NFL personnel evaluator with a plea: Join the fight to get more blacks at the top levels of the league. Carson eventually agreed to become executive director of a group to lobby for more opportunities for minorities. Yesterday, the caller got a first-rate job of his own. "I'm ecstatic. I was like a little kid when I spoke to him," Carson said during a phone interview yesterday afternoon. "I was extremely proud of him and happy for him."
Give the Giants points for the dramatic. Or at least for fortuitous coincidence. On the day America set aside for honoring the works of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Giants made Jerry Reese their highest-ranking black employee in franchise history. Team president John Mara and treasurer Jonathan Tisch told the 43-year-old director of player personnel that the job of senior vice president and general manager was his at about 1 p.m. yesterday.
Reese accepted, and became the fifth black man of such high standing in the NFL - joining Baltimore Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome, Houston Texans general manager Rick Smith, Arizona Cardinals vice president of football operations Rod Graves and former Atlanta Falcons vice president and chief administrative officer Ray Anderson. (Anderson left that job in August to take a high-ranking job with the league.) Reese also became the first black from either New York football team to rise to such heights.
You'll hear sometime today, when he retires from a job well done, how the boldest move of Ernie Accorsi's nine years as Giants general manager was trading four draft picks, including two first-rounders, for Eli Manning. Risky move, yes. Bold, not quite. In the NFL, bold is a white executive hiring a scout who happens to be black, then grooming him as a trusted apprentice, then recommending him over the team president's brother to take over as general manager, as Accorsi did. That's bold, and might I personally add, refreshing. Jerry Reese will now run the Giants, and after the sociological hum over his appointment fades, he'll face the same challenges and demands as any person, regardless of color, would in the GM hot seat. His draft record will be scrutinized. His ability to judge talent will be weighed. His philosophy on how to build a winner will be studied.

Jan 14 In the wake of the Martin Luther King holiday, the Giants will introduce Jerry Reese as the first black general manager of either pro football team in the market. It will stand among the more profound social statements in NFL history. For the first time, the league will prove that a black man can rise to the top of a flagship franchise without having been a professional athlete. Reese understands the significance of the moment. He was just talking about it with his sister, Jackie, a high school teacher charged to straighten out suspended students.

More on Jerry Reese.
Here's a dated yet interesting article about Jerry Reese going from scout to director of player personnel to lead his first draft in 2003.
Who did the Giants pick that year? More than one player has been to the Pro Bowl and another became the first Giant to lead the NFL in average kickoff return yardage since 1964.

A year ago, the Giants were forewarned. They did nothing to dissuade Barber from his decision and nothing to prepare for his loss. Now they head into 2007 disarmed, facing a future full of Tom Coughlin and Eli Manning and minus Barber. For this, they have no one to blame but themselves. You want to be angry at Barber for getting out when the getting is good? Fine. You really should be angry at him for running for 234 yards against Washington and saving Coughlin's job. So now you get to keep Coughlin and Eli but lose Tiki.
Sometime this week, the Giants will announce the promotion from within of Jerry Reese, their director of player personnel, to succeed Ernie Accorsi as general manager. Chris Mara, son of the late Wellington, will move up to take Reese's old job. These men, along with Accorsi, were in the room at the NFL Combine when Manning walked in to be evaluated. They all decided he, and not Philip Rivers or Ben Roethlisberger, would be the quarterback to lead the Giants out of the funk Jim Fassel had left them in. These are the men who will continue to lead the Giants, into their next era of futility.

Scratch Dom Capers off the list of new defensive coordinators for the Giants. Capers was surely a top candidate to replace fired Tim Lewis, but he's no longer on the market. The Dolphins don't even have a new head coach yet to replace Nick Saban, but they made the rare move of locking up Capers as their defensive coordinator, making him the highest paid assistant in the NFL.

Chris Snee, married to Tom Coughlin's younger daughter, Kate, didn't speak to Coughlin through the early part of last week. He would simply rely upon the reports he got from Kate, who would call her mother, Judy, for the latest updates. As for the reports from the outside, Snee said he and Kate didn't shy away from them. They actually searched for them to see how critical they were. In this market, with a coach who doesn't pander to the media, they were predictably brutal -- suggesting Coughlin has no control over his team and that many players didn't want him back. "It bothered me when I heard stuff like that," Snee said. "Guys that aren't in there every day and not around us throwing their two cents in just because they're on TV or have a pen. They feel like they can say anything they want. It was frustrating."

Three years ago, Tom Coughlin was convinced that Manning would eventually be "very special," and Accorsi insisted that the young QB had a chance to be "great." Nothing in the quarterback's 41 starts has convinced them that they were wrong. Outside the organization, however, Manning has developed legions of devoted doubters, who shake their heads and roll their eyes at every over- and under-thrown pass. They wonder, after three seasons, why he sometimes pales in comparison to Ben Roethlisberger and Philip Rivers - the other two quarterback stars from his same draft class. They wonder if he'll ever be the star the Giants expected. And they can't help but watch him and ask: Is this all there is?

New York Giants star Michael Strahan was ordered to pay his ex-wife $15.3 million - more than half his net worth - in keeping with the couple's prenuptial agreement. Under the agreement, Jean Strahan was entitled to 50 percent of their joint marital assets and 20 percent of his yearly income from each year they were married. "She's grateful to the court," Jean Strahan's lawyer, Ellen Marshall, told The Associated Press on Saturday. "She looks forward to her future, raising their children and moving forward."

Jan 13 Think you know your Giants football - who was the Giants all-time leading scorer?
He played for the Giants from 1966-1974, and was in the same division with his brother from 1966-68. On Nov. 27, 1966, the brothers were the opposing players in the highest-scoring game in NFL history, a Redskins' 72-41 victory over the Giants, and if you want to keep guessing before clicking on the link, don't read this upcoming quote, "I was the secret weapon - nobody had ever seen anything like it," ------- said. "On the kickoff, usually they'd kick it down to the 30 yard line, or the 35, so all of the receivers were on the 30. I kicked the ball into the end zone."

The Giants made no moves with their coaching staff yesterday, but early next week they are expected to call a news conference to announce the hiring of Jerry Reese as their new general manager. Reese would replace Ernie Accorsi, who is retiring after serving as GM since 1998. Reese, 42, completed his fourth season as the Giants' director of player personnel. Promoting Reese would be a strong statement by ownership that it is confident with the way the scouting system operates and does not feel any major changes are required. The other strong in-house candidate, Chris Mara, likely will be given expanded scouting and player-personnel responsibilities. In his current role, Mara, as vice president of evaluation, has strong influence in the decision-making process.
One player who requested anonymity told Newsday that Reese is getting the GM job, and a person familiar with the decision-makers' thinking said there are no indications that the organization is looking for any other candidates. Reese, has overseen the last four drafts for the Giants. The only other candidates interviewed for the job have been former Texans general manager Charley Casserly, Giants VP of player evaluation Chris Mara, assistant general manager Kevin Abrams and director of pro personnel Dave Gettleman. Coughlin now will focus on finding a new defensive coordinator, having fired Tim Lewis on Thursday. Kevin Gilbride appears to be staying as offensive coordinator, with no indication from the team that a change is in the offing.

Some thoughts about next week from 'The Blue Screen'.
Jerry Reese will be named the Giants next general manager.
Kevin Gilbride will be named the Giants' new offensive coordinator.
Dom Capers will say "Thanks, but no thanks" to Coughlin
Rob Ryan will not be named the Giants' next defensive coordinator
Jason Garrett will not become the Giants' next quarterbacks coach.

NFL News.
Philadelphia Eagles - As schedules go, the Eagles got a lemon from the NFL. Of the eight teams that will play in this weekend's four divisional playoff games, the Eagles are the only one being asked to play on short rest. The Eagles will have to make a 31/2-hour flight to New Orleans just five days after beating the Giants in the wild-card round and play the Saints six days after that game. As the NFC's top seed, the Bears had a bye and will play on 14 days' rest against the Seahawks, who will have had eight days between games.

Jan 12 Tom Coughlin saved his job by presenting a list of plans for the future to Giants president John Mara and treasurer Jonathan Tisch. Now we know what Item 1 was: Fire Tim Lewis. In a less than surprising move, Coughlin canned his defensive coordinator after three disappointing seasons on that side of the ball. During Lewis' tenure, the Giants' defense got progressively worse -- from 13th-ranked in 2004 to 24th in 2005 and 25th this past season.
"I think very highly of Coach Lewis and he was a big part of why I came to the Giants," linebacker LaVar Arrington said last night when reached on his cell phone. "I hate that it didn't work out, but what we have to do is find somebody that will utilize the type of personnel we have to make us a top-ranked defense."
It wasn't all Lewis' fault, of course. His defense was decimated by injuries, most notably the one that kept Pro Bowl defensive end Michael Strahan out for seven of the last eight games. Linebacker LaVar Arrington was lost for the season on Oct. 23, defensive end Osi Umenyiora missed five games and cornerbacks Sam Madison and Corey Webster were sidelined several games, too. But Lewis never was able to get much out the players he did have, and the aggressive scheme he promised never seemed to materialize. Also, according to one Giant, he wasn't very popular among the players because of his hard-driving, very rigid coaching style.

The dismissal of Lewis completes the purge of coordinators by Coughlin, who was retained for the 2007 season Wednesday and given a one-year extension. Coughlin fired offensive coordinator John Hufnagel on Christmas morning after a 30-7 loss to the Saints. Coughlin had been advised to fire both Hufnagel and Lewis prior to the season but decided against it. Now he must replace both with his future as Giants coach likely at stake next season.
Lewis was the first assistant Coughlin hired when he took over the head coach's job in 2004. The firing came one day after Coughlin received a one-year extension from Giants' ownership, the same day Lewis interviewed for the Miami Dolphins' head coaching job. Oddly enough, Lewis' replacement could come off that Miami staff. Dom Capers, the first coach of both the Panthers and Texans, is believed to be a strong candidate to move up here if he doesn't get the Dolphins' head coaching job. He was Coughlin's defensive coordinator from 1999-2000.
Speculation is Coughlin will reach out to longtime friend Dom Capers to head his defense, but it's uncertain whether the former Carolina and Houston head coach can rejoin the man he worked for in Jacksonville. Capers was the defensive coordinator on Nick Saban's staff in Miami last season, and helped the Dolphins to the No. 4 spot in total defense.

Injuries were a major issue throughout Lewis' tenure. The Giants lost Michael Strahan for a total of 16 games, and in 2005 were without a slew of linebackers. But Lewis' Cover-2 scheme didn't provide enough good pass defense the past two years, even with a pair of Pro Bowl ends in 2005. The Giants were 27th against the pass in 2005 and 28th this season.
In the last seven games, the Giants lost four times when leading or tied in the fourth quarter. The last defensive non-stand of the season came in the 23-20 playoff loss in Philadelphia, when the Eagles coasted 80 yards for the winning field goal. Other changes to Coughlin's staff will be forthcoming. Quarterbacks coach Kevin Gilbride, handed the play-calling duties when Hufnagel was ousted, will likely be promoted to offensive coordinator. That would be a welcome move inside the locker room, as one player said Gilbride got his heart racing more in one offensive meeting than Hufnagel ever did in three years. When a coordinator goes, many of his assistants often follow. Expect further changes to the defensive staff. The team is high on defensive line coach Mike Waufle, and he could be retained. Another possible move could come at strength-and-conditioning. Special teams coach Mike Sweatman is said to be considering retirement.

Tom Coughlin will coach the 2007 season with a mandate, but simple improvement - the Giants are 8-18 in the second half during his three seasons - would be underestimating what's expected. The ability of Coughlin and his reconfigured coaching staff to develop Manning into a top-flight quarterback will determine his fate. Tiki Barber's replacement might be in the locker room, Brandon Jacobs getting the first shot. Kicker Jay Feely and center Shaun O'Hara are free agents. Michael Strahan, LaVar Arrington, Amani Toomer and Luke Petitgout are coming off season-ending injuries. It seems a lot to overcome. And to some, the one-year extension provides little proof of ownership's conviction that Coughlin is capable.

Archie Manning is no Great Santini. He will not be spending the off-season bouncing footballs off his son's forehead to convince him to become a more vocal leader of the Giants. But the former Saints quarterback moved to allay the fears of Giants executives, coaches and fans Thursday when he predicted that Eli -- forever criticized for poor body language and impassive play -- will do a better job next season imposing his will on his team. "Eli will never be like Jim McMahon, but I think he will take a step forward in that regard next year," Archie said by phone. "He's a quiet kid, but I saw him do this at Ole Miss. By his senior year, he was more assertive. I'm not going to have a three-hour conversation with Eli telling him to change this and change that, but I'm very confident he's going to make that part of his work in the off-season."

The Giants' road to Super Bowl XLII likely will include a trip overseas. The NFL is expected to announce in a few weeks that the Giants' regular-season game against the Miami Dolphins in 2007 will be played at London's Wembley Stadium. The Giants would be the visiting team in that game. Every team in the league is expected to play at least one game outside the U.S. during the next 16 years. According to one report yesterday, the NFL will announce next week that the game will be played in London.

Jan 11 - UPDATE - Tim Lewis was fired as the New York Giants' defensive coordinator on Thursday, a move that will give embattled coach Tom Coughlin two new top assistants in a likely make-or-break season. The move came just a day after management gave the 60-year-old Coughlin a lukewarm one-year contract extension through 2008. His charge: make the Giants more than simply a playoff team. There have been reports that Miami defensive coordinator Dom Capers, who worked with Coughlin in Jacksonville, will run the defense if he is not promoted to the top job with the Dolphins.

Jan 11 Tom Coughlin has one more chance. One more chance to win. One more chance to change. "I think I have changed, to be honest with you," Coughlin said yesterday, about an hour after it was announced he'd remain the Giants' head coach for at least one more year. "And I will continue to do that because you have to grow and you have to study the circumstances and continue to improve every year." That's one thing Coughlin hasn't done. The record bears it out. He hasn't improved. And he hasn't done what he thought he had done last year: "Restore Giant pride."

John Mara made one point very clear: Whoever takes the GM job will have Coughlin as his coach. "That's the final decision," he said Wednesday. "So, yes, whoever the general manager is, is going to have to accept that." Coughlin said he looked forward to a good working relationship with the new GM, something he didn't always have with Accorsi. They agreed on many of the GM's signings and draft picks, though two minor players, wide receiver Tim Carter and defensive back Frank Walker, were retained or re-signed over Coughlin's objections.

They are either clueless and in denial or else visionaries who see beyond the obvious. Time will tell what the Giants co-owners wrought yesterday by standing by their man. Coughlin said he wished the owners did not disclose the length of the extension. "That's something to me is a private matter when you start talking about contract," he said, and added he was "never really worried" about his job security. As for the fans - many of whom chanted "Fire Coughlin" in the 30-7 loss to the Saints in the low moment of the season - Mara said he's aware of the discontent. "I'm certainly sensitive to what the fans think," Mara said, "but at the end of the day you can't make decisions based on what the fans' sentiment is at that time."
While ownership has mild concerns about Coughlin's comportment, sideline behavior and relationship with his players and the media, none of these issues threatened to cost him his job. There were no demands that he become kinder and gentler. "Tom has been around awhile ... he is 60 years old, or whatever, so I'm not anticipating any major changes," Mara said. "The only change that I want to see is us win more games." The image of the Giants as dysfunctional, fractured and undisciplined is not a vision shared by ownership.
The upcoming season will be his make-or-break year after the team executives voiced their displeasure about the team's underachievement this season. "He knows that we need to do better, that our expectations are much higher," Mara said yesterday. "I think that we have enough talent on this roster to do better ... Given all [the injuries], I'm still not happy being 8-8, but we didn't believe given those circumstances that a change was warranted." Mara said he and Tisch did not tell Coughlin to change the coaching staff, and no one had been let go as of last night. Defensive coordinator Tim Lewis, whose job is in the greatest danger, interviewed with the Dolphins yesterday for their head-coaching position.

So now what? At least to some extent, Coughlin must reinvent himself and the way he does business to have a chance to succeed, both as a coach and motivator, which won't be easy at age 60. With a 25-25 record (including 0-2 in the playoffs) over three seasons, something's not working. But with his job hanging in the balance, Coughlin was able to present a vision of the future that convinced team brass to keep him on. From an organizational standpoint, there must be some alterations to the coaching staff, and you can expect some announcements along those lines in the coming days.
It should start with defensive coordinator Tim Lewis, whose unit continually failed to make big stops at crucial junctures, particularly in the fourth quarter. You need only to look back at the Eagles' game-winning drive Sunday, their fourth-quarter drive to beat the Giants in December, or late drives by Dallas and Tennessee that altered those games to see how the defense failed when it mattered most.

Tom Coughlin was given a one-year reprieve to turn the New York Giants into a legitimate contender. While the team's owners didn't give him an ultimatum, their message was clear. "I think he knows we need to do better, that our expectations are much higher," co-owner John Mara said in a conference call Wednesday. "I think we have enough talent on this roster to do better."
John Mara has read the complaints from his players, and he's gotten enough hate mail to know how the fans feel. He knew a lot of people wouldn't be happy to hear he was bringing Tom Coughlin back. But he did it anyway for one reason: "We remain convinced that he is the right man for the job." But that support wasn't strong enough for the Giants to lock into a long-term commitment to the 60-year-old Coughlin, even though he has led the Giants to back-to-back playoff appearances for the first time in 16 years.
Players often want a coach to come back for a simple reason: The devil they know is less frightening than the devil they don't know. That is why the perception that the vast majority of the Giants wanted Tom Coughlin fired is not accurate. That doesn't mean they enjoy playing for Coughlin. "He has no inspirational tactics whatsoever. Zero," one player said, on the condition of anonymity since he expects to return next season.
"He doesn't promote guys to want to battle for him, never. On Saturday nights, guys want inspiration so that you want to go to war with someone. He shows us statistics. He's cut and dry. "He has to be so controlling. You've got to trust guys as adults. And he never gives in." Notable players praised the decision to bring Coughlin back.
Coughlin said he's tried to get closer to his players in matters outside the Xs and Os. But his mannerisms in the meeting rooms and on the field led to numerous players saying they had tuned him out. That didn't seem to concern Mara and Tisch, though. They were more interested in hearing Coughlin's plans to help quarterback Eli Manning improve; score more points when in close; solve the problems on defense; and correct an injury problem that undermined a 6-2 start. "I'll tell you, both Jon and I spoke to leaders on this team," Mara said. "I don't buy that. I think there's substantial support for (Coughlin) in that locker room. There's this notion out there that there's a mutiny going on down there. "That's absolutely not the case."

The next general manager of the Giants will not have a choice about who coaches the team in 2007, which makes it even more likely that the top in-house candidate, Jerry Reese, will get the job. Reese, the Giants' director of player personnel, is still the favorite to succeed Ernie Accorsi as the team's GM, even though a decision on the position won't be made until next week. Co-owner John Mara and team treasurer Jonathan Tisch are still considering outside candidates, but with New England's Scott Pioli out of the running, the outside talent pool is thin. "We still have some more work to do on the general manager issue," Mara said. "We still have more discussions we have to have before we reach a final decision."
Despite a delay in the announcement, Giants executive Jerry Reese is still expected to be named the team's new general manager, according to a high-ranking NFL executive familiar with the thinking of the Giants' front office. However, the hiring might not be made official until early next week, said the person, who requested anonymity because the announcement has yet to be made.

Harry Carson and LT talked about the "lackadaisical mentality" they saw from the Giants this season, which could be a reflection on returning coach Tom Coughlin. "I thought this was a make-or-break year for Eli, and he didn't make it," Carson said. "There were times he was not playing with confidence, and it seemed like he wasn't having fun playing the game. I've always said you learn a lot from a team by the people who lead the team. I've always felt Eli has to take possession of the team and he needs to show he's the man, and I don't see where he's shown he's the man yet. I've just felt from a leadership standpoint, the quarterback has to be able to go out and chew people's [butts] out if necessary, and that's not the way he's built."
They made it very clear to Coughlin yesterday that Manning must have a breakout season for the coach to be around for that one-year extension he received, which basically amounts to a half-vote of confidence. Amazingly, Coughlin didn't throw up his hands and resign on the spot, as most rational coaches would've done. Like many within the organization, he still buys the notion that Eli will live up to the last name, the 500-pound ball and chain he is dragging around, three years into a career that hasn't taken off. "He will improve," Coughlin said. "He'll get better." After investing so much in Manning, in terms of compensation to the Chargers and sit-tight pledges to their fans, the Giants are determined to make this work. They're hooked on Manning to the point of being drugged. Where you see mediocrity, they see promise. You see a quarterback struggling, they see a learning process. You see a guy named Smith, they see a guy named Manning. You think he's rather ordinary, they think he's special.

The issue of quarterback Eli Manning's progress was a central theme in coach Tom Coughlin's talks with Giants president John Mara and treasurer Jonathan Tisch in recent days. "That was a major part of our discussions," Mara said yesterday. "Eli needs to play more consistently. He would be the first one to admit that. There is nobody in this building that doubts his ability and that feels like he is not the guy to lead us to where we want to get to." The question remains: Is Coughlin equipped to get Manning to the next level? Quarterbacks coach Kevin Gilbride has worked with Manning for three seasons. Might a new voice be needed? No immediate answers.
Here is one scenario, not too farfetched: Without Tiki Barber and with a still-erratic, diffident Eli Manning, the Giants finish the season at 8-8 again, out of the postseason. Time runs out on Tom Coughlin, who hasn't won a playoff game for anybody in eight years. And this time, the Giants' owners are ready in December with some real alternatives, starting with Bill Cowher. If this is the future for the franchise, then John Mara and Jonathan Tisch were correct this week to grant Coughlin one more season of probable suffering at the hands of his undisciplined roster and his own ill temper. A clumsy scramble in the 11th hour for a coaching replacement might well have turned into something even uglier than a standard, sneering Coughlin press conference.

John Mara and Jonathan Tisch always wanted to retain Tom Coughlin as the Giants' head coach. After a series of discussions this week involving the three men, the owners are convinced Coughlin is the best man for the job. Mara and Tisch announced today that Coughlin will return for a fourth season on the sideline in 2007. "Tom Coughlin is our coach for 2007 and hopefully for many years after that," Mara, the Giants' president and chief executive officer, said on a conference call. "In all of my discussions, and our discussions with the players, it's my sense that they are craving the stability that is now afforded by the coach's remaining," said Tisch, the team's treasurer.
That's a lovely sentiment, and it would have been a lot more meaningful if it had been accompanied with a four-year extension, a message not only to blood-thirty fans and head-hunting sportswriters, but, more importantly, to the Giants themselves. Doing that would have put an immediate gag on the gaggle of chatty malcontents who've too often chosen to undermine Coughlin's tenure. "I don't buy that," Mara said, disingenuously dismissing the notion that Coughlin doesn't have universal support within the walls of that locker room.
"I think there's substantial support for him in that locker room. If you talk to the players, they will certainly dispute that." Of course they will, if it's a Mara or a Tisch asking the questions. No one is that brave. But for anyone to have spent five minutes around that team this year, or simply to have watched them across the last nine games, and think all elements of this team were on the same page ... well, that's insulting everyone's intelligence.

Somehow, after a 25-25 record over three seasons, after two first-round playoff losses, after all the dysfunction and discontent and discipline problems on the field and off, all his team's talking the talk and then limping the limp, Coughlin starts talking to his owners about his plan to get to his first Super Bowl and the owners hyperventilate and decide that stability is far more important than mediocrity. Somehow, they extend the coach's contract one more year in the Big Blue belief that his vision of a better tomorrow is a lot less blurry than it turned out to be this season. It is a doomsday scenario, giving the very players who refuse to rally around him enough rope to hang him.

Tiki Barber is leaning toward signing a multi-year deal with NBC, which would provide him assignments in both news and sports. A network executive, who had an interest in hiring Barber, said the former Giants running back is strongly considering the Peacock's offer. Mark Lepselter, Barber's agent, did not return phone calls seeking confirmation yesterday. It is likely that Barber would have a variety of roles in the news and sports divisions at NBC, including a possible assignment on "Football Night in America," NBC's pregame show. Since October, when Barber said he was going to retire from football, multiple networks, including ESPN/ABC, Fox, CBS and NBC, have pursued his services. They all came armed with offers of multi-platform gigs - everything from sports, to morning shows, to evening news and news magazine programs.

Jan 10 - UPDATE Confirmed: Coughlin Staying Team officials confirm:
Tom Coughlin is back for at least one more year as the Giants coach. I'm not sure about the status of his assistants, but the Giants have granted the Miami Dolphins permission to interview defensive coordinator Tim Lewis for their vacant head coach job. Lewis was thought to be on the hot seat in New York, especially if Coughlin was asked to make changes to his staff.