Ahmad Bradshaw and Victor Cruz were instrumental in the Giants win over Green Bay Sunday night. (Mark L. Baer-US PRESSWIRE)
The New York Giants certainly have a way of delivering unique motivation situations for the team.
In recent years, military man Greg Gadson has been an inspiration to the team. This year, it was a 15-year-old cancer patient.
Through the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Adam Merchant was able to visit the team’s practice last Friday as they prepared to play the Packers. The Giants had lost two straight games and were coming off their bye.
Coach Tom Coughlin has a sense of moments, and aside from just having Merchant watch practice, Coughlin asked him to say a few words to the team in their after-practice huddle. In addition, Merchant was invited to be on the sideline Sunday night in what turned out to be a resounding Giants victory.
Said Coughlin, “The message was loud and clear. We had Adam in the locker room after the game as well and had him in the middle. Guys were very appreciative that he was here and really what he said was most meaningful. We picked up on that and that’s basically the challenge that we kept throughout the weekend and in our Saturday night meetings.”
And what was it Merchant said? Very simple: “Play like world champions. Just play like word champions.” The team surely did.
Said linebacker/defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka, “It’s tough not to be inspired by something like that. He’s a kid dealing with something we have no idea about. We can’t put ourselves into his shoes. For him to want to spend his time with us and for him to give that fiery speech was heartfelt. Everybody wanted to match the intensity of it.”
Merchant has Burkitt lymphoma, a form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and he is currently in remission.
Said quarterback Eli Manning, “We’ve had a number of kids and it’s pretty special when you think about it. They’ve got one wish, and it’s sad when you think about it, they’ve got one wish and what do you want to do? He wanted to come to the New York Giants practice and come to a game. He had the opportunity to come out and talk to the team, so coach Coughlin does a great job and all the players do a great job of making him feel welcome and fired up.”
As for Merchant’s message, defensive end Justin Tuck said, “I told him he needs to go into motivational speaking. He kind of woke us up a little bit.”
Merchant admitted to being nervous when Coughlin asked him to say a few words, but said his words “came from the heart.”
He added, “It’s been amazing to just be around people who are my heroes. The huddle (was my favorite), giving them the speech. It was thrilling. It was awesome.”
Of course, what would really be awesome is if the Giants make it back to the Super Bowl. If that happens … well, Merchant is ready to speak again.
“Any time,” he said. “I’ll go to the Super Bowl if they need me.”
A Cheap Shot?
A Chicago Bears offensive line that couldn’t afford an injury lost right guard Lance Louis for the season with a torn ACL after a savage hit from Minnesota Vikings defensive end Jared Allen last Sunday.
Allen’s hit came after an interception. He left his feet to hit Louis in the shoulder and head from the blind side. Louis’ knee buckled as he fell backward after the hit.
Said Bears defensive end Israel Idonije, “I saw the play. It wasn’t necessary. There have been a number of rules put in the game now that you can’t hit a defenseless player. Lance’s vision is clearly downfield. Allen hits him on his blind side.
“He could have easily (hit him) shoulder to shoulder. He could have laid him out with just using his hands to his chest. (There are) a lot of options. Lance is quick, and he’s fast, but it’s not a situation where he was just blazing and (Allen) had to lay out to make a saving play. He hit him that way because he chose to hit him that way.”
Said coach Lovie Smith, “Unnecessary? Yes. Jared Allen plays the game a certain way; (he’s) a good player in our league. But there are some plays when you look at them again, you say, ‘Hey, we could have done without that.’ I think our game could do without that play. We have an injured player right now based on it. I think you could have gotten a block a little bit differently.
“That’s about all I should probably say about it. I’m sure the league will look at it and they’ll give an opinion about what they think.”
Not surprisingly, Allen defended himself, saying, “I threw myself into him, just like we’re taught. My condolences to him and his family. I never ever try and intentionally hurt anybody.”
A Chance for Pryor?
With the Raiders 3-8, the team is considering giving some playing time to quarterback Terrelle Pryor during the final five weeks of the season. Pryor was selected in the 2011 supplemental draft with a third-round pick, and has been inactive for each game this season.
Coach Dennis Allen said Pryor is progressing. “He’s working to get better, and he’s working to improve,” Allen said. He’s gotten better as a quarterback. I don’t think any of us feel like he’s the finished product, including himself, but he has worked to improve.”
Simply Noting
*Somewhat surprising is that the New England Patriots are slightly ahead of the record pace for points scored they established in 2007. The Patriots scored 589 points in that undefeated regular season, an average of 36.8 points per game. After 11 games, the Patriots are currently averaging 37.0 points a game. They have scored 190 points in the last four games and 108 in the last two. The Chiefs have scored a league-season low of just 161 points. New England’s 407 points is 80 more than the Houston Texans’ 327, which is second-most in the NFL.
*Speaking of the Patriots, their win Sunday was the 200th of his career ion 307 games. That is the fourth-fastest in history. Of course, only seven other coaches have won at least 200 games: Don Shula, 347; George Halas, 324; Tom Landry, 270; Curly Lambeau, 229; Chuck Noll, 209; Marty Schottenheimer, 205; Dan Reeves, 201.
*Thursday games fly in the face of the league claiming player safety is important. The Houston Texans experienced it in the worst possible way, playing two long overtime games in five days, and having the Thursday game on Thanksgiving on the road. Said coach Gary Kubiak, “I’m amazed at the players and the way they held up. During that short period of time, to play that much football and in that competitive environment and the way we had to win the last week together, and even if you throw in Chicago (a Sunday night road game), it’s been very taxing on the team. Winning was so important, of course. To come out of there (Detroit) with a win because of where we’re at and some of the issues we have, it was exceptional.”
*When defensive coordinator Juan Castillo was fired by the Eagles after six games, the opposing team had a passer rating of 69.4 on a 52.6 completion percentage and 6.2 yards per attempt. The Eagles had allowed seven touchdown passes and intercepted seven passes. In the five games with Todd Bowles as coordinator, the numbers are 139.9 passer rating, 75.2 completion percentage, 9.7 yards per attempt, 13 touchdown passes and no interceptions. On third down, the numbers are just as glaring. With Castillo, it was 69.3 passer rating, 47.7 completion percentage, 4.8 yards per attempt, four touchdown passes and two interceptions. With Bowles, it’s 146.8, 73 percent, 10.6 per attempt, five touchdown passes, no interceptions.
