They have been together for much of the spring, through an official mini-camp, an unofficial two week “summer-school” session which featured practices and countless other less-structured workouts. Players were thrust together, for both work and fun, in a blatant attempt by Jim Fassel to add team spirit he felt was missing from the Giants.
Yesterday, the team finally parted for more than a month-long vacation prior to the start of training camp. Whether the bonding that all concerned say took place is real or temporary remains to be seen, but as they dispersed, the Giants surely sounded like a group that feels better about itself.
“We’ve changed this team,” Fassel said. “I said there were going to be some changes around here, and there’s been a lot of changes around here. Personnel, the way we do things.
“We’ve at least put ourselves in position. It doesn’t guarantee anything else. This team’s worked very hard, the hardest I’ve ever had any team work, any team I’ve been around.”
There are many old standbys, but in other ways this is a new team. Sixteen players who started or received significant playing time last season were released, retired or signed elsewhere.
Coming off a 7-9 season and granted only a one-year contract extension, Fassel knew status quo was not going to cut it.
So the offensive line was gutted, Heisman Trophy winner Ron Dayne was drafted to revitalize the running game and six free agents were signed, five of whom could start.
Along with the change in personnel, Fassel also wanted to inject more life, confidence and maturity into his team, specifically into his offense. Three imported veterans, Lomas Brown, Glenn Parker and Dusty Zeigler, will start on the offensive line.
“There’s no question about it, our personality’s a lot different, and I think the guys who have been around here for a while feel it,” Fassel said.
“It seems like we all care about each other more than we did last year,” Tiki Barber said. “We have guys hanging out here, they’re not just taking off as soon as practice is over, and this isn’t even mandatory.
“There’s an excitement here. It’s almost like we have a clean slate. It’s like a whole different feel, a new atmosphere, a new offense. There’s a lot of new faces, and I think it’s for the better.”
Fassel arranged a team cruise and a golf tournament and changed the off-season schedule to make sure players worked out at the same time.
“The thing I feel best about is I think we’re going to be a team with more chemistry,” Kerry Collins said. “Guys are going to enjoy each other more, and I think it’s going to translate onto the field for us, in performance.”
CB Phillippi Sparks, who spent his eight-year career with the Giants, said this week he plans to retire. After the Giants showed no desire to re-sign him, Sparks, 31, received lukewarm interest in the free-agent market and supposedly turned down a deal from the Rams … The only major health concerns prior to camp: the knee of CB Conrad Hamilton and the ankle of TE Pete Mitchell.