In a bizarre twist to their already historic NFL Draft, with their second round pick yesterday the Giants selected Chris Snee, a guard from Boston College who is the father of one of Tom Coughlin’s grandchildren.
Snee and Coughlin’s daughter, Katie, were students together at BC when last fall, Katie gave birth to a son named Dylan. Snee is the father. Katie Coughlin will graduate this spring. She and Snee are not married.
“There are two separate issues,” Coughlin said in a statement. “Of primary concern today is that, by his own right, Chris is a very good football player and proven that. That he was selected at the top of the second round is a tribute to his ability. In their evaluation, our scouts, our director of player personnel, and the coach who graded him, Chris was the No. 1 guard on our board. The decision to select Chris was based solely on his football ability.
“The other issue concerns the Coughlin and Snee families. Both families went through all the emotions any family goes through in a situation like this. The fact of the matter is that both families are extremely happy. We’re very proud of our daughter Katie, and we’re very proud of Chris Snee and the commitment they have made towards raising our grandson Dylan. [Coughlin’s wife] Judy and I have two beautiful grandchildren, Dylan and Emma Rose.”
Snee will forever be known as the player selected with the pick GM Ernie Accorsi refused to give up to get Eli Manning. Accorsi refused to deal that pick, the 34th overall, to get Manning and instead gave up next year’s first-round pick to the Chargers.
Translation: Snee had better pan out.
“I’m not going to come in there and plan on being a backup,” Snee said. “My mindset is to be a starter.”
He likely will be. The Giants didn’t get Robert Gallery to anchor their offensive line, but they believe they added an immediate starter in Snee. He provides insurance in case Rich Seubert is slow to return following surgery to repair a severely broken leg. If Seubert is fine, Snee figures to move David Diehl out of the right guard spot. Diehl, who started all 16 games as a rookie, could then swing outside to give right tackle a try, competing with newly-acquired Barry Stokes.
“If he doesn’t start we’re in pretty good shape,” Accorsi said. “There’s no doubt he’s going to be a starter. I don’t know if it’s from day one.”