The Giants have seldom been equated with dysfunction and open rebellion. Sure, they’ve endured their cast of challenging characters — from Lawrence Taylor to Jeremy Shockey to Odell Beckham Jr. But the Giants’ brand, especially since the late 1980s, has been about tradition and professionalism.
It’s the brand Wellington Mara left his son John, who has bled Giants blue since he could walk. That’s why the Giants’ co-owner must be absolutely hating what’s going on with his football team about now.
An 0-5 start is awful, especially in a season when the Giants were expected to contend for a Super Bowl. That means 11 or more wins, and a division title or a wild-card berth, at the very least. That won’t happen this year.
But there have been disappointing seasons before: a failed Super Bowl defense in 2012; a 0-6 start in 2013, and seven straight losses after a 3-2 start in 2014. You can go back as far as the 1987 season, when the defending Super Bowl champs started 0-2 before the players’ strike interrupted the season for 24 days and they never recovered. Even in those dark days, the Giants stayed true Blue — they respected the brand.
Now we are seeing the character of the 2017 Giants being tested, and it’s starting to look more like Me Football than Mara Football.
The Giants spent another day Thursday offering their reactions to the absence of veteran cornerback Dominque-Rodgers Cromartie, who was suspended indefinitely this week by coach Ben McAdoo for leaving the team facility Wednesday after the two discussed why the player went into the locker room in the second half of Sunday’s devastating, 27-22 loss to the previously winless Chargers.
“I don’t know all the details of that,” defensive end Olivier Vernon said. “I know what we have here, and we’re just going to keep playing ball.”
On the other side of the locker room, cornerback Janoris Jenkins was trying to downplay leaving the field following a timeout with 38 seconds remaining. It was an act viewed by some as unprofessional and disrespectful to the visiting Chargers.
“I didn’t expect the timeout to be called,” Jenkins explained, “so I just walked in. Everybody was going on the field. The game was over. I just went in.”
Honest mistake? Perhaps, though it was enough for Jenkins and McAdoo to have two discussions about the early exit. Jenkins described the conversations as “delightful,” which tells you how seriously he took the matter.
Still, it’s premature to suggest McAdoo has lost the locker room. His suspension of DRC certainly was noticed and should act a deterrent to future challenges to the coach’s authority. McAdoo has no chance without it.
In a way, this week is the first true test of whether he can keep this together. It has gone beyond whether or not he should call the plays to whether or he should remain the head coach next season. What happens Sunday in Denver should offer a huge clue.
This is the first game the Giants are actually supposed to lose. They haven’t played well in Denver since Gary Reasons made that goal-line stand at the old Mile High Stadium in 1989. The Broncos must be salivating at the opportunity to match the No. 1-ranked defense against the Giants underachieving and now injury-riddled offense.
“A win would mean everything right now,” Vernon said. “We’re trying to get things rolling. That’s been our mindset since Week 1. All we can do is prepare, not reinvent the wheel, but just play football.”
If the Giants put forth a lackluster effort that will tell speak volumes about McAdoo’s coaching, his leadership and his ability to motivate this team. It also will tell you a lot about the locker room. Are they Mara Men or Me Men?