David Tyree Among the 19 Cuts; Michael Matthews Traded: Two players who played important roles on the 2007 NFL Championship team are no longer Giants. WR David Tyree was released today and TE Michael Matthews was traded to the New England Patriots for a conditional 2011 (not 2010) draft pick.
“This is one of the hardest days of the year for players and personnel departments,” said General Manager Jerry Reese. “It becomes extremely hard when you have to say goodbye to players like David Tyree and Michael Matthews who have given you their very best and helped you win a championship.”
“Mike Matthews was very difficult for us to have to say goodbye to,” said Head Coach Tom Coughlin, “because I have such respect for Mike and what he has done in his life and his family and what he represents – a try-hard guy that nobody gives a chance and he comes in and he’s the right man in the right place at the right time and wins a Super Bowl ring in his rookie year. I think about his toughness.”
“David Tyree is such a class act,” said Coughlin. “What a great guy he is. When he came in to see me, I had a lot of emotions running through my head. He put everything at ease, he had a big smile on his face. I told David he is forever etched in the annals of New York Giants history. That will never change. That moment in history will stand forever in time.”
“(David has) been the kind of player you really felt good having on your team,” said Coughlin. “As I told him, I always felt I could trust him. Sometimes that gets thrown around too much. Sometimes it’s not meant in the heartfelt way that it should. But with regard to this player – what you’re trying to do is amass a team of individuals that you have great faith and great trust in that they will prepare properly, they will keep their priorities in, that they will represent the franchise with honor and dignity and that they will step forward on game day and be the very best that they can be. And that’s what David Tyree, above and beyond, was able to give to this franchise.”
“For whatever reason, things didn’t work out in my favor through this training camp,” said Tyree. “It’s my aim to take my reputation, my hard work and my faith to the next football team and help them win games. I knew it (getting released) was a possibility. I’m an honest evaluator. I’m not going to sit there and say I had a great camp and why would they do this. I didn’t have a great camp. I had a very average camp. It started terrible and worked up to average. It’s about performance. Do I have any doubts in what I’m able to do? Not one bit. I still feel I’m one of the better special teams players in the league. I’ll take my skill set and move on and do some great things.”
In all, the Giants have waived the following 19 players:
- WR David Tyree (2003 6th round pick)
- QB Andre’ Woodson (2008 6th round pick)
- QB Rhett Bomar (2009 5th round pick)
- HB Allen Patrick
- FB/HB Dwayne Wright
- WR Shaun Bodiford
- OL Clifford Louis
- OL Orrin Thompson
- OL Terrance Pennington
- DE Robert Henderson (2008 6th round pick)
- DE Maurice Evans
- DE Tommie Hill
- DT Jeremy Clark (waived/injured with ankle injury)
- DT Anthony Bryant
- LB Kenny Ingram
- CB DeAndre Wright (2009 6th round pick)
- S Travonti Johnson
- S Sha’reff Rashad
- S Vince Anderson
“It doesn’t get any easier,” said Coughlin. “I said to (my wife) Judy last night, ‘Your stomach starts churning because you have so many kids you get close and attached to and you really admire and you like them personally.’ It’s difficult. A lot of these people have been here since March. They’ve tried, they’ve worked hard. For one reason or another they’ve fallen short in this 53. But you have to be encouraging to them. On the other hand, you have decisions that have to be made with regard to your team.”
“Andre’ Woodson, how far he has come as a player and as a young man in terms of the way he’s grown up and the way he has matured in his development and the quality of player that he is,” said Coughlin.
Notes and Quotes: WR Hakeem Nicks has changed his jersey number from 18 to 88. P Jeff Feagles has changed his jersey number back to 18 again (from 17). DT Leger Douzable changed his jersey number from 78 to 90.
Only five of the Giants’ nine 2009 draft choices are on the 53-man roster: WR Hakeem Nicks, LB Clint Sintim, LT William Beatty, WR Ramses Barden, and H-Back Travis Beckum. HB Andre Brown (Achilles) is on Injured Reserve. CB Stoney Woodson was waived last week. QB Rhett Bomar and CB DeAndre Wright were waived today.
Head Coach Tom Coughlin on keeping only two quarterbacks: “I think you have to make a very difficult call when you decide to go with two. That roster spot can be utilized by a worthy player, a player that deserves to be on your team. We’ve found, as we go forward with 32 teams, that it’s very difficult later on to find a quality player, a guy that can come in and help if you need one. So you are much better off to try to protect those that you have that are currently on your squad that can play the game at a high level. You’re more inclined to try to do whatever you can to take care of your roster and keep as many good players as you can.”
Coughlin on rookie free agent CB Bruce Johnson, who made the team: “He hung in there more than anything else. I think he kept getting a little bit better and a little bit better. He has the speed. To me, he needs to play more. He was a guy that was fairly consistent. All three of those young kids had the ball go over their head at some point during training camp. With Bruce, it might have happened once in that first preseason game. But he’s hung in there and battled.”
Coughlin on WR Derek Hagan, who also made the team: “He is a good special teams player. He will put it on the line and he will play all those teams. He has outstanding endurance. He was very noticeable in the spring. At times he stuck out in training camp as a receiver. You combine his size with the ability he has as a special teams player, he certainly deserves his spot.”