Rich Seubert Receiving BBI Giant of the Year Trophy
Rich Seubert Receives BBI Player of the Year Award: OG/OC Rich Seubert, who was released by the Giants last month, received his “Hope Johnson BBI Giant of the Year” trophy at a ceremony at the Timex Performance Center yesterday. The award is named after BBI member Hope Johnson, who passed away in December 2009.
A fairly sizable group of BBI members attended the ceremony as well as the press, Offensive Line Coach Pat Flaherty, quarterback Eli Manning, and offensive linemen Kareem McKenzie, David Diehl, Chris Snee, Kevin Boothe, and Mitch Petrus.
“Hope Johnson, I knew she was a true fan,” said Seubert. “You guys on BBI are Giants fans. I think the reason why I wake up in the morning, I practice hard, I like to play hard is because the fans actually truly appreciate New York Giants football. ”
“New York Giant football fans know what they’re talking about. I can’t lie, every once in awhile you go on BBI, you take a look at what the fans are saying about you personally, about your teammates. If it was good stuff, you felt good about yourself. If it was bad stuff, it made you work harder. I just think every player wants the fans to like him. You want to work hard. You want to be able to show your support to the fans for playing hard and all of that good stuff. We want to win. You guys want to win. New York Football Giants want to win football games.”
“You never play the game for work, you play the game because you love it. I’m honored to have it with Hope Johnson’s name on it. I knew she was a Giants fan and it’s going to go in a special place in my house.
“Wellington Mara once said, ‘Once a Giant, always a Giant.’ I was a New York Giant for ten years so it’s kind of hard not to say that I’m still a New York Giant.”
The full transcript of Seubert’s comments and his media Q&A after the ceremony are available at Giants.com. A video of the ceremony is also available on YouTube.
Surgery for Osi Umenyiora: DE Osi Umenyiora had arthroscopic surgery on his right next yesterday morning. According to the Giants, Umenyiora is expected to miss 3-4 weeks of action; Umenyiora’s agent says he will be out 4-6 weeks.
“It is a simple debridement,” said Giants’ Vice President of Medical Services Ronnie Barnes.
“Osi called me at the end of the day yesterday to let me know that he wanted to have the surgery now,” General Manager Jerry Reese said. “After practicing for three days he had some swelling in the knee, and it was clear that we were going to have to adjust his practice routine to every other day to maintain his knee. Osi’s feeling is he wants to get it cleaned up now because he is looking forward to playing this season, and he wants to (play) without the knee being an issue for him. He told me how much he really enjoyed being back on the field this week, and he’s looking forward to getting back out there once he recovers from the procedure.”
“I don’t think anything happened…it swelled up,” said Head Coach Tom Coughlin. “He didn’t want to continue like this – practice, swell up, practice, swell up. So between the doctors and Osi, the decision was made that they would perform this scope and hopefully eliminate that part of it. Allow the recovery time and then allow him to go back to the field without having this as an issue. Hopefully, it will take less time than the other range, the other extent and we’ll get him back as fast as he can.”
“It was better to do it now as opposed to mid-season,” said Umenyiora. “It was going to have to be done, the only question was when. If I’m going to miss a little while, I would prefer it be now than at the crucial part of our season. It’s the best decision for the team and myself.”
Giants Sign DT Jimmy Kennedy: According to The Daily News, the Giants have signed unrestricted free agent DT Jimmy Kennedy, who was released by the Minnesota Vikings last month, to a 1-year deal.
“I’m not sure of my role yet (on the Giants),” said Kennedy. “I’m 303 pounds, so I can play anywhere on the defensive line. I’m just grateful to be part of a great club who view me as a talented, dominant D-lineman.”
Injury Report: Missing practice yesterday were WR Darius Reynaud (hamstring), DE Osi Umenyiora (knee surgery), CB Corey Webster (death in the family), CB Prince Amukamara (foot), and PK Lawrence Tynes (thigh). Both WR Ramses Barden (ankle) and OC Adam Koets (knee) remain on the Physically-Unable-to-Perform (PUP) List.
Training Camp Ends Today: Giants training camp – the portion of the presason practices open to the public – ends today at the Timex Performance Center. The final practice begins at 1:30 PM.
Head Coach Tom Coughlin’s Friday Press Conference: The transcript and video of yesterday’s press conference with Head Coach Tom Coughlin are available at Giants.com.
Player Media Q&As: The transcripts and video of yesterday’s media Q&A sessions with the following players are available at Giants.com:
- QB Sage Rosenfels (Video)
- TE/H-Back Travis Beckum (Video)
- PK Lawrence Tynes (Video)
New Meadowlands Stadium to Become MetLife Stadium: According to press reports, a deal is all but official that would rename New Meadowlands Stadium to MetLife Stadium.