Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
For the Giants to One Day Be Super, It Needs to Be All About Team
New Giants tight end Levine Toilolo has been on two Super Bowl teams, the first with Atlanta, who lost to Patriots in Super Bowl LI and most recently the 49ers, who last year lost to the Chiefs in Super Bowl LIV.
And although he has come up on the short end of the stick in both instances, he has come away recognizing a common thread concerning what it takes for a team to get to the big game.
“Every team in the league works hard and stuff like that,” he said Wednesday on a conference call with the Giants beat writers. “I think one of the biggest things that I can point out between the two teams was just how close everybody was--you know, in the building.”
Toilolo might be on to something, as when teams—and that includes everyone from the front office right and forging a path toward the brass ring becomes clearer and easier to achieve.
Toilolo saw that last year in his first and only season with the 49ers, a team that the year prior finished with a 4-12 record that was worse than the Giants’ 5-11, only to turn things around and end with a 13-3 regular-season record.
Oh sure, the 49ers addressed their roster weaknesses as part of the process. Still, at the end of the day, every single person in the organization bought into the vision head coach Kyle Shanahan outlined to get the franchise back to its glory days, starting with organizational bonding exercises that enabled people to get to know each other on a more personal level.
“I think when you're able to build those relationships off the field, and you can come together and, and you're just playing more for just yourself—you're playing for your brother next to you and for your coaches,” Toilolo said.
“I think that's something that people may not be able to see on the outside, the relationships that you have and, and that you're able to build and just, you know, how that can translate to, to on the field.”
That approach would align to what Judge, not only stressed in his introductory press conference but also to the Giants staff shortly after he was introduced as the team’s new head coach.
“We have one mission: Winning games. That’s it,” Judge told the Giants staff. “That starts with you. … Everybody has a role in this organization. … I want to know everybody in here’s story. I want to know names, I want to know families; I want to know what motivates you. A paycheck does not eliminate the personal aspect of what we do. This is a football team.”
And that team concept, to include everyone from top to bottom, is precisely how Judge hopes to build a winning program.
