New York Giants Mailbag: Summer Lite Edition

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(From Joe G.) Would like you to perhaps make a comparison of the calls on Eli's first several years as against Jones. I'm referring to the calls that Eli was a bust, and he should be traded in his early years.

What's up, Joe? I don't remember the exact chatter regarding Eli Manning's first few years. I do remember there were some questions about whether he had what it took to be the leader the team needed, and I remember a lot of people being down on him because he wasn't his brother. That said, remember, he came into the league before there was social media--Twitter didn't come into existence until 2006, and even then, it took people a while to catch on to use it.

You didn't have the social media scene you have today with the discussion to where I can give you an apples-to-apples comparison. Also, I don't think you can make an apples-to-apples comparison because the Giants traded up to get Manning (thus, the expectations were a lot higher), whereas they didn't trade up for Jones.

Speaking of Jones, I agree that the Giants screwed him up. In fact, on the Friday live show of LockedOn Giants podcast, DaEntertainah and I were talking about how the team's decision to fire Pat Shurmur was probably the biggest blunder of all when it came to Jones.

Don't get me wrong; Shurmur had to go as head coach. But we were saying how Shurmur had a say in the drafting of Jones and how he was so instrumental in his rookie development, and then what happened?

The Giants pull the plug on him, bring in a new coaching staff and an offensive coordinator, and now suddenly you don't have the fit you thought you had. Granted, no one could have foreseen Shurmur not working out, but you could argue that maybe the Giants moved too soon on getting a quarterback, especially since it was strongly rumored that Justin Herbert was their guy.

And as I said on that podcast, Jones isn't blameless in his stalled development, but his share of the blame is relatively small compared to what the team did and didn't do for him.

(From Ken in the Phillippines) Can you tell us what your day as a reporter/writer is like at a regular-season football game, from pregame to postgame?

Hello Ken. I know you submitted this for the LockedOn mailbag, but since I was planning to do a Giants Country mailbag, I hope you don't mind me switching it to here.

I'll try to give you a rough timeline of my game day, and I'll use the 1 p.m. start time to set the stage. I usually leave my house early because, around 9:30 or so, I start getting an influx of information I'll need to file away for later.

After I park and check in, I set up my workstation. I'll spend the next couple of hours writing some stuff, reviewing the press box notes, or sometimes just chit-chatting with other media. I also make it a point to watch what's going on down on the field regarding pregame warmups, and I try to stay in my seat until the inactive report comes out.

Then I go get something to eat--the Giants have a pregame and halftime meal. After I'm done eating, if I don't have any radio hits to do, I'll just hang out and finish whatever it is I haven't finished.

During the game, I try to tweet facts, stats, updates, and observations that people don't see on TV. As need be, I'll also crank out stories; for example, I'll do a quick update if there's a major injury. If I'm doing the early postgame report, I'll work on that as the game unfolds.

Halftime is a chance to catch up if I'm behind, and if hungry, I grab a snack. Then with about three minutes left, we head downstairs for the postgame podium and interviews. Depending on what I'm writing, I might be downstairs for anywhere from 30 to 60+ minutes. After

the postgame locker room is over, it's back upstairs, where I'm looking at roughly 2-3 more hours between taping a quick hit for my podcast, writing my stuff, and editing the content from my writers.

If it sounds like a long day, it's because it is. I don't get to see the second game that starts at 4 p.m. local time. And if I'm lucky, I get home just in time for the Sunday night game. I'll start working again after a quick bite of dinner (hubby often waits for me to come home, and then I'll finish up whatever it is I have to do for Sunday, and I'll also get working on Monday's stuff, e.g., the podcast, Inside Football, etc.

It's a grind, but I've been doing it for so long that I have it down to a science. I've come to despite 4 p.m. kickoffs and night games because now you're condensing everything into a shorter time frame. I've been doing this for so long, and I hope to continue to be able to do it for as long as my body allows.

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