Joseph asked his mother why Jacobs left to play in San Francisco.  She explained the Giants didn’t have enough money to keep him, so Joseph emptied his piggy bank and wrote Jacobs a letter.  It reads:

“Dear Brandon Jacobs,  So you could go to the Giants, here is my money.  Love, Joe”

Jacobs tweeted he almost cried when he saw the letter and may pay a surprise visit to Joseph.  I hope he finds the time to follow through on that visit.  Too often we see players whose only loyalty seems to be to the almighty dollar.  We hear a lot of talk about being a part of a team and how money is not the issue.

The late, great George Young, former NY Giants GM who brought us the Parcells era, once said it’s always about money and when players say it’s not about money, then it’s REALLY about money.  He also said the NFL is not a business of well adjusted people.  This combination adds up to grown up people acting very juvenile on a very public stage.  It’s a scene we see all too often.

Fortunately, Jacobs exit from New York was relatively drama free.  He was willing to take a pay cut to stay in New York.  But in the end, the two sides were unable to come to terms.  I think most of us understand it was time for Jacobs to move on.

But Joseph doesn’t understand salary caps.  Paying $5 million a year to a back up running back isn’t on his radar.  He only understands he was willing to give everything he has to keep his hero in blue.

By that measure, Joseph is a bigger Giants fan than all of us.  Unfortunately, even Joseph will soon mature past his own standard.  But it was fun seeing the NFL through his eyes one more time…even it’s only for a little while.  And I hope Jacobs gives Joseph his $3.36 back!

It was a glorious day to be a New York Giants fan yesterday and the morning after is just as sweet. The energy around town is electric. All of the New York Metro area, sorry Buffalo, is flying high, with good reason. Jets fans are happy with the outcome of their game, 27-11. The New York Giants are more than just a little bit happy. They are downright ecstatic!

Giants fans could not contain their excitement. So, they took to the internet, Twitter in this case, to share their Big Blue pride. The virtual sea of Tweets from Giants fans were countless. Reading the Tweets from my followers was both side-splitting hilarious and jam packed full of emotion. Needless to say, I thought I would share a small collection of them with our readership who are not up on the whole “Tweeting thing.” Read on to experience the virtual Big Blue love.

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the Bergan Record’s Jeff Roberts tweeted:

TheJRob: Coughlin: TE Travis Beckum (hamstring) will not practice today. #Nyg
…

TheJRob: Coughlin: Beckum really needs to be out there. #nyg

If Beckum is out an extended period of time with a hamstring issue, that will all but cement this offseason for the Giants as the worst in recent memory. Boss is gone, Smith is gone, no Plax, and the Giants are working with a much younger and cheaper crew of guys at camp that don’t have much clout with Eli Manning’s offense right now. Aside from Manningham, Hixon, and Nicks — the Giants receiving core is largely an unknown. No Barden yet – and with Cruz, Reynaud and Jernigan it’s too early to tell what happens in a game that means something despite positive camp reports. It’s not the same as a game.

So the Giants can’t have the token pass catching TE for 2011 in Travis Beckum sidelined for much longer than a day, and if he misses preseason action this weekend because of it that will be a tremendous setback for the team operating under this shortened camp period.

Reps, reps, reps — health, health, health. That’s all I want to see from here on out with these guys. Beckum needs to heal up quick…

Schefter tweeted earlier:

Giants have offered disgruntled DE Osi Umenyiora additonal incentives that would kick in if he registered 13.5 sacks this season.
…
Umenyiora has asked the Giants to wipe out the last year on his contract that now has two years remaining. Standoff continues.

This number is a bit lower than the 15 sacks we heard about earlier in the day, but 13.5 is still a high number. With the propensity of the safety blitz and zone blitz packages that Fewell likes to run, and if Kiwanuka and JPP are installed as the primary pass rushers coming up the middle in 3rd down situations… there’s no way Osi hits that number. No way. That’s not to say the Giants won’t completely dominate on defense in 2011, just sayin – Osi won’t be the primary reason.

via Ralph Vacchiano of The Daily News

Tweets are rolling in from Giant beat writers saying how surprised everyone is that Osi Umenyiora is at practice, especially after GM Jerry Reese told him not to show up. I mean, this is almost comical at this point. He was told not to show up so he wouldn’t distract, and he did the exact opposite to make sure he absolutely was a distraction.

Mike Garafolo tweeted jokingly:

only thing we’re missing is Osi running on the field + kicking the ball away before Snee can snap it. This is nuts.

It is nuts…. for this situation to go on as long as it has.

Not sure that does much for notion that came before it — that Osi doesn’t plan to practice any time soon.

This distraction is getting more depressing by the minute.

Yardbarker

via Tom Rock of Newsday’s twitter feed:

Another positive: Some players were leaving before the full defensive call. Greg Jones yells “Get back in the damn huddle!”

This is not a knock on Jon Goff — but he’s anything but vocal on the field. He’s a no nonsense, understaded, vicious hitter that has come a long way in improving coverage abilities. But a true MLB is something everyone knows the Giants need and have needed since Antonio Pierce started showing his age in his gameplay. If this anecdote gets legs, and is an honest indicator of good things to come from Greg Jones, the Giants are going to have some serious ROI having stolen Jones in round #6 of the 2011 draft.

What do you get when you cross an Eagle with a Jackass? Why, DeSean Jackson, of course. Andy Reid will more than likely be bald after the offseason and lockout come to a close. Having to sit back and listen to the inordinately immature remarks that continue to emanate from his juvenile players can only leave him pulling every single strand of hair out of his head. The latest bird to tweet his feathers off is none other than DeSean Jackson.

With Jackson, it really isn’t a matter of if he will flap his gums. It is a matter of when. DeSean has been quite taken with himself since last season and has been quite vocal about it. Alas, like many Eagles, he just doesn’t know when to keep his beak shut.
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Yardbarker

via a tweet from Adam Schefter:

Kerry Collins is announcing today that he is retiring from the NFL.

The former Giants has had a roller coaster ride with the Tennessee Titans but it’s probably time.

And the Giants are going to need every bit of spark he can bring in the mediocre Special Teams return game as I lamented the other day.

Hixon optimistically said to GMENHQ via Twitter:

domenik_hixon @gmenhq the knee feels great! I can’t wait to get things started!

Now, if Hixon isn’t 100% what are the Giants possibly going to do to field punts and kickoffs? Jerrel Jernigan immediately comes to mind, who just worked out with Hakeem Nicks and Eli Manning at Duke. The other options include Aaron Ross for punts, and DJ Ware for kicks. What do you think?

Want to join in the conversation? Follow GMENHQ on Twitter now

Last week the Twitterverse was humming with nonsensical needling. This is, of course, a result of too much idle time on the Philadelphia Eagles’ hands. Perhaps that is not entirely accurate. There always seems to be a slow and steady leak emanating from the gaping hole in the Philadelphia face. Of course, this hole is only wide enough to talk trash when the Eagles have had a moderately successful season. All other times, it is wrapped up tight.

Most of the talk has been coming from the Seans during the offseason. LeSean McCoy is the current culprit. All of the other Philly Seans keep their mouths well greased though – DeSean, BeSean, Fe-Fi-FoSean…all of them. While most professional football players are focusing on working out a deal to end the lockout or getting their bodies into game shape, the Eagles are focusing their sights on the New York Giants, Osi Umenyiora in particular.
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Associated Press

The ill effects of the NFL Lockout are beginning to mirror that age old saying, “Idle time is the devil’s workshop.” The clearest case of this is the recent twittery of Pittsburgh Steelers, Rashard Mendenhall. While 99.999% of America was basking in the demise of Osama bin Laden, one of the most ruthless terrorists in world history, Mendenhall exposed himself as that .000001% that wasn’t.

On Monday May 2nd, 2011, after bin Laden’s death, Rashard Mendenhall tweeted the following:

“What kind of person celebrates death? It’s amazing how people can HATE a man they have never even heard speak. We’ve only heard one side…”

Under normal circumstances I would be inclined to agree with this portion of his statement: “What kind of person celebrates death?” These are NOT normal circumstances!
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check the rest out here: http://lockerz.com/s/98655291

RamsesNYG Ramses Barden

So let’s have some fun… what’s he relaying to us here? He’s working on his game even though there’s a lockout, he’s taking direction from Eli Manning and working out some kinks, and he’s obviously hoping that putting the time in with Eli this offseason will pay dividends on the field this year.

It’s way too early for predictions of course, but I have a feeling that 2011 is the year of Ramses Barden’s first career NFL touchdown.

@SI_PeterKing:

1.53% chance… No progress on 3 major issues.

@AdamSchefter:

No chance (and I’ve never wanted to be wrong more).

And Giants Center Sean O’Hara commented on the situation:

@ZBerm: When O’Hara asked if he thinks CBA can be reached this week, said: “I almost hope we don’t…because that would be a bad deal for us.”