Do You Remember? Welcome to NY Antrel Rolle!

Every offseason I like to do some video reconnoissance of the last seasons top plays. For the first time ever, I’m going to do a ‘Best of the Preseason’ post to get things started… yes that’s how anxious I am for some NFL football action today.

So without further delay, here we go.

Antrel Rolle’s NY Debut

Many forget that the state of the NY Giants secondary in 2009 was completely miserable. I will spare the details, but the Giants had the second worst passing defense in the NFL. Exit C.C. Brown and Michael Johnson, enter Pro Bowl caliber safety Antrel Rolle from Arizona, the veteran Deon Grant, and a rehabbed Kenny Phillips in 2010 and the Giants safeties were fortified with a vengeance. And the year started out with a bang for Antrel Rolle as evidenced by this classic welcome wagon interception in his first game as a NY Giant:

Welcome to NY Antrel Rolle…

Rolle went on to record 87 total tackles, a forced fumble and an interception for the Giants in 2010, he had a solid year that was overshadowed by his willingness to let it all hang out behind the microphone of WFAN. Antrel was a lightning rod when it came to criticism of descent in the Giants locker room, and Rolle’s outspoken nature did little to silence the debate surrounding Tom Coughlin’s grip on the discipline of his team.

In the end, the Giants showed enough resolve in their 10-6 finish to barely miss the playoffs with key losses to the Eagles and the Packers. Aaron Rodgers’ performance against the Giants was nothing short of flawless, and it was the start of their run that took Green Bay right through to their decisive victory in the Superbowl. There really is no defense for the perfect pass…

But looking ahead to next year I like the fact that Antrel Rolle is on the Giants roster holding down all things deep. The Giants adequately addressed their safety issues from 2009 by bringing in Rolle, and for most of the year the Giants had one of the better secondaries in the league. We’ll have to see if Kenny Phillips can rebound from his arthritic knee condition even stronger in 2011, and perhaps the Giants will look to the later rounds of the draft to provide some young talent for depth at corner back and safety positions.

But that’s all for today’s edition of Do You Remember? Tomorrow we’ll continue with the preseason goodness (I just said that, right? God I miss football…) with a little flashback from a young man named Victor. Till then, stay Blue.

[via NFL Videos]