WE all need someone who’s got our back when times get difficult. It could be a wife or husband, a best friend, or maybe someone you would least expect.
Eli Manning has Amani Toomer.
The media gathered around Toomer on Wednesday wanting to hear his thoughts about his first game back after missing the second half of last season with a torn ACL in his left knee. Toomer turns 33 the day before the Giants open their 2007 season Sunday night in Dallas, approaching ancient for a wide receiver. And when you’re returning from major knee surgery, the first live contact is an elephant that must be cleared.
Sunday night is huge for Toomer. National television, division rival, season opener – a surgically repaired knee.
There were no setbacks during a cautious preseason. Now it’s for real.
“Only the game will tell where I really am,” Toomer said. “Hopefully I can still do the same things that I’ve done in the past.”
The past has been good; record-setting, in fact. A second-round draft pick in 1996 out of Michigan, Toomer is the franchise leader in reception yards (8,157) and 100-yard receiving games (22). He is second in receptions (561). Toomer always has been more about consistency than the spectacular. The injury never was career threatening.
“The Giants organization never looked at me as someone that was done,” Toomer said. “Now I’m back.”
Back to help the Giants. Back to help Eli. Before Toomer’s injury, he had become Manning’s security blanket of sorts. Plaxico Burress grabs more attention, but when Toomer went down, so did Manning’s production: The Giants lost four straight games.
“If you lose a big part of your offense to injury, it’s only natural to expect the production to drop off,” Toomer said. “You need some of the younger receivers to step up and I guess it was a little more difficult than they thought.”
There is no loss of faith in his quarterback, which is why Toomer applauded him for defending himself when former Giants running back Tiki Barber criticized Manning’s leadership skills. Toomer said it was important for Manning to prove “he’s not going to sit back there and let somebody take pot shots at him from behind a typewriter or microphone.”
There’s a different vibe in the Giants locker room these days. Tom Coughlin has formed a Leadership Council of key players, including Toomer, to hear gripes and suggestions. Jeremy Shockey and Burress haven’t said a word, and Michael Strahan missed all of training camp before reporting Monday.
Add Barber’s retirement and there’s finally room for Manning’s voice to be heard.
“There are a lot of expectations on him,” Toomer said of Manning. “Whether that’s fair or unfair, I don’t know. But I think in time he lives up to those expectations. He seems like he’s on the right track to me.”
We’ll soon see if the Giants are finally Manning’s team. Toomer has his own concerns. His rookie year was ruined when he tore his right ACL, but he played nine straight seasons with only the typical bumps, bruises and muscle strains. Missing half of what turned out to be a playoff season was difficult.
To pass the time, he bought a 36-gallon saltwater fish tank and became an amateur ichthyologist (fish freak). There also was a public divorce to navigate, but his rehab never suffered. Now it’s back to football.
Despite being in the winter of his career, Toomer isn’t worried about what might happen beyond this season. Second-round pick Steve Smith of USC very well might be the Giants’ future at wide receiver, but starting Sunday night Toomer is eager to give Manning all the support he needs.