The names of legendary figures from Giants history are listed in a ring of honor around the ceiling of the Giants locker room. One of the names inscribed there is that of Harry Carson, who spent all of his 13 seasons in the NFL as a Giants linebacker, making nine Pro Bowls on his way to enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
But when current Giants linebacker Michael Boley was asked about Carson’s criticism of the team following Sunday’s 41-9 demolition at the hands of the Carolina Panthers, including questioning the team’s pride, Boley said he couldn’t care less.
“Doesn’t mean anything to me,” said Boley, who had seven tackles in Sunday’s loss. “These guys in this locker room, we play the game. Any kind of worries coming from outside falls on deaf ears.
“If we listened to everything that was said outside these walls, we’d drive ourselves crazy. We don’t care who it is … it’s up to us in this locker room, and this building. We know what goes on with us, so we can’t really focus on what’s said outside of here.”
Not everyone agreed with Boley’s stance, though. After giving up Giants Stadium records for the most rushing yards by an opposing team (247) and the most rushing yards by an opposing player (206 by Jonathan Stewart) in their final game in the building, cornerback Terrell Thomas thought Carson had a point.
“I definitely respect it and I definitely agree with it because we didn’t play with any passion,” Thomas said. “To have the playoffs on the line, to have Giants Stadium closing, we had too much momentum in this game not to win.”
When he was asked about Carson’s comments, Tom Coughlin pointed to the Giants performances the previous three weeks against its NFC East rivals as proof that his team does have pride in itself and the Giants tradition.
“The unfortunate thing is that it’s probably as inconsistent as our season has been,” Coughlin said. “You have some very, very good examples of our pride. The Dallas game I thought was well-exhibited, certainly Washington was well-exhibited. We tried like heck against Philadelphia here at home, and if it wasn’t for the turnovers and the punt return, I think that would have been a game that came right down to it as well.”
“We talk about New York Giant Pride, we do know what it is … perhaps it hasn’t been shown in all respects this year, but believe me, it’s talked about, and it’s there.”