ALBANY — The player made famous for catching the ball on his helmet yesterday made like his headgear was a soccer ball, gently kicking at it in a rare but poignant display of frustration.
It has never been easy for David Tyree, but it has never been this difficult. The most improbable hero of Super Bowl XLII instead of securing the ball on his helmet will have to pull a rabbit out of it if he is to find a place for himself on a roster that seemingly has no place for him.
“It’s not like it’s a new thing for me,” Tyree said from training camp at the University at Albany. “Each year there’s been a guy looked at ahead of me. Honestly, if I ever base my performance on how things looked, I would have been gone a long time ago.”
He has managed to stay one step ahead of the posse for six years, enduring as a special teams demon and usually as an afterthought at receiver. That’s why the irony and incredulity of his leaping 32-yard catch in the closing minutes of Super Bowl XLII, ensnaring the ball on the side of his helmet and then holding on as he tumbled backwards to the ground, was and remains so dramatic.
Tyree became an instant Giants legend. The team quietly agonized about what to do with him. How could it cut such a popular and inspirational player, a New Jersey native who teamed with Eli Manning for perhaps the greatest play in Super Bowl history?
That crossroads never came. Tyree did not successfully recover from knee surgery and spent the entire 2008 season on the physically unable to perform list.
This summer, even with the departures of Plaxico Burress and Amani Toomer, there is no roster spot for Tyree. Four returning receivers are ahead of him — Steve Smith, Domenik Hixon, Mario Manningham and Sinorice Moss — and the two rookie draft picks, Hakeem Nicks and Ramses Barden, are locks to stick. Thus far in camp, young veteran Derek Hagan has caught everything in sight and had Tom Coughlin commenting on his special teams prowess.
“It definitely leads to speculation,” Tyree conceded. “It doesn’t really faze me.”
Another problem for Tyree is he hasn’t been making enough plays. A slightly strained groin forced him out of two practices and when he’s been on the field he’s shown he’s not in form after missing so much time.
He dropped three passes in yesterday’s morning session. The third drop came after Tyree beat rookie cornerback DeAndre Wright and leaped to haul in a pass from David Carr. Tyree got both hands on the ball but failed to control it; not an easy catch but one Tyree needs to make. Tyree pounded the ground in disgust, yelled “Get the ball” to himself and softly kicked his helmet.
Tyree sat out the night practice with a sore knee. “You can’t destroy Giant equipment, you know what I’m saying?” Tyree said afterward. “I guess I should be impressed that I can get open, coming off the injury, but that’s not impressive when you drop the ball.
“I’m not ashamed to say it, I’m just not performing up to my level, my expectations.”
An admirer of Tyree’s toughness, Coughlin preferred to dwell on the catches Tyree made after the drops. Manning smiled and reminded everyone that Tyree often drops the ball in practice.
“He’s a guy you can trust,” Manning said. “When we get into games he makes plays for us, he always has.”
If Tyree’s days are indeed numbered, the Giants will take no joy in bidding adieu. He knows past heroics won’t save him.
“It’s always good to have that Hat Trick in the bag,” Tyree said, “but that don’t mean nothing right now when we’re in the heat of competition.”