In the middle of the NFL’s free agent chaos, Giants general manager Jerry Reese took time out to chat with Post columnist Steve Serby.
Q: What’s message to Giants fans about what kind of team they should expect?
A: They should expect a very competitive team who will be in the playoffs and who will challenge for a Super Bowl. That’s what they should expect every year. That’s what we strive for every year.
Q: How hungry is this team?
A: I think this team is very hungry. I think all across the board — from our owners, all the way down to Jose …
Q: Who?
A: Jose [Garcia] is one of our maintenance people right now, so … from our owners all the way down to Jose, we’re all in it together, we’re all pulling in the same direction. And when you do that, you win championships. Everybody’s important in the organization. Everybody.
Q: Every year you believe you’re the team to beat?
A: Absolutely. We are definitely the team to beat.
Q: Do you feel that more so this year than most?
A: I have a really good feeling about this team because, again, we have not accomplished what we wanted to accomplish for the last three years. We want to win Super Bowls, and we haven’t won one in a while, and we want to get back on top.
Q: Your reaction when you found out the Eagles landed Nnamdi Asomugha?
A: I don’t really get overly excited one way or the other about players, because players are players. Most players in the National Football League are good players. … He’s a terrific player, but it’s just one more guy. … We like competition, and the Eagles have gotten the best of us for the last few years, but we’re looking forward to get back on a winning track against those guys.
Q: You’re not scared of their defensive backfield?
A: We’re not afraid of anybody.
Q: What did you take from your conversation with Plaxico Burress on Friday night?
A: Positive.
Q: But do you believe that he and Tom Coughlin can peacefully coexist?
A: That’s yet to be known. We’ll see where it goes. But again, it was positive.
Q: Why were you in favor of giving him a second chance?
A: Everybody deserves a second chance as far as I’m concerned. But he was a big part of this football team at one time. … He did help us win a championship, there’s no doubt about that. So, No. 1, we think he’s a very good football player. Like we always say, we try not to ever close the door on any situation, and we always try to investigate every situation that might happen.
Q: Do the Eagles landing Asomugha make getting Burress more of a priority?
A: Absolutely not. What everybody else does with their team, it has nothing to do with the New York Giants. We try to build a deep roster with competitive, good, smart football players who want to be team players. What everybody else does with their roster doesn’t matter to us.
Q: What are you expecting from Eli Manning?
A: In my mind, Eli’s in the wheelhouse of his maturity. He’s come into his own right now. He’s one of those guys who can self-correct. He’s going to look back and see some of the things that he did wrong — force some balls. Sometimes a sack is a good play. I think he tried to do too much last year with our injury situation with our front and with our receivers.
Q: Is he still an ascending player?
A: He absolutely is an ascending player. He should be in the prime of his career. We expect him to be an even better player than we’ve seen in the past.
Q: Top 10 quarterback, top 8?
A: I think he’s already a top 10 quarterback.
Q: Is top 5 realistic?
A: Absolutely that’s realistic.
Q: A Jerry Reese football team?
A: A Jerry Reese football team would be a team that plays as a team, No. 1. No. 2, is a physical football team, could go out there and win the physical battles. And No. 3, a smart team that goes out there and doesn’t beat itself with stupid penalties … and has pride to wear that New York Giants uniform and that helmet and represent this organization like it should be represented. And, who has winning championships on their mind.
Q: What did you mean when you said David Baas is what a Giants offensive lineman is supposed to look like?
A: He’s a big powerful man, and he’s very, very smart and he’s very, very tough, and he’s versatile.
Q: Jason Pierre-Paul?
A: He’s one of those guys I expect to be over the rookie stuff that rookies have to go through and really make a big jump and be an impact player … putting his defense in the top 5 defenses in the National Football League. He should be one of those joker types that Perry [Fewell, defensive coordinator] can put in a lot of different positions to make plays.
Q: Mathias Kiwanuka?
A: Same thing. He’s one of those hard-nosed Giants types that we like.
Q: Hakeem Nicks?
A: He’s one of those go-to kind of receivers that we can depend on.
Q: Is Will Beatty ready at left tackle?
A: I myself have no reservations, and I don’t think our coaching staff has any reservations about him challenging for the left tackle spot out there. He did more than as good job for us last year when he played.
Q: If you were a rookie GM when this free agency began, how unnerving do you think it would have been for you?
A: I’m not an unnerving kind of guy, but it had to be pretty unnerving for somebody coming right into the job. Free agency, evaluating players, you just have to go with your instincts. When you first start into jobs, you do what you know how to do. And at the beginning, one thing I was very confident in as I moved up in my career with the Giants, was evaluating players. … You do what you know how to do best, and then you fill in the cracks as you go. … It’s a new adventure every day because people get signed, people get cut, so every day is a new day — that’s one of the fun parts about the job.
Q: On a scale of 1-10, your level of preparedness for this free agency period.
A: I’d say we were a 10.
Q: What do you like best about the job?
A: I relish the challenge. It’s not an easy job. My friends think I just go the game (smile), and it’s like fantasy football. … The challenge to get a competitive team who’s relevant every year, to give you a chance to make the playoffs and give you a chance to win a Super Bowl, I relish that challenge.
Q: What’s the part you like the least?
A: Players who have been great Giants, and saying we’re going to move on in a different direction, and there’s been some great Giants I’ve had to talk to like that — [Amani] Toomer, David Tyree, just recently Richie Seubert, Shaun O’Hara. … They can’t play forever. They think they can, but they know they can’t.
Q: What has it been like working with Tom Coughlin?
A: Terrific. If you listen to the people talk about Tom, and he comes across as this gruff, stubborn, inflexible guy. He’s not that at all. He’s really almost a sweet … kind of a funny guy when he gets to know you, he says some funny stuff. Very open-minded. … He’s been very easy to work with, very trusting. I trust him, he trusts me.
Q: Ever feel a burden carrying the hopes and dreams of Giants fans?
A: It’s a privilege, really, for me. It’s a privilege to be able to be here and try to meet the expectations of our organization first. And then for myself, and then for the fans. … Every day I’m just lucky to walk on that field and be a part of the New York Football Giants.
Q: Can you talk about the pictures on the wall of your office — far left, David Tyree kneeling at the end of Super Bowl XLII and Eli holding the ball high in his right hand and exulting?
A: The best moment of my career right there, to see that, and to go in there and play that team [perfect Patriots] and upset them … it’s just a powerful scene for me right there.
Q: The Super Bowl XLII picture in the middle of Michael Strahan, Justin Tuck and Osi celebrating together?
A: The old guard and new guard, and how dominant they were in that front and how much fun they were having out there.
Q: The picture on the far right of Brandon Jacobs plowing through a hole against the Jets?
A: The uniqueness of how big he is. He looks like he’s the same size as a lineman running through there.
Q: The plaque on the floor with the Emlen Tunnell quote: “Losers assemble in little groups to share their misery and to bitch about the coaches and the guys in other little groups. Winners assemble as a team.”
A: It’s all about the team for me. That’s the No. 1 ingredient for me. If you’re playing like a team, you’re going to win a lot of games.
Q: Are you proud that you may be paving the way for young African-American executives, or even kids?
A: Without question. I thought I had to be successful for the organization, and then for my family, then for African-American people in general, especially African-American males, who can say, “Wow, this guy’s got a chance to do it.” I relish and cherish the opportunity to do that.
Q: Are you recognized in public?
A: Yeah, I try to keep a low profile (smile), but some diehard Giants fans can pick me out pretty quickly.
Q: What do they say to you?
A: I get a lot of advice (chuckle) from people on what we should do. I always try to be very patient. I listen to people’s thoughts and what they would like for us to do. Some people will just say, “I like what you’re doing, you’ve done a good job, keep up the good work.”