The Giants locker room certainly wasn’t 100 percent pro-Barack Obama, but every player The Post spoke to at least acknowledged his election Tuesday as a milestone in American history, and several admitted to being very emotional seeing the first African-American president.
“Just watching America in general, when they were showing different scenes from places all across the U.S. and even the world, just seeing peoples’ expression of happiness,” said linebacker Antonio Pierce, who called his mother after the election.
“I’ve never seen that reaction from people in the U.S. being that happy about a president being elected. I think it speaks volumes about that person alone, how much people want to go forward in life and become a better country.”
Defensive end Justin Tuck said his mother and grandmother called him immediately. But he cautioned against expecting overnight miracles.
“I was emotional. It’s a great feeling, it’s a long time coming, but everybody needs to understand Barack isn’t a savior,” Tuck said. “Everybody’s looking at it like he’s going to save us, but he’s got a lot of work to do. He was trying to convey that to America in his speech.
“We’re in pretty rough times right now with the economy. He’s got a lot of work to do. But I like his approach. Like he said, he didn’t get much sleep because he was up working already, and that’s an encouraging sign. God bless him and I hope he can turn it around.”
As much love was being thrown around for Obama, the same didn’t hold true for the looming trip to the City of Brotherly Love.
“We don’t like nobody. I don’t even like my wife or my mother sometimes; I just like the 53 guys in this room come (gameday),” Pierce said. “There’s no brotherly love in this matchup.
“(Their fans) are great. They love their team, they cheer, they boo, they know all about your family and personal life. It starts from the time the buses pull in to the time (they) pull out. I’ve had 10-year-olds (give me the finger) and 80-year-old ladies cuss me.”
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CB Kevin Dockery (back) and LB Gerris Wilkinson (knee) still didn’t practice, but S James Butler (knee) and LB Zak DeOssie (back/flu) returned on a limited basis. Tom Coughlin said Butler, “did some work but not a whole lot, to be honest with you.”
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For the Eagles, DBs Brian Dawkins (hamstring), Lito Sheppard (groin) and Joselio Hanson (hamstring) all missed practice.