By PAUL SCHWARTZ
Last updated: 7:33 am
July 24, 2008
Posted: 3:22 am
July 24, 2008
ALBANY - Every syllable, word and sentence of the poignant theme Tom Coughlin presented yesterday as he arrived at Giants training camp made crystal clear that in order for this team to learn the lessons of its Super Bowl triumph, Jeremy Shockey had to go.
The former Giants tight end was shipped this week to New Orleans, not because he's no longer a viable player but because the franchise - from the front office to some in the coaching staff to many of his teammates - grew tired by his diva act.
Coughlin's message yesterday was simple and resounding - "Team over self is why we win" - and, asked if Shockey's inability to adhere to that mantra was a factor in the trade, he admitted, "I am sure at some point in time that was part of the consideration."
The departure of Michael Strahan from the title team already has been processed and plans are well under way to fill the void left on the field and in the locker room. Shockey's departure was far more abrupt.
"Everything we've done was with the impression that he's gonna be back," offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride said. "We all felt eventually it will work out, there would be a reconciliation and eventually get him into the fold."
That scenario increasingly became impossible and undesirable.
Shockey passed his physical with the Saints, making the trade (the Giants get a 2009 second- and fifth-round draft pick) official. They will move second-year Kevin Boss, a natural pass-catcher, into the starting job and hope youngsters Darcy Johnson and Michael Matthews can develop as blockers in reserve.
What is certain is that the tight-end position will be less athletically gifted but also far less combustible. Even tight ends coach Mike Pope, who enjoyed as close a relationship with Shockey as anyone in the organization, said, "It's going to be kind of dull at our position with the one-liners. That won't be all bad."
What became painfully evident to the team is that Shockey - always high-maintenance - had gone off the deep end, imagining conspiracies and persecution that never existed. Despite his incessant grumblings, all concerned believed the relationship could and would be repaired. Then Shockey, coming off leg and ankle surgery, showed up at the mid-June veteran mini-camp and his bizarre actions and ranting convinced the organization that he had to go.
Teammates who once enjoyed - or at least tolerated - Shockey's edgy persona because they respected his work ethic and talent came to realize he was losing touch with reality. He accused players of leaking private information about him to the media, he got into a verbal confrontation with GM Jerry Reese and showed little regard for the urgings of Coughlin to at least make an appearance on the practice field along with the other injured players.
Despite the personal attachment, Pope said Shockey had burned too many bridges.
"A player in some cases can be at a place too long," Pope said. "It was time to move on."
