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Tom Coughlin, John Mara bristle over Plaxico Burress' guarantee
GLENDALE, Ariz. - Before the question was even finished, John Mara cringed as if someone had just kicked him in the stomach. He's a conservative man, quiet by nature, content to lurk in the background.
He'd prefer his team to be that way, too.
"Yeah, I don't particularly like to have people make guarantees and stuff like that," Mara said yesterday. "I'd like to keep it as quiet as possible. There's been a minimal amount of chirping all season and we'd like to keep it that way.
"God willing, we'll get through today without incident."
Mara's Giants did appear to get through Tuesday's media day unscathed, but that minimal chirping the Giants have done has flared up lately. Plaxico Burress, GM Jerry Reese and co-owner Steve Tisch have all issued what have been portrayed as guarantees of victory in Super Bowl XLII.
None of them was a strong, Namath-like proclamation. But they all got more attention than the Giants would have preferred.
"Are we supposed to say we're going to lose?" Antonio Pierce asked. "What do you want us to say? We're not here to play second to anyone."
Confidence is fine, but there is apparently a line that players aren't supposed to cross. Burress straddled it a few days ago when he said the Giants' receivers "do things just as well or maybe better than some of those" Patriots receivers. And he apparently jumped over it on Monday when he reportedly not only guaranteed victory, but also predicted the final score.
When asked about Burress' proclamation, Tom Coughlin was clearly upset with his star receiver yesterday.
"That's not what we aspire to do," Coughlin said. "We want to do our talking on the field. We've had a good theme all year long, which hasn't been that."
Burress, meanwhile, simply wondered what all the fuss was about.
"Are predictions guarantees?" Burress asked. "We want to win this game. It's interesting. You think of some things in life, as far as professional sports or playing in this game, and it's OK to want to win, think big and dream."
Then, without any reservation, he offered another guarantee of sorts: "We're going to take this thing back to New York City."
Somewhere, Mara cringed again.
"There's only so much you can do," Mara said. "You're constantly asked questions. You're constantly surrounded by media. There are times you're going to say things you probably shouldn't."
"I have already decided and said that I cannot control the actions of others," added Michael Strahan. "I've tried it and come to the realization that these guys are absolutely crazy, and (I'll) go along with whatever they say and laugh with it and go out and play on Sunday. If Plaxico said it, then 'Hee, hee, hee.'"
The Patriots weren't exactly laughing at the Giants, but they didn't seem bothered by the Giants' tough and confident talk. Strahan said he wasn't surprised by that, since he knows words don't really matter at all.
"You know what?" he said. "I could really care less if somebody guaranteed victory against us. You put it on the (bulletin) board and what, is it going to make me play harder? This is the Super Bowl. They are 18 and freakin' 0."
Of course, no one on the button-lipped Patriots would ever even think of guaranteeing a victory, but the talk-is-cheap Giants haven't been so shy. Maybe their words have been overblown by the media, but they're still the ones opening their mouths. They're "a confident bunch," according to Burress.
And that's not something they want to hide.
"We're a 10-6 regular-season team that made it to the Super Bowl and we got here the hard way, winning three road games," Burress said. "So hey, look at us. We didn't just get lucky to be here.
"You've got to want to win the game, man," Burress added. "You've got to want to win it. So why not us?"
What a dummy...
Tom Coughlin, John Mara bristle over Plaxico Burress' guarantee
GLENDALE, Ariz. - Before the question was even finished, John Mara cringed as if someone had just kicked him in the stomach. He's a conservative man, quiet by nature, content to lurk in the background.
He'd prefer his team to be that way, too.
"Yeah, I don't particularly like to have people make guarantees and stuff like that," Mara said yesterday. "I'd like to keep it as quiet as possible. There's been a minimal amount of chirping all season and we'd like to keep it that way.
"God willing, we'll get through today without incident."
Mara's Giants did appear to get through Tuesday's media day unscathed, but that minimal chirping the Giants have done has flared up lately. Plaxico Burress, GM Jerry Reese and co-owner Steve Tisch have all issued what have been portrayed as guarantees of victory in Super Bowl XLII.
None of them was a strong, Namath-like proclamation. But they all got more attention than the Giants would have preferred.
"Are we supposed to say we're going to lose?" Antonio Pierce asked. "What do you want us to say? We're not here to play second to anyone."
Confidence is fine, but there is apparently a line that players aren't supposed to cross. Burress straddled it a few days ago when he said the Giants' receivers "do things just as well or maybe better than some of those" Patriots receivers. And he apparently jumped over it on Monday when he reportedly not only guaranteed victory, but also predicted the final score.
When asked about Burress' proclamation, Tom Coughlin was clearly upset with his star receiver yesterday.
"That's not what we aspire to do," Coughlin said. "We want to do our talking on the field. We've had a good theme all year long, which hasn't been that."
Burress, meanwhile, simply wondered what all the fuss was about.
"Are predictions guarantees?" Burress asked. "We want to win this game. It's interesting. You think of some things in life, as far as professional sports or playing in this game, and it's OK to want to win, think big and dream."
Then, without any reservation, he offered another guarantee of sorts: "We're going to take this thing back to New York City."
Somewhere, Mara cringed again.
"There's only so much you can do," Mara said. "You're constantly asked questions. You're constantly surrounded by media. There are times you're going to say things you probably shouldn't."
"I have already decided and said that I cannot control the actions of others," added Michael Strahan. "I've tried it and come to the realization that these guys are absolutely crazy, and (I'll) go along with whatever they say and laugh with it and go out and play on Sunday. If Plaxico said it, then 'Hee, hee, hee.'"
The Patriots weren't exactly laughing at the Giants, but they didn't seem bothered by the Giants' tough and confident talk. Strahan said he wasn't surprised by that, since he knows words don't really matter at all.
"You know what?" he said. "I could really care less if somebody guaranteed victory against us. You put it on the (bulletin) board and what, is it going to make me play harder? This is the Super Bowl. They are 18 and freakin' 0."
Of course, no one on the button-lipped Patriots would ever even think of guaranteeing a victory, but the talk-is-cheap Giants haven't been so shy. Maybe their words have been overblown by the media, but they're still the ones opening their mouths. They're "a confident bunch," according to Burress.
And that's not something they want to hide.
"We're a 10-6 regular-season team that made it to the Super Bowl and we got here the hard way, winning three road games," Burress said. "So hey, look at us. We didn't just get lucky to be here.
"You've got to want to win the game, man," Burress added. "You've got to want to win it. So why not us?"
What a dummy...
Tom Coughlin, John Mara bristle over Plaxico Burress' guarantee
