GIANT NOTES
PHILADELPHIA – When Micheal Barrow signed with the Giants prior to the 2000 season, he was offered an immediate piece of advice that he recalled recently while contemplating a trip to Veterans Stadium.
“The first thing guys told me when I came here was, ‘Please don’t let your wife wear a New York jersey up there, because the women up there will beat her up in the bathroom,'” Barrow said. “It’s one of those things where you say, ‘Baby, no jerseys.’ The fans call you names, curse you out, they’re ruthless up there. They call it the city of love but I don’t see no love in that place. It’s crazy up there.”
Last night’s game against the Eagles was likely the last time Barrow and the Giants would ever be forced to play in the dungeon called Veterans Stadium, which is thankfully scheduled to be replaced next season by a new stadium nearby. Opponents have long since dubbed the Vet the worst place to play, and even though the treacherous artificial turf has been updated, the NFL’s most rowdy fans remain.
“I can think of wonderful language and gestures and overall friendly greeting we get from the Philadelphia fans,” guard Dusty Zeigler said. “You get that occasional, ‘Who’s that in your jersey with you?’ or ‘You need to eat at the salad bar,’ just goading and prodding. They entertain me as much as I entertain them.”
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All the Eagles paraphernalia hanging in the Giants’ locker room last week was probably unnecessary, as the Giants never have to be motivated prior to a game with their NFC East rivals. “It’s a crucial game, a pivotal game for us,” S Shaun Williams said. “It’s a rivalry. We’re going to get motivated for each other [even] if we were 0-6. It shows every time these teams step out on the field.”
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Not only did rookie TE Jeremy Shockey have to watch out for the Philly secondary looking to knock some sense into him after his disparaging comments, but Shockey last night also had to worry about his own health. He missed the last game and most of the game before that with turf toe to the big toe of his right foot and is not at full strength. “You can block it out sometimes,” Shockey said. “I never had an injury in my foot where you explode off of it and it hurt. That’s a big part of my game is, getting off the line quick, so when that’s hampering me it really hurts me.”