The sun came out Friday, and more than 2,900 fans flocked to University Field at the University at Albany to see the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants begin training camp.
Day one is usually the one we try to make, but this year is a little more special, said Halfmoon resident Keith Reed. `It’s got a spring training kind of feel to it.`
`I come up here every year,` said Jim Allegrino, who made the trip to Albany from Wilmington, N.C. `I used to live in Binghamton, but I moved to North Carolina five years ago. I still make it up here.`
Many fans sat in the bleachers on the steps of University Gym, but others such as Colonie twin brothers Justin and Jared Berdar staked out a spot at the entrance to the field so they could get autographs from the players as they passed by to the locker room.
`I meet players all over the place,` said the 16-year-old Justin, who added he’s been to nearly every camp since the Giants started training at UAlbany in 1995. `The parking lot, the campus, the gas station ` I met (running back Brandon) Jacobs there. He was cool with it. He took pictures with us, signed autographs and talked with us for a little bit.`
`I’m hoping these guys aren’t going to be too tired coming off the field to sign autographs,` added Tommy Calabrese, who made the trip from Speonk on Long Island to attend his first Giants training camp.
The Giants were just as anxious as the fans to get on the field and start the process of defending their Super Bowl title.
`We are very excited about the start of camp ` about continuing the momentum, if you will, from the playoff run; about integrating a lot of our rookie players and some of the veterans that we have brought into the program this offseason; about trying to work to see how exactly those individuals will fit into our program; and about continuing to emphasize team above self, which was such a critical, critical part of the success that we had last season,` said Giants head coach Tom Coughlin at last Wednesday’s pre-camp press conference.
`You kind of treat training camp as a new start, a new beginning,` added quarterback Eli Manning. `You erase everything from the years before that has always been my approach in years past. I tell myself that the last year doesn’t matter and that I’m going to learn from my experience, to try to become a better quarterback. This year is the same way. I’m going to learn from my experiences from last year, but you’ve still got something to prove.`
The Giants have something to prove in general. There are holes to fill after the departure of several players including tight end Jeremy Shockey (traded to New Orleans) and defensive lineman Michael Strahan (retirement), and several preseason NFL magazines don’t have Big Blue winning the NFC East.
`Perception is not necessarily reality, and I think you have to give us a chance to have our training camp and see where we go,` said Coughlin. `I think we do have a number of players that have played if you just take our young players alone and the experience factor that they had, I think that the level of play and the way in which they have upgraded their individual talents and the way we can utilize them is going to put us in a good position right off the bat.`
The defense played a key role in the Giants’ playoff push, as it shut down the high-octane offenses of Dallas, Green Bay and New England. And defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo said the key to maintaining the Giants’ high level of play on his side of the field is tinkering without radically changing anything.
`I think you have to stay ahead of the curve a little bit because there are too many smart offensive coordinators in this league, but you don’t ever abandon what you’ve done in the past,` Spagnuolo said.
The offense will have to recapture the magic it had in last year’s playoffs, too. Manning has to continue to show improvement at quarterback, the running backs have to stay healthy, and tight end Kevin Boss must show he’s as good at catching the ball as Shockey was in order for the Giants to stay on top of the league.
`I think the best thing (Boss) does that we’ve all seen is he catches the ball well,` said offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride. `(Manning) has great confidence in that he’ll be where he needs to be in order to catch the ball.`
Those issues and others will be resolved in the next three weeks of training camp. In the meantime, the Giants fans are glad to see their Super Bowl champions back on the field.
`I think it’s just exciting ` that’s all I can tell you,` said Mark DeRusso of Albany.“