NY Giants great Harry Carson had some rather stinging----and accurate words regarding the disgrace we all witnessed on Sunday. The following excerpt comes from our friend Ralph Vacchiano of the Ny Daily News and his excellent blog, the blue screen...
Harry Carson’s stinging criticism about the lack of Giants pride displayed on Sunday may not have meant anything to linebacker Michael Boley, but maybe this will.
Carson, the Giants legend and Hall of Famer, not only stood by the words he said on Sunday, but he just said a whole lot more in an interview on ESPN Radio in New York. He hammered the Giants for “going through the motions” in the Giants Stadium finale and then hiding from the media after the 41-9 beating by Carolina was over.
He even said someone in ownership needs to tell them what being a Giant really means. He said the Giants’ performance “was embarrassing for all the all former players.”
And no, he doesn’t care if Boley or anyone else on the team is bothered by his remarks.
“I wasn’t attacking any particular player,” Carson said on The Michael Kay Show. “But if the shoe fits, wear it. If they are offended by what I say, so be it. When you’re a football player and you don’t put up the fight you need to put up in the last game at Giants Stadium, there’s something wrong with that picture.”
Carson said that he didn’t want to be the voice of criticism after Sunday’s game. He had attended the game with his family and “was just minding my own business” when reporters approached him after it was over.
The always outspoken Carson has never been one to hide his true feelings, though. And his true feelings are that, when he was watching the game, he didn’t see any Giants pride.
“I don’t make any kind of personal attacks on the players, but I stand by what I said,” Carson said. “I really didn’t see a whole lot of pride. There were 78,000 people there that I think saw the same thing I saw. When you’re closing up your stadium in front of your fans and a team comes in and gangster-slaps you in front of your fans, you should be angry. I didn’t see that in these guys. And I was disappointed.”
He also didn’t see it after the game. On Monday, the day after the debacle, only a small handful of Giants came out to face the media and answer for what happened the day before.
“They needed to stick around and face the media,” Carson said, “not run out the door like some of those guys did.”
Some Giants, like cornerback Terrell Thomas, agreed with Carson’s assessment of what everyone saw on Sunday afternoon. Tom Coughlin, though, only conceded that the Giants’ pride was “inconsistent” this season. And Boley went even further, saying that what the Giants legend said “doesn’t mean anything to me.”
“I read his comments and I’m not going to get into a hue with Michael Boley,” Carson said. “I respect him as a player. But we all as football players, we go out sometimes and don’t play our best. When you don’t play your best you really feel bad and you don’t make excuses. You stand up. You try to be accountable with what you bring to the table.
“I’m not apologizing for anything I said. I didn’t personally attack anyone. I just called into question the pride. Any coach who watched that game on Sunday would’ve said the same thing: “Where’s that pride?”
“They can say what they want to say,” Carson added. “I didn’t miss any tackles on Sunday. I didn’t go out and wallow around. They need to look at themselves in the mirror. What they showed on Sunday, it was embarrassing. It was embarrassing for all the all former players.”
“Somebody needs to say something in that locker room. The mere fact that they’re offended, somebody’s not doing their job in the locker room.”
Overall, Carson said, he saw the same passionless performance from his old team that he saw when they were eliminated by the Eagles in the first round of the playoffs last year. “Guys seemed like they were going through the motions,” he said. And while he understands that it’s not easy to play at a championship level every year, especially after a team has already won one, he isn’t willing to accept that as an excuse.
“There’s no reason why these guys couldn’t have been a bit more respectable in the game on Sunday,” he said. “Listen, you let a second-string quarterback look like an all pro. Then you let a backup running back run for over 200 yards in your own house? Come on, give me a break.
“Perhaps we need someone in ownership to go around and tell them what it means to be a New York Giant. It’s special. (The franchise) has a long rich history, a long rich tradition. These guys can only wish about trying to emulate some of the greats who played the game, long before they were even born.”
