The Giants are 3-2 and riding a three-game winning streak, so it’s only fitting that members of Big Blue are starting to feel good about themselves. The offense has scored more than 30 points in three straight games, Eli Manning has dissuaded fans from throwing inanimate objects at the television for several weeks running, and Tom Coughlin is in the early mix for NFL Coach of the Year.
Is it any surprise that two players, Prince Amukamara and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, felt comfortable taking this pic alongside License Plate Guy, a Giants super fan, in advance of Sunday night’s matchup on NBC against the hated Eagles?
Yes, that’s two members of the Giants’ secondary making light of the Eagles’ ring collection. Who in their right mind could have a problem with this? This isn’t co-owner Steve Tisch making light of the recent Ebola case in Dallas, an off-the-cuff comment that now looks entirely regrettable given that the Ebola victim has since died. These are two players who encountered a fan who’d made a jersey that points out the Super Bowl failures of the hated opposition.
Life and death stuff? Hardly. The height of hilarity? Doubtful. Good-natured ribbing that is factually correct? Absolutely. Which made it regrettable that Rodgers-Cromartie walked it back after the photo was made public and Coughlin called him and Amukamara to the principal’s office.
He tweeted, “I meant nothing by the photo, I was just doing what a fan asked me to do, truly didn’t mean any disrespect at all.”
OK. And what if the fan had asked you to set fire to a movie poster of Mark Wahlberg’s “Invincible”? Would you have done that, too?
Yes? Well, good, because you should have! Toss some lighter fluid on there, too!
Players shouldn’t apologize for taking part in juvenile, fan-inspiring actions. Did Giants fans think that mocking the Eagles’ ineptitude was funny? Of course. Did it irk Eagles fans? Yes. Was it distasteful? No (see Steve Tisch). There’s a fine line between tweeking the opposition and being a boorish clown, and this photo strides it perfectly. There’s nothing to apologize for.
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Are the Eagles going to play harder because of it? Not likely. Will it make for a good postgame question if DRC or Prince gets burned deep by Jeremy Maclin and the Eagles win? No, because the game on Sunday is not for the Super Bowl, so License Plate Guy is safe – and accurate – in wearing that jersey until at least early February.
Sports is entertainment, and the fans love it when players poke fun at each other. Sure, some of them take it too far (see Richard Sherman, who seems to make everything personal and unfunny). But most fans see good-natured trash talk as a fringe benefit to fandom.
I have no problem with DRC and Prince making fun of the Eagles’ Super Bowl ineptitude. Just own it. Meanwhile, somebody get License Plate Guy a police escort if he actually intends to wear that jersey to the Linc on Sunday night.
Cameron Martin writes about the Giants for NBCNewYork.com. Martin has written for The New York Times, ESPN.com, The Atlantic, CBS Sports and other publications.
