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Thanks to an injury to Arizona wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, Steve Smith has become the first Giant in that position to get into the Pro Bowl since Homer Jones did it in 1968.
Smith's ascendance to the roster from first alternate was a welcome event not only for a team that has now broken such a long drought, but for a receiver who set the franchise record with 107 catches.
"I’m really excited about playing in the Pro Bowl," Smith said. "It’s truly an honor to be recognized by the fans, coaches and players as one of the best in the league. I realize how significant it is at the position I play, by being the first Giants wide receiver to be named to the Pro Bowl in such a long time. I plan to represent my teammates, my coaches and the entire Giants organization well, because I know I would not have made it without their support.
"It’s a little bittersweet, because obviously I wish I was playing in the game a week after the Pro Bowl. But I know my teammates and I will work hard this offseason to put ourselves in position for a much better 2010 Giants season."
Smith's ascendance to the roster from first alternate was a welcome event not only for a team that has now broken such a long drought, but for a receiver who set the franchise record with 107 catches.
"I’m really excited about playing in the Pro Bowl," Smith said. "It’s truly an honor to be recognized by the fans, coaches and players as one of the best in the league. I realize how significant it is at the position I play, by being the first Giants wide receiver to be named to the Pro Bowl in such a long time. I plan to represent my teammates, my coaches and the entire Giants organization well, because I know I would not have made it without their support.
"It’s a little bittersweet, because obviously I wish I was playing in the game a week after the Pro Bowl. But I know my teammates and I will work hard this offseason to put ourselves in position for a much better 2010 Giants season."
Smith will now join center Shaun O'Hara, the only Giant to make the Pro Bowl in the initial balloting, along with tackle David Diehl and guard Chris Snee, both of whom made it because two of the original roster members will be playing in the Super Bowl a week later.
A lot of folks thought Smith should have made it right off the bat because of his numbers, and certainly over young Cowboys receiver Miles Austin. It was a legitimate argument, too, as some valued Smith's overall production over Austin's dynamic presence in Tony Romo's offense.
But at least Smith is there now following the greatest season by a wide receiver in Giants history. His receptions were 25 more than the franchise’s previous single-season record-holder (Amani Toomer had 82 in 2002) and 50 more than this season’s runner-up, Mario Manningham. Smith entered the season with 65 career catches. He also finished first in the league among third-down receivers with 38 catches for 457 yards and three TDs.
In the words of the late, great, Ted Lewis, is everybody happy?
EP
I wonderer if he'll hold out ... his agent had all ready inquired about a raise and I do not think that the Giants re-negotiate contracts ... olmackie
ReplyDeleteI am happy but would love to see him go as a first ballot vs. an alternate. But hey he's in and I really think he desrves it.
ReplyDeleteUnlike some of other players who say they will work hard in the offseason to get ready for 2010, I really believe it when Smith says it. He's a hard worker and will strive to be even better in the up-coming season.
He was the one bright spot this season. Making big catches in a otherwise forgetful season.
numbers numbers numbers. All u guys just relying on friggin numbers. Miles Austin led his team to the playoffs with dynamic and game changing performances and had a MUCH better season than Smith. How many big catches did Steve Smith have this year? maybe 3. How many after week 7? 1 maybe? Enuff of u guys and ur friggin stats.
ReplyDeleteWho the heck is Ted Allen? I doubt u mean the guy from queer eye as he is still alive. There appears to be a Ted Allen that wrote on race issues. Google turned up nothing on the quote. Maybe thats him but I dunno.
ReplyDeleteGotcha Ern, Ted Lewis!!!!!!!! Now let me just figure out who the heck Ted Lewis is.
ReplyDeleteSo now catching passes on third downs means nothing?
ReplyDeleteYou realize Steve Smith led the league in keeping drives alive for his team. Are those not important catches?
And a couple things with Miles Austin:
First, are you seriously saying he led the Cowboys to the playoffs? So, it wasn't the second-best defense in the league or one of the best running games in football?
No, it was a mediocre passing attack led by Miles Austin. GOT IT!
Second, am I to believe you saw every Cowboy game and every Romo-to-Austin pass. How do yo get seven big plays? Is that a number you pulled out of your ass?
You have to love those ass stats.
Guys:
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, a little loose on the language here. Let's keep it clean.
Second, sorry Wayno. Got the name wrong. Ted Lewis, big band leader and radio personality of the '30s and '40s whose signature line was, "Is everybody happy?"
Management regrets the historical innacuracy.
Wayno - While you are technically correct that stats can be and often are misleading, the Giants failure to make the playoffs can hardly be blamed on Smith. While I have to admit that I did not see every minute of every game, I am unaware of any game where Steve Smith was responsible for the opposing team scoring more than 40 points. Call me crazy but if the Giants D created turnovers, stopped ANYONE at ANYTIME, the O line protected better and NY had an actual running game, I believe Smith would have had several "game changing performances" and would have "led his team to the playoffs". Although, really, saying ANY WR "led their team to the playoffs" kind of blows your credibility right out of the water. The list of teams that won the Super Bowl without an All Pro WR is fairly long and includes the Giants first two Super Bowl wins.
ReplyDeleteThe rise of Miles Austin also led to the resurrection of the Dallas Cowboys who were left for dead. Having one viable option besides Witten allowed Tony Romo to put together a decent season. Miles Austin would have at least one huge catch a game. Steve Smith did not have ANY big third down catches the second half of the year and his numbers were benefitted by the run and shoot offense the Gmen had to run because they played from behind most of the year. Remember that great over the shoulder catch Steve Smith had at the beginning of the year. Well that's the only big catch I remember. Steve Smith played well but not as good as ANY of the Peo bowl recievers, virtually disappeared until the meaningless last game of the year and was not a pro bowler. With Smith the Giants are an 8-8 team. Without him a 7-9 team at worst. U can't tell me Austin didn't improve his team more than that.
ReplyDeleteI love how you just throw arbitrary numbers out like they mean something.
ReplyDeleteSo, let me get this straight -- you are basically saying if a player is on a bad team, they should not be seleceted to the Pro Bowl because they couldn't help their team as much. Is that right?
And let me throw this stat at you, even though I know you don't think they mean anything: the Cowboys had the second-best scoring defense in the NFL, allowing 15.6 ppg.
The Giants?
They ranked 30th and allowed 26.7 ppg. And again, you have no idea what big-game catches either player had.
And I'm curious -- how was Smith supposed to have big catches in the Carolina game? The Saint game? The first Eagle game? The Minnesota game?
Yeah, it's tough when you're team's blown out from the beginning.
Oh, and what big catch did Miles Austin have? Do you remember any in that Viking game last week?
I remember the chiefs game when Miles Austin saved their season with 250 and 2 td, half of smiths season total, including a 70 yarder in OT. He torched the falcons fir 2 more td. I remember the giants game when he had his 10th or 11th td. He also led the league in recieving yrds during the season when pro bowl balloting ends. I do remember Austinmaking a catch last week which is more than I can say for Smith who had a pitching wedge in his hands last week.
ReplyDeleteWayno, Is there anyone on the giants you like? No love for Boss, no love for Smith. Do you believe most of the things you argue about. Or do you just like playing devil's advocate?
ReplyDeleteI will enshrine all of the 09' giants in the teams Hall of Fame. I like Smith a lot. he's just not a probowler. I like most Giants except the crappy kicker and windbag overated DE. There wasn't much to be proud of this year if u were watching. Don't make this about me against the Giants and look in the mirror. Now take off the blue makeup and maybe u can see more clearly now Adam.
ReplyDeleteAnd on to something else....
ReplyDeleteBucky Brooks at NFL.com has his first mock draft out and has Spikes, the LB from Florida to the G-Men at 15.
Ern, let's spark up the draft debate or FA stuff. The guys are starting to eat each other and we need another topic desperately.
By the by, Wayno isn't incorrect about Austin. He played big this year. He made some big plays. That gets people's attention. Smith is like Wes Walker. He is highly, highly productive but guys like that don't make the ESPN highlights like big play guys.
Chris B.
Smith is Eli's safety blanket, this is why he has so many catches. If Toomer had Smith's elusiveness, he would have had 100 receptions as well. Eli locks in on Smith, everyone knows it, and still the guy gets open.
ReplyDeleteI agree with anyone who states that Boss is not the TE of the future, I agree with anyone who thinks we should draft a LB. I disagree with anyone who thinks the Giants need to rebuild. they have the talent. They need to get everyone on the same page.
just a few Giants wideouts have missed the Pro Bowl since ol' Homer...
ReplyDeleteJimmy Robinson, John Mistler, Earnest Gray, Johnny Perkins, Floyd Eddings, Alvin Garrett, Mike Friede (!), Bobby Johnson, Lionel Manuel, Phil McConkey, Stacy Robinson, Edwin Lovelady ('87 scab), Stephen Baker, Mark Ingram, Odessa Turner, Thomas Lewis, Mike Sherrard, Brian Alford, Ed McCaffrey, Chris Calloway, Mark Jackson, Joe Jurevicius, Ron Dixon, Ike Hilliard, Tim Carter, Amani Toomer, prisoner #1717NYG, David Tyree...
...some goodies (of course, Toomer should have made it 2 or 3 times), plus a lot of high-round busts.
Great for Smitty! He's turned into a helluva player! ...and a class act too!
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see our passing game next season with Manningham and Nicks a year wiser! It should be deadly! Also, Ramses may still turn into a player!
Also, I think Manningham's season was under appreciated by many, including you, EP! After having missed all of last year, this was basically for all intents and purposes his rookie year... If you look at his numbers that way, and consider that he was taken at the very bottom of the 3rd round (what a F-ing steal), you gotta give the guy some credit! His routes will get better - that is coachable. He's gonna blossom into a great player for us for years to come!
I admit, I'm a huge Giants fan, who, more times than not, will look at the glass half full. But that being said, I don't understand all the negativity from some people towards the Giants.
ReplyDeletePeople have thrown out the word rebuild or not much to be proud of. I agree, the defense played terribly, but we're making this team out to be a 4-12 squad who missed the playoffs for the fifth straight year. Not an 8-8 team that finished 12-4 the year before, won a Super Bowl the year before that and is coming off a stretch where they made the playoffs four straight years.
The current NFC streak for consecutive playoff berths? Two. By the Eagles and Cardinals.
Oh and by the way, the Giants are the only NFC team to make multiple Super Bowls this past decade. And (as of right now) only one other NFC team has won a Super Bowl this decade (Tampa Bay).
This is a team that hasn't had a losing record since 2004 -- Eli's rookie campaign. Dallas is the only other NFC team to currently have a non-losing season streak as long as the Giants (the Cowboys went 6-10 in '04).
So, I don't know, maybe people like bashing the Giants, but looking at the numbers, you have to say the Giants were one of if not THE premier team in the NFC this past decade. And they still have a lot of the pieces in place to make another run or two.
Dan, if Pat Hanlon ever loses his job, you could fit right in. hahahahah haahhaahah ahahahaaaah
ReplyDeleteHey Wayno, everything I said is factual. What can you disagree with me on?
ReplyDeleteI agree a .500 team isn't great, but you make this team out to be the dredges of the league. While in fact, using actual numbers and statistics (instead of randomly throwing around numbers because you think they sound cool) I proved the Giants have been one of the top teams in the NFC and NFL over the past decade.
What did you prove?
That you know nothing of the sport or the team.
And two things I like to bring up that you mentioned:
1. You don't like Tynes. Fine. You want Suisham? What about Graham? How about Rackers? Kaeding? Nick Folk? Any of those guys better? You don't want him because he can't reach the endzone on kickoffs (which now word on the street says that was a coach's decision to kick short). He did (eventually) kick us into the Super Bowl -- in a place and distance no kicker has done before in the playoffs.
2. I love how you bring up the Chiefs game with Austin. You realize the Chiefs stink. They had one of the worst defenses in the league, finished 4-12 and on that Austin play missed about 20 tackles.
I don't undersand your point with Steve Smith. A possession receiver can't be a Pro Bowler? What about Wes Welker or Keyshawn Johnson?
And I don't know what you mean big plays. What determines a big play?
You?
A game-winning catch in OT?