The New York Times-20080126-Giants Move On- With Two Stars In Their Wake

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Giants Move On, With Two Stars In Their Wake

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The playoff vogue among Giants fans has been to frame the team's climb in the context of addition by subtraction: the Giants are Super Bowl-bound largely because Tiki Barber retired and Jeremy Shockey broke his leg.

Critics say that Tiki was toxic in the locker room and that Shockey, the veteran tight end, was stifling the growth of quarterback Eli Manning.

There are many dimensions to all of this -- and some truth.

First, toxic Tiki.

The question I've asked myself since the Giants began their stunning run is this: Would they have reached the Super Bowl with Barber running the ball?

The answer is, probably not.

But that has nothing to do with Barber's presence in the locker room, specifically about his calling out Coach Tom Coughlin on his moves and strategy. Nearly everyone in the organization was second-guessing Coughlin last year. Barber simply did his in public. In fact, Coughlin needed to make significant adjustments to his personal and professional approach. Those adjustments are a big reason the Giants are in the Super Bowl.

Why the Giants would not have been Arizona-bound had Barber still been running is that he had lost his appetite for the game. He'd lost his passion.

Earlier this week, Barber spoke at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. He told the audience that after the Giants defeated the Green Bay Packers last Sunday, his wife asked him whether he had the slightest remorse about retiring.

Barber said he did not. He expanded on his remarks a day later on a show he does with his brother on Sirius NFL Radio.

I was done with football in my heart, Barber said. I knew I didn't want to do it anymore and my life both personally and professionally has taken me in a different way. My passion is elsewhere.

End of story. Some players lose their passion and fake it for a season or two. Barber lost his zeal, acknowledged it and left the game.

Brandon Jacobs and the young Ahmad Bradshaw have brought hunger and desire to the Giants. I'd advise them to study Barber's career the way they study game film. Don't look at how he ran through holes; look at how he has leveraged his success in football to open holes and catapult himself toward success after the N.F.L.

Then there's the matter of Shockey. Would the Giants have reached the Super Bowl had he not broken his leg? Probably not.

Shockey was supposed to be the second coming of Mark Bavaro, the Giants' last great tight end. Shockey has made himself into an outstanding blocker and has become a colorful character, but he has not fulfilled the promise he brought with him from the University of Miami.

The Giants in the last two seasons had become too much about Shockey. He had become an on-field distraction. There was his flailing his arms in exasperation when a pass wasn't thrown his way. From a distance, it appeared as if coaches had to treat him with kid gloves. The players seemed to tiptoe around him. Every time Manning threw the ball, was he wondering what would happen if he didn't throw to Shockey? What was Shockey going to say? Would there be a scene on the sideline?

Shockey has not been seen recently. I hope he doesn't pull a LaDainian Tomlinson.

The lasting image of the American Football Conference title game between New England and the San Diego Chargers was the injured Tomlinson sitting on the bench, helmet on, visor down, looking like a hobbled Darth Vader while his team battled the undefeated Patriots. He did not seem to cheer on the team or act like a coach, lending another set of eyes and ears -- not to mention enthusiasm -- to the cause.

Shockey is too important, too much the heart of the Giants, to shrink from view.

I like Jeremy, Bavaro said earlier this week from his home in Massachusetts. He's a good kid, he's a good athlete.

I suggested that perhaps Shockey was simply being the demanding older brother. Every locker room needs older brothers.

It depends on what type of older brother, he said.

Bavaro said that Harry Carson, the Hall of Fame linebacker for the Giants, and George Martin, the former defensive end, were Bavaro's older brothers on the team that won the Super Bowl in the 1986 season.

They dealt with things in almost a fatherly manner, Bavaro said. They didn't throw fits, they didn't scream and yell. They doled out respect to the younger guys when they were deserving. And you hungered for that. You tried to be the best you could be for their approval.

What Giants fans should consider -- regardless of where they stand on Barber and Shockey -- is that those players created the leadership mantle that Manning has been wearing. Barber and Shockey were strong presences and their absences forced a young team to fill the void or risk falling apart.

When Jeremy went down, I wasn't sure which way the Giants were going, Bavaro said. When Tiki retired, I wondered what was going to happen to the team. The Giants could have folded or gotten better. I think what happened is that everybody looked around and took account of themselves and they became leaders.

In any event, as the rising Giants leave for Arizona, their fans may want to consider putting an end to the bash-Barber, bash-Shockey part of this surprising story. Next Sunday, the Giants will take their final exam. At the end of the night, fans may wish Barber and Shockey had been there to provide much-needed answers.

Tiki is not so toxic and Shockey not so suffocating.

Let's just say the Giants have benefited from good timing and leave it at that.

[Illustration]PHOTOS: Jeremy Shockey being carted off the field after sustaining a season-ending broken leg against the Redskins last month.(PHOTOGRAPH BY BARTON SILVERMAN/THE NEW YORK TIMES); Tiki Barber, right, with Matt Lauer on the set of Today. Barber is a contributor to the TV program.(PHOTOGRAPH BY NBC UNIVERSAL)(pg. D1)