POSTED: Friday September 11th 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Giants Notebook, September 11, 2009

By Michael Eisen

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Jeff Feagles will play his 337th NFL game on Sunday when the Giants open their 2009 season at home against the Washington Redskins. That is the fourth-highest total in NFL history.

Hakeem Nicks will play his first NFL game on Sunday. Not only that, it will be the first time in Nicks’ life that he attends an NFL regular season game in person.

The two Giants teammates were born more than 22 years apart. But despite their vast differences in age and experience, they will share feelings of anxiety and excitement when the Giants line up against Washington.

“I have really started to narrow my focus into the game again,” Feagles said. “Opening day in the NFL, whether it’s the first or the 22nd year, is always special. It really goes to show you that you put a lot of hard work in over the offseason. You went into training camp and competed and are part of this roster now. It’s always a privilege to get on that field on Sunday. The atmosphere is great. Opening day is something to be really proud of, and it’s a special day.”

Feagles, whose 336 consecutive games played are an NFL record, has learned to keep his nerves in check.

“At this point I am more used to the routine and the focus I get into,” he said. “You want to say it’s old hat, but every game brings a set of new challenges. The returners nowadays are what I focus on - the guys I’m going against. Sometimes, I get a little nervous because of who is back there, but I just do my job and do what I’m supposed to do. I just take it as business as usual.”

For Nicks there is no such thing, at least not at this level. The first-round draft choice had a stellar three-year career at North Carolina, but the NFL presents far greater challenges. Nicks played impressively in his initial opportunities; he led the NFL with 272 receiving yards in the preseason and the Giants with three touchdown catches. Now he must prove he can produce in the increased speed and intensity of the regular season.

“I have been really waiting for this day and it’s coming Sunday,” Nicks said. “I’m looking forward to it, fired up about it and just ready to go out there and compete.

“If I would be anxious or anything, it would be Saturday night. So I am just looking forward to that day and when it gets here I will be ready. Honestly, I just take it as a game. I don’t get too jittery, too many butterflies, because it’s just football, the game I love to play. If anything, I’ll be anxious to get out there the night before, thinking about it a lot before I go to sleep. But other than that, it’s just football.”

Nicks said he normally sleeps well the night before a game.

“We’ll see how it goes Saturday night,” he said.

Feagles was born on March 7, 1966. At 43, he is the NFL’s second-oldest player, behind only John Carney, who kicked for the Giants last year and is now with the New Orleans Saints. In 2008, Carney and Feagles became the two oldest players in history to play in the Pro Bowl. Feagles holds NFL records for punts (1,649), yards (68,607) and punts inside the 20-yard line (531).

And yes, he does remember his NFL debut. On Sept. 4, 1988, Feagles played for the New England Patriots against the Jets in Foxboro Stadium. His first punt traveled 36 yards. He finished the day with three punts for 99 yards, with two inside the 20 and a long kick of 38 yards in a 28-3 victory.

“Talk about nervous, that was definitely nervous,” Feagles said. “It was more nervous excitement. That first game I didn’t know what to expect and I was just trying to keep my composure and my technique and make sure that I didn’t screw up.”
 
Seventy-eight days after Feagles played in his first NFL game – on Nov. 14, 1988 – Nicks was born. Still two months shy of his 21st birthday, he is the youngest player on the Giants roster. But Feagles has no trouble relating to Nicks or any of his much younger teammates.

“With my experience, I can be there for them and help them with any advice and anything like that,” Feagles said. “I don’t want to say I bring my level down to them, but certainly with an 18-year old at home it’s a lot easier to relate to a lot of the younger guys.

“A couple years ago I was thinking about it, if there would ever be a day when I could be in the locker room where guys were born after I had come into the league. Now here we are staring it down. It’s a little bit weird, but I don’t think too much about it. These guys are all grown men, and we have a common purpose whether you are 43 or 21.”

Here’s something else that’s weird: If Nicks had stayed at North Carolina for his senior season, he’d still have a teammate named Feagles. The oldest of Feagles’ four sons, C.J., is a freshman punter for the Tar Heels.

“He’s a Carolina boy,” Nicks said proudly.

“He’s doing well and he’s adjusting and I am just very proud of him,” Feagles said of his son. “It’s a little crazy to go down there (Feagles was on the sideline for last week’s opener vs. The Citadel) and see him in a different uniform rather then his high school uniform. Of course, college football is a little different than the NFL. It’s a different atmosphere with the rah-rah and the school. It was really a great experience for me to go see him.”
 
Feagles, who also played for Philadelphia, Arizona and Seattle, is entering his seventh season with the Giants. His teammates again demonstrated how highly they regard him by electing him a team captain for the third year in a row.

“It makes me feel great, because respect in this league is definitely earned,” Feagles said. “I think that being chosen by my teammates is probably the best honor that you can have. It comes with a lot of responsibility and that responsibility is to do what you can to help this team win. History shows that the captains are usually those types of guys.”

Nicks will now start learning that. He never attended an NFL game, because, “I just never had an opportunity. I was always doing something.”

So now he’ll finally get to see one – in uniform, on the field.

“I think it’s going to be fun, exciting,” Nicks said. “Guys are going to be flying around. It’s just a matter of us getting after it out there. I feel like I have been preparing well, so I am just ready to get out there and compete.”

If he has any questions, Feagles can tell him a few things about that.

*Cornerback Aaron Ross (hamstring) has officially been declared out of Sunday’s game. Another corner, Kevin Dockery, is questionable, also with a hamstring injury. Offensive lineman Adam Koets (ankle) and rookie linebacker Clint Sintim (groin) are doubtful. None of those players practiced today.

*If Dockery does not play, the Giants will have only six defensive backs in uniform, including rookie free agent Bruce Johnson.

“He is ready,” Tom Coughlin said. “He has not missed a thing, he has been here every second.”

The Giants used their final two draft choices to take cornerbacks DeAndre Wright and Stoney Woodson, but Johnson beat them both out for a spot on the roster.
 
“He was steady, very, very steady,” Coughlin said. “Hung in there, came right back after getting beat, for example. He was ready for the next play. He did a solid job.

“He had some decent grades, though, coming in. We are fortunate that we were able to get him in free agency.”

The Giants could sign one of the three defensive backs on their practice squad, including Wright.

“We’ll see,” Coughlin said. “All of that stuff is just speculation right now.”

*The 2008 season opener was also a home game against the Redskins. This is the first time the Giants will open the season against the same opponent since 1991-92, when they hosted the San Francisco 49ers in consecutive seasons. They won the first, 16-14, but lost in ’92, 31-14.

*The Giants are opening the season against an NFC East opponent for the third consecutive season (including Dallas in 2007), the first time that’s happened since 1988-90 (Washington twice and Philadelphia).


*In the seven seasons since the 2002 realignment, the Giants have qualified for five postseason berths (including four in a row). That ties them with New England, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Seattle for the NFL’s second-highest total in that span. Indianapolis is first, having made the playoffs in each of the last seven seasons. The Giants are one of 13 teams to win two or more division titles since 2002.

 

New York Giants 2009 Preseason

Media Schedule, Day-by-Day

 

 

 

Saturday, September 12

No scheduled availability

 

Sunday, September 13

Regular Season Opener: Redskins at Giants, 4:15 p.m.

 

Monday, September 14

2:15-3:00 p.m. – Player Interviews

3:05 p.m. – Tom Coughlin, TPC Auditorium

 

 

 

Normal In-Season Weekly Media Schedule

 

Monday

2:15-3:00 p.m. – Player Interviews

3:05 p.m. – Tom Coughlin, TPC Auditorium

 

Tuesday

No scheduled availability

 

Wednesday

11:00 a.m. – Tom Coughlin available, TPC Auditorium

11:35 a.m.-1:25 p.m. – Practice

1:40-2:25 p.m. – Player Interviews; Eli Manning Available

T.B.D. – Conference calls with opposing team

 

Thursday

11:35 a.m.-1:25 p.m. – Practice

After Practice – Tom Coughlin available in TPC Field House

After Practice – Coordinator availability

1:40-2:25 p.m. – Player Interviews

 

Friday

11:15 a.m.-12:55 p.m. – Practice

After Practice – Tom Coughlin available in TPC Field House

1:15-2 p.m. – Player Interviews

 

Saturday

No scheduled availability

 

Sunday

Game Day

 

 

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