Tom Coughlin took time out to speak to the press at the NFL Combine on Friday.

As reported on Giants.com:

“I’m trying to make sure that all the things along the way that you don’t read about or see on TV or whatever, the interviews and that type of thing, I don’t want to miss out on anything that was really good,” Coughlin said. “Hopefully, that’s not going to happen, but it’s a blur the way that goes. But it’s wonderful to hear people say ‘Super Bowl champions’ and ‘champions of the world.’ It’s kind of nice to get here and be back in the football environment and see so many friends from years gone by, people that have been in the league for a long time. It’s just a nice thought.”

Coughlin is not one to dwell on the past, even when it is worth celebrating. So he was happy to travel to Indianapolis for the combine, where he can begin to gauge more than 300 draft-eligible players and start preparing in earnest for the 2008 season.

“You really don’t ever stop,” Coughlin said. “We got back (from the Super Bowl) on a Monday night, we had our exit meetings, etcetera, on Tuesday morning, we had a magnificent experience in the Canyon of (Heroes) over there in New York and we had a great session when we came back to the Meadowlands with the fans being there. Then, all of a sudden, the next day we had to do (player) rankings and evaluations and write-ups and needs and things of that nature. So we went right ahead and did that. And then, as soon as we got back (from vacation), we continued along those lines with the information coming about the combine and free agency and started the evaluation of free agents, started our cut-ups. So we jumped right back into it.”

Because the Giants season ended so late, and the coaches were given much-deserved vacations last week, Coughlin did not have as much time as usual to prepare for the combine. But he’ll gladly make that tradeoff every year.

Just got it last night. I have to tell you, I expected something different; something closer to Giants Among Men or True Blue. 

The highlights only give you the games and nothing more and the music is pretty much the same throughout.

But the special features give you a lot. Interviews with Eli Manning, Tom Coughlin, Michael Strahan, for some reason, Mathias Kiwanuka highlight the extras. There’s also the two playoff games in Dallas and Green Bay and the Super Bowl Halftime show with Tom Petty.

I paid $21.99 at Blockbuster, but I am sure you can find it cheaper elsewhere.

Bob Glauber in Newsday reports the Giants are not only looking at DeAngelo Hall, but also Seattle CB Marcus Trufant.

There is speculation they’re interested in dealing for Falcons cornerback DeAngelo Hall, who said Friday he will not return to the team after new general manager Thomas Dimitroff told him the club would consider offers for him. Add in another potential target of the Giants: Seahawks cornerback Marcus Trufant.

According to a league source familiar with the Giants’ situation, Trufant is on their radar as a potential acquisition once the trading period begins next Friday. Seattle has designated Trufant as their “franchise” player, meaning Seattle has virtually exclusive negotiating rights with him for the 2008 season. But that does not preclude them from making a trade. He is coming off his best season, with a career-high seven interceptions.

Hall has one year left on his contract with Atlanta, and had initially expressed optimism about staying. But Friday, after hearing that Dimitroff would listen to offers for him, Hall told reporters in Indianapolis that he isn’t coming back.

“You know what, I’ll go anywhere - anywhere they want me,” he said. “It’s hard to play or be a part of an organization that doesn’t want you, so I just want to go somewhere that wants me. It ain’t about the money. I even told the Falcons, ‘I’ll play out the last year of my contract if you don’t franchise tag me the following year.’ And they couldn’t agree to that.”

It looks like the Giants will revamp the  secondary.

From the Daily News, Plaxico Burress may be looking to get a new contract.

Drew Rosenhaus, Burress’ agent, didn’t deny that a few minutes ago when he spoke to reporters at the NFL scouting combine here in Indianapolis. There have been rumors for months that Burress is going to ask to renegotiate his deal – and those rumors have only gotten stronger since he caught the game-winning touchdown pass in Super Bowl XLII.

“That is going to be between myself and the Giants,” Rosenhaus said. “I can’t comment on that publicly.”

If Burress does ask to renegotiate, it could be one of many offseason headaches for GM Jerry Reese. If Michael Strahan decides not to retire, he’s expected to ask for more money. There are already several NFL sources who expect Osi Umenyiora to ask to redo his deal. And there was some speculation that Jeremy Shockey, another Rosenhaus client, was going to ask for more money – though that was before his season ended with a broken leg.

Note: Took a needed vacation this past week, hitting the tables in AC, so sorry for neglecting the blog.

According to Star Ledger, the Giants may be looking to trade for DeAngelo Hall.

According to two people with knowledge of discussions between the teams, the Giants are willing to give Atlanta their first-round pick (31st overall) in April’s draft in exchange for Hall. The people requested anonymity because of the private nature of the trade talks.

Giants general manager Jerry Reese declined to comment yesterday morning when asked whether the Giants have inquired about Hall, the eighth overall pick in the 2004 draft.

The Giants had hoped to make a run at the Seahawks’ Marcus Trufant and the Raiders’ Nnamdi Asomugha, according to one of the people familiar with the team’s off-season plans, but each was made the franchise players by their respective teams. The Giants would owe two first-round picks if they signed either player. Patriots cornerback Asante Samuel, who will become a free agent next Friday, is viewed by the Giants more as a player whose success is the product of New England’s defensive system than his own ability.

Hall, 24, is a fast, tough and talented player who had 17 interceptions in his four NFL seasons. However, he had a tumultuous 2007 season with the Falcons. In a loss to the Panthers in September, he drew three penalties on Carolina’s game-tying drive and then got into a shouting match with coach Bobby Petrino on the sideline. Hall was fined $100,000 and benched for the first quarter of the next week’s game for the incident.

Hall would be interesting get. Yes he could be a cancer, but with the veteran leadership on the team, I don’t see it as a problem.

Bob Glauber in Newsday reports Tom Coughlin will sign a four year extension worth about $5 million a year.

Two league sources familiar with the Giants’ situation told Newsday Monday that there are few hurdles left in negotiations, and that a deal could be completed sometime this week. One source said the contract will be a four-year extension through the 2011 season. No financial terms were disclosed, but the deal likely will average about $5 million — or perhaps slightly higher — per season.

Last-minute hang-ups could delay the extension, but if the two sides agree to the terms, an announcement could come within days, sources said.

The Giants would not comment Monday on the status of negotiations with Coughlin’s agent, Gary O’Hagan, who could not be reached for comment.

Coughlin’s original four-year deal with the Giants was to have expired after the 2007 season, but a year ago, he agreed to a one-year extension after the Giants went 8-8 and qualified for the playoffs. The Giants wanted Coughlin to agree to the one-year extension so he would not be coaching the final year of his contract in 2007 and be perceived as a lame duck.

Coughlin, 61, underwent a major soul-searching period last offseason, even consulting beat reporters and columnists about how to better interact with the media. He enacted several new measures with the team, including the appointment of a leadership council and the election of team captains. He was much more tolerant of the media during news conferences, and his more approachable and positive demeanor was welcomed by players, particularly veterans.
 

Linebacker Antonio Pierce was written up for animal neglect after his two pit bulls got out and one was underweight.

Giants middle linebacker Antonio Pierce was served with a sum mons yesterday for animal neglect based on the condition of one of two pitbulls that escaped from his Monroe Township home days be fore the Super Bowl.

The Middlesex County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, a quasi-law enforcement group that investigates animal abuse cases, issued the lone municipal court complaint. Walt Mychal chyk, chief of the agency, said the neglect charge carries a fine upon conviction, but he cautioned against any comparison with Michael Vick, the Atlanta Falcons quarterback sentenced to a 23-month prison term after a federal dogfighting conviction.

“This summons is for neglect. There is no pitbull fighting or any of that nonsense here,” said My chalchyk. “After the dogs got loose, we found that one was underweight and had a respiratory illness. The other one was fine.”

It was Jan. 30 when Monroe Township animal control officer Frank Faraone was notified of two loose dogs and rounded them up. Mychalchyk said it was unclear at the time whom the dogs belonged to, but further investigation determined that they were owned by Pierce and appeared to have escaped a fenced enclosure by pushing open or nosing under a gate.

Faraone took one dog to a local shelter, but notified the SPCA that the second dog appeared underweight. That dog was taken to a veterinarian, who determined that it suffered from a respiratory illness, said Mychalchyk.

“Both dogs are now in a kennel. They are back in his (Pierce’s) cus tody, but he has them in a kennel,” said Mychalchyk. “I checked on them the other day, and both dogs are doing well.

The whole story is at NJ.com, but I am going to cut Pierce some slack on this. The person taking care of the dogs is at fault here.

This guy gets around, today he’s on CNBC. I guess The View may be next.

The other day, congress passed a resolution commending the New York Giants on their great season.

The vote went 412-1, the once decending cast came from Democrat Patrick Murphy.

Murphy, a diehard Eagles fan who worked at Veterans Stadium as a security guard when he was 16, was the only House member to vote against it.

“As a former 700-level security guard and lifelong Eagles fan, I couldn’t, in good conscience, vote for the New York Giants,” Murphy said Thursday. “The only thing worse would have been a resolution honoring the Dallas Cowboys.”

This whole story on Philly sportsmanship is in the Bucks Country Courier Times.

In the Washington Post, Jim Fassel apparently blamed the bloggers for his downfall.

I believe Jim Fassel to be a great guy, and I think he probably got treated poorly over the past month, and I would have been fine with him as head coach, but just today the real culprits behind his non-hiring emerged. Their names? Mister Irrelevant, Unsilent Majority, Hogs Haven, and the Curly R. From Fassel’s interview with the John Thompson Show this afternoon:

When I got the New York Giants job I remember telling my family that, ‘You know, you cannot hold the lead in these jobs in major markets.’ Because you’ve got bloggers, and they’re saying, ‘No, this isn’t the right guy, and that ain’t the right guy,’ and you can’t hold the lead, because you are going to take the hit. I mean, when you’re the lead dog, you’re going to take the hit. And I think the longer it went, the longer it went, the longer it went….

Yeah, we know, the longer it went, the more people named “Nate in the PDX” had a chance to gripe about your potential hiring, thus inevitably sabotaging you as a candidate. Fassel spoke highly of Dan Snyder throughout this interview, as he has in other interviews, but bear in mind that he’s basically accusing Mr. Snyder and his cousin, Vinny, of taking their cues from a pair of blogging brothers and a guy who spends all his time looking at Undrcrwn shirts on the Internet and coming up with jokes about private parts, plus RI commenters named PDiddy and dcsween and 4th Floor. I mean, at the very least have the courtesy to blame anonymous message board posters in addition to semi-anonymous bloggers.

More at the Washington Post.