The Giants lost free agents Kawika Mitchell, Reggie Torbor and Gibril Wilson today to the Bills, Dolphins and Raiders, respectively, essentially leaving Jerry Reese with holes to fill.  

From Newsday:

Wilson’s deal was the biggest of the three. He agreed to a six-year, $39-million deal with the Raiders, a blockbuster contract for a safety. The Giants had heard Thursday night that Wilson was going to get a deal in the neighborhood of $6-6.5 million per year with the Raiders.

Mitchell agreed to a five-year, $17.5-million contract with the Bills, who were burned by Mitchell’s interception return for a touchdown in the Giants’ win over Buffalo in Week 16 last season. Terms of Torbor’s deal were unavailable. He filled in at strong-side linebacker when Mathias Kiwanuka went down with a fractured fibula in a Week 11 game against the Lions.

The Giants lost several players to free agency and/or release last year, but wound up winning Super Bowl XLII with a stirring series of playoff performances. General manager Jerry Reese signed only one free agent — Mitchell — last offseason, but plugged holes with the acquisition of fullback Madison Hedgecock and the drafting of players such as cornerback Aaron Ross, running back Ahmad Bradshaw and tight end Kevin Boss.

This never gets old.

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.

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.

On the official site, which may be the best site from any sports team, there’s another David Tyree article.

Before the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLII, Tyree was the Giants’ relatively obscure fourth wide receiver. Yes, he had been a member of the 2005 NFC Pro Bowl team, but that was for his exploits on special teams. In the 15 regular season and postseason games prior to the Super Bowl, Tyree had caught five passes. They totaled 50 yards and not one included a trip to the end zone.

That changed early in the fourth quarter, when Tyree caught his second pass of the game, a five-yard touchdown from Eli Manning that gave the Giants a 10-7 lead over the heavily-favored New England Patriots. Ten minutes later, the Giants faced a third-and-five when Manning and Tyree teamed up on a miracle play that will be remembered by Giants fans forever. Manning somehow escaped the clutches of three New England pass rushers, steadied himself and threw down the field for Tyree, who jumped up, secured the ball against his helmet when safety Rodney Harrison ripped his left hand off the ball, then held on despite being mugged by Harrison.

The 32-yard reception gave the Giants a first down at the Patriots’ 24-yard line. Four plays later, Manning threw the 13-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress that gave the Giants a 17-14 victory over the previously undefeated Patriots. The Giants were the NFL’s surprise champions. And Tyree was an instant folk hero who has been in perpetual motion since triumphantly leaving the field that night.

To briefly summarize, Tyree received some of the loudest cheers at last week’s ticker tape parade and Giants Stadium celebration, his great catch graced the cover of Sports Illustrated, he spent a day at the ESPN studios in Connecticut, jetted to California to appear on three national television shows, returned home to sit down with The New York Times, speak at a youth ministry at the Izod Center and then at the church where he worships. Oh yes, his wife, Leilah, is due to give birth to twin girls within a month. The couple has two young sons.

More at Giants.com.

The endorcements start. Eli is now in Gatorade’s League of Clutch commercial, which is pretty cool if you ask me.

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Not much going on today in Giant Land, so I figured I would put this up to make everyone feel happy.

As a caveat: This contains blue language and is not safe for work and parental guidance suggested and all that good stuff. If you get in trouble because of it, don’t come running to me.

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Also you can find his SB Preview here. [Also very blue].

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His blog is at TownieNews.com

The MSG network has an interview with Michael Strahan on its website.

You can take a look at the interview here:

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For the whole article visit the MSG Network.

Newsday columnist Shaun Powell writes a good column on Super Bowl hero David Tyree.

Yes, if you’re David Tyree, you instinctively throw up your hands and rest them in disbelief on your head, even if the football, once famously stuck in between, is suspiciously missing.

“God is good,” Tyree said.

Right after the Giants’ victory parade, he flew cross- country and made the national talk show circuit here in the city famous for making folks famous. During a short rest between takes, Tyree took time to count his blessings, of which there are many.

Years ago, he traded his past, which included an arrest for marijuana possession, for religion and changed his life. He lost his mother during the recent holidays, but he and his wife expect to welcome twin girls next month. And no matter where his football career goes from here, he’ll live forever in Super Bowl lore because of a catch that to this day defies logic.

“I haven’t even returned all the calls I’ve gotten from people,” he said while getting a few strokes of makeup. “I’m a little backed up.”

More of this at Newsday.

On Giants.com, there’s a good piece about Eli Manning and the lessons of the Super Bowl.

The protagonist of the drama is Eli Manning who, up until late December,2007, was badly and erroneously characterized by the press. He was not a good leader; indeed, he was a failed leader said they. “Eli the Terrible.” As a student of leadership, I could not concur in this judgment. What I saw in the man – the look in his eyes, his body language and speech – was a very good leader with great potential – albeit one not easily recognized in these times. I characterize Eli Manning’s style of leadership as that of the Knight, perhaps a Knight-errant on a quest. He’s the Blue Knight, a medieval man in modern metro New York! The strengths of his leadership resemble the chivalric ideals: Fortitude, Courage, Prudence and Humility employed in a high cause of self-development that is self-assessed. Modern media doesn’t know what to do with an individual like this.

Such a leader seems inscrutable because he needs little outside stimulus and doesn’t glory in the fawning and praise of others. He is first and foremost his own champion and gathers followers to fulfill a quest. His coach reports that after bad games, the Blue Knight would come to talk, passionate in his desire to be better.

Our society is more used to the charismatic leader like Tom Brady, or the methodical professional bureaucratic (strategy, x’s and o’s) leadership of a coach Bill Belichick. They are modern, they are high-tech-hip and plentiful in the corporate world.They seem totally reliable. But the founder of modern political science and leadership studies, Nicolo Macchiavelli of Renaissance Italy, strongly believed that in life and leadership, fortune (luck) counted about 50% .I wouldn’t put the figure that high, but when I discuss leadership in class or in my seminar, I ask students to consider seriously the element of luck.

Read all about it at Giants.com.