Strahan: Jeremy Shockey Wants Out
It only took until Fox introduced Michael Strahan as the newest member of “NFL Sunday” during a Press Conference yesterday for Strahan to confirm that Jeremy Shockey wants out of New York, according to Newsday. Michael didn’t even wait until the season begins. Here’s what Strahan had to say about Shockey…
He doesn’t want to play here; that’s obvious with everything that’s going on.
I don’t think you gain much by keeping a guy around. Regardless of how well he plays for you, there’s always that tension, and that’s one thing you can’t have if you’re expected to go back and repeat.
You don’t need that out of one of your leaders. So I think the best thing for them and for Shockey is if they have the opportunity, let him go.
The good news is that my love for Shockey has already been gone. I know that there are still plenty of Shockey supporters out there. We all know that Shockey’s a stud when he wants to be, but you never know when you’re going to get that out of him. The talent is there, but there is something wrong with this guy. He’s still a child mentally and cries like a kid at the check-out in the supermarket who didn’t get candy. Shockey jumps up and down screaming his way is the best way. Jeremy hasn’t done much right for the organization since the Giants lost to the Seahawks in the 2005-2006 Playoffs.
Even the Giants admitted that they may have to suspend him this season if Shockey tries to stronghold the team. That’s how serious this has gotten. The problem is that Jerry Reese had the opportunity to trade Jeremy to the Saints for Draft picks prior to the Draft, but he declined because he didn’t like the offer. Reese is going to get a lot less in return now he has to trade him.
J.P. Pelzman of The Record pointed out that the Jets have a disgruntled Tight End named Chris Baker so maybe the Jets and Giants should swap TEs. My problem with this is that Baker is nowhere near as good as Shockey, but even Shockey isn’t as good as the Shockey of old. Baker is a much better blocker, but Shockey is a much better receiver. At this point, the talent level needs to be overlooked a little bit because the Giants need a player that wants to play for the Giants. Last season was Baker’s best year receiving wise, and he ended up with 41 receptions for 409 yards with 3 TDs. Shockey had 57 receptions for 619 yards with 3 TDs, and he didn’t play the last few games. Also remember how many times Shockey dropped passes and drew huge personal foul penalties in the red zone which costed the Giants points. I do not believe that the Giants can swap these players straight up, but maybe if the Jets threw in another player or two then it could work. What we saw last year was that the Giants can win the Super Bowl without all of the Pro Bowlers because they gelled as a team. So if the Giants trade Shockey for somebody that wants to play TE for the Giants then we are already in better shape than we are now. What good is Shockey going to do if he is suspended and on the bench?
