More on Toom

The Giants all-time leading receiver Amani Toomer may no longer be a Giant. Yesterday's interview, undoubtedly, spread like a wild fire. I think Toomer was candid in speaking his truth. After reading the transcipt from this interview, I think the media has given a false impression of Toomer. Contrary to what media and some people believe, Toomer did not criticize Coughlin. I think there are several layers of Toomer's frustration. First, I think Toomer is frustrated the Giants wasted a golden opportunity to repeat as champions. He did allude to having a feeling the Giants were going to lose to the Eagles in their playoff clash. Furthermore, I think Toomer knows he may never get another shot at getting back to a Super Bowl. Secondly, all season long, Toomer had a reduced role in the offense. However, when Plax was placed on the reserve/non-football injury list, this left a huge void in the Giants passing game. With Plax out, the Giants coaching staff did not consider Toomer as a viable number one receiver. Much to Toomer's chagrin, the coaches used Steve Smith and Domenik Hixon as the primary wide receivers. From the interview's transcript, I can deduce Toomer feeling disrespected. I think he feels he should have been the number one target. On the other hand, from a management perspective, I think Coughlin decided Toomer's skills have diminished. He sees him in practice everyday. Back in 2005, the Giants signed Burress because Toomer was getting up in age and he did not have breakaway speed. This year Toomer's longest pass catch was 40 yard touchdown catch against Washington at FedEx Field. On this play, Washington's CB Fred Smoot allowed Toomer to get by him because he thought Toomer was going to run an intermediate route. As a result of Smoot's blown coverage, this allowed Toomer to score on a long gain.

As a fan, I will be affected if Toomer is no longer wearing blue. If this is the case, he will join Phil Simms, Joe Morris, Mark Bavaro, and Rodney Hampton as Giant players who left unceremoniously.