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| Shockey's energy rubs off on Giants By Greg Garber ESPN.com Cover me when I run Cover me through the fire Something knocked me out' the trees Cover me, darling please Don't you know when you're going to shock the monkey -- "Shock the Monkey" by Peter Gabriel, 1982
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- On Jeremy Shockey's first night of training camp in Albany, N.Y., cafeteria tables and stereotypes were shattered. Rookies are expected to perform for veterans, even if you are the No. 14 overall choice in the draft via the University of Miami. When Giants linebacker Brandon Short asked Shockey to sing in late July, the 6-foot-5, 252-pound tight end declined, saying he preferred to finish his dinner first. When Shockey finally stood up, he sarcastically dedicated his song to Short, who lunged at him, setting off a nasty brawl. "As a defensive player, I look out and say, 'That is how I would act if I were on offense,' " Short said. "I'm sure the other teams hate him. That makes you love him more." "The first thing I saw was the fight in the cafeteria," said defensive end Michael Strahan on Wednesday at Giants Stadium. "He didn't back down, he went right back at it. When I saw that, I thought, 'He's going to be all right.' "
"I'm leaving dinner with a cup of coffee in my hand and a fight breaks out," Fassel said. "Jeremy Shockey is going after it and breaking tables, and I said, `My man has arrived.' " Sit down with these playoff-bound Giants and ask them to describe Shockey after 16 regular-season games and you get this: Intensity. Passion. Energy. Pizzazz. Enthusiasm. Commitment. Shockey, who is only 22 years old, uses the word competitive. "A lot of people misunderstand me because of the way I act on the field -- they think it overlaps off the field," Shockey said. "I'm a completely different person." But on the field, clearly, a transformation takes place. "Well, I kind of black out into my own little zone," Shockey said. "When I get out there it's my work. And I know it's a job, but to me it's fun. I'm out there just having fun." For all the attention Shockey has received, for all the hype he has generated, he has unquestionably delivered. He has, as they say, talked the talk and walked the walk. Despite a nagging ligament injury in one foot and turf toe on the other that limited him in a handful of games, Shockey led all NFL tight ends (and all rookie receivers) with 74 catches for 894 yards and 2 touchdowns. He was the only rookie voted to the Pro Bowl. Last Saturday he was talking to Philadelphia Eagles safety Brian Dawkins after scoring the Giants' only touchdown in the biggest game of the season, the one that delivered them into the postseason. With New York trailing 7-0 with 8:15 to play, Shockey went up for Kerry Collins' pass in the corner of the end zone and wrested it away from Dawkins. In that kind of critical-mass situation, it's all about want-to. And nobody wants it more than Shockey. As they lay in the end zone, Shockey was seen talking to Dawkins in that macho, jaw-wagging, exaggerated professional wrestling style. "Everybody in the stands can just dream about what I said to him," said Shockey, who declined to reveal his precise words. "Half the stuff I say I don't even mean." Truth is, the Giants have not only come to embrace his exuberance, but it seems to have entered their bloodstream. The Giants defenders, recognizing a kindred spirit, love him. When Shockey blasted through three Houston Texans in the Hall of Fame preseason opener, they laughed and high-fived each other on the sidelines. The offense, collectively buttoned-down and introspective, is starting to display some, uh, flavor. When the laid-back Amani Toomer caught 10 passes for 204 yards and 3 touchdowns in Week 16 against the Colts, he was seen dancing in the end zone. Was there a little Shockey influence there? "Well," Toomer said Wednesday, looking a little embarrassed. "Yeah ? that's probably right." Strahan said it best. "I think it's silly to say that with him here it didn't change anything," Strahan said. "You'd have to be crazy to say that. I think he's brought an attitude, brashness, excitement. He's not just made the team better, but he's made other guys act that way on the field with the confidence he has." As Shockey's season has gone, so has the Giants'. Over the first nine games, one of which he misses and two in which he was hobbled badly, Shockey caught only 27 passes. In the last seven games he's caught 47 passes for 573 yards. Look closer, at the Giants' four-game winning streak: Shockey led the team with 5 catches and 89 yards against the Redskins, then added three catches for 28 yards in the win over Dallas. The last two weeks, Shockey has been unconscious. He caught seven balls for 116 yards at Indianapolis and produced 10 catches for 98 yards and the touchdown over Dawkins last Saturday. According to Fassel, whose decision to start calling the offensive plays for coordinator Sean Payton jump-started the offense, Shockey opens up the field for the Giants outside the hashmarks. It is not a coincidence, Fassel insisted, that Toomer 82 catches, 1,343 yards, 8 touchdowns), Collins (4,073 yards) and Tiki Barber (373 touches, 1,984 yards) have had career seasons. "We are putting up a lot of numbers in the passing game, and that's because of him," Barber said. "I have to credit a lot of my success running the ball because we can spread him out and you've got to force a linebacker to get out of the box so there's one less guy for me to run on."
Wheels keep turning
The Anna Syndrome?
"Our phones never stop ringing. Jeremy Shockey's going to be endorsing tons of products in the future."
Even before Shockey's rookie season is complete, Bailey and agent Drew Rosenhaus, who negotiated a five-year, $8.5 million contract with the Giants, have already piled up some impressive accounts: While Fassel and his Giants teammates took to calling him "Anna" after the bold marketing plan surfaced in the New York tabloids, Shockey has a rich future, indeed. When combined with Shockey's deal with Nike, the total is nearly $500,000. Bailey said that Shockey is already the NFL's fifth-leading money maker off the field. Rosenhaus believes that Shockey's annual off-the-field earnings will soon clear seven figures. With the Gap and DKNY designer clothing in major negotiations, it could happen sooner rather than later. The Giants, predictably, are urging caution. "Let's not forget that he's a rookie," Pat Hanlon, the Giants' vice president of communications said. "You don't need to hit him over the head with everything all at the same time." Most of the marketing agreements were signed before Shockey caught his first pass. As Hanlon pointed out, what is Shockey worth now that he's actually met or exceeded expectations? "Whatever he signed for then," Hanlon said, "give me a blank piece of paper today and it will be worth more than what they signed it for." In the end, Shockey seems to understand that his marketing power flows largely from his production on the field. According to Shockey, he has only tackled off-the-field projects on his own time and has declined to compromise his commitment to the Giants. His management team, he insisted, is just doing its job when it presents him with options. Still, when he was asked about Bailey's Kournikovaesque aspirations, Shockey seemed surprised. "They did not say that," he said. Oh, yes, they did. "Well, then they're going to get fired," Shockey said, smiling. "I don't want to be the next Anna Kournikova. I just want to play my game. "Drew Rosenhaus's attitude and Robert Bailey's attitude is different than mine. I just know it's going to be there in the long run; theirs is, get it, jump on it, do it now. Sometimes they want me to do stuff that I don't want to do." Marketing aside, there have been a few rough spots when Shockey simply says what's on his mind.
Shockey's remarks, for which he later apologized, made headlines for weeks. On Sept. 15, in a game at St. Louis, Shockey waved his arms at the unhappy Rams fans after scoring a touchdown. He successfully encouraged their boos. On Oct. 25. Shockey said in his regular radio appearance on New York's WFAN that the Eagles secondary was overrated. This, three days before a pivotal appearance on Monday Night Football game, which the Giants lost 17-3. Two weeks later, Shockey was fired from his $1,000 gig on WFAN when he failed to call in for a second time in two months. Most of these episodes have prompted the Giants -- from Hanlon to Fassel to teammates -- to urge Shockey to temper his relations in public. Fassel said he has had several heart-to-heart talks with Shockey in his office. "I told him, 'I don't want to change you, I love your personality, I love the way you approach the game,' " Fassel said. "But there's a few rough edges we need to shave just a little bit. "Once in awhile he gets off target and makes himself look bad. But he will grow and he will handle it correctly because I don't think the basic person Jeremy Shockey is going to change." On Wednesday, Shockey was asked if he would go on the Howard Stern show again if the opportunity arose. "Yeah," Shockey said. "Why not? It's not something that I would advise every 22-year-old to go up there. If I wasn't in my position I would have said a lot more than what I said. But I don't want to make Pat Hanlon or the Giants look bad." While Shockey is seen as a controversial figure, he is actually quite shy when he's not breaking down tables and opposing secondaries. "You should see him when Coach Fassel gives him the game ball and he sits there like this," Strahan said, trying his best to look shy and self-conscious. "One guy looked at me and said, 'You know, he's just a kid who's having fun.' And I said, `You know, you're right.' That's just all it boils down to." Now, here's the scary part. Considering Shockey's age -- he left Miami after his junior season -- and his less-than-stellar health, he is likely to improve next season. "He can be better," Barber said. "A lot of his energy he channels to excitement. Once he learns to channel that to playing, it will be scary." Consider yourself warned.
Too much at stake Ground beneath me shake And the news is breaking Shock the monkey Shock the monkey Shock the monkey to life Greg Garber is a senior writer at ESPN.com. |
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