Tyree loses his head at Giants practice
Photo credit: AP | Giants wide receiver David Tyree makes his famous "Helmet Catch" in Super Bowl XLII.
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ALBANY, N.Y. -
That smile David Tyree has had on his face for the last 18 months finally came off Monday.
The Super Bowl hero had been chipper ever since his iconic catch against the Patriots, even through the difficulties of missing the entire 2008 season with injuries. But when he dropped a third pass in the morning practice, his grin could take no more.
Tyree slammed his fist into the ground. Then he took off his helmet, threw it onto the grass, and gave it a little kick.
“A lot of frustration,” Tyree said. “I’m not happy with my performance, flat-out. I’m not ashamed to say it.”
Tyree would have had difficulty making the roster with a stellar training camp. He’s either seventh or eighth on the unofficial depth chart as of now. That he has missed time due to a groin injury and is dropping passes does not bode well for his future with the team. And he knows it.
“It’s always good to have that ‘hat trick’ in the bag,” he said, “but that doesn’t mean anything right now when we’re in the heat of competition.”
The one thing Tyree does have over the other receivers fighting for a roster spot is a history with the team, and not just that one amazing jumping catch. Tyree has been a Giants since 2003 and was a special teams star for most of his career. He knows the quarterback and the coaches. More importantly, they know him.
“He’s a worker,” Tom Coughlin said of Tyree. “He’s a tough guy.”
“He’s a guy you can trust,” Eli Manning said. “When you get in games, he makes plays for us.”
Coughlin also said that whenever a player misses time – whether it’s a day as Tyree did this weekend or an entire season as he did in 2008 – there is an adjustment to be made when returning. Coughlin, who could be forced to make a very difficult decision regarding Tyree’s future with the team before the start of the regular season, pointed to Tyree’s catches at the end of Monday’s practice.
“Hopefully he is working his way back into it,” he said.
Tyree has always been known as “Gamer,” a guy who never shines in practices but manages to perform in games. In fact, he had a legendarily poor practice the Friday before Super Bowl XLII, dropping a number of passes. But he was already on the team then. This time, he’s just fighting for a roster spot.
Tyree said he might be impressed with the fact that coming off his injuries he can still get open. But, he said, if he can’t catch the ball, it doesn’t really matter how crisp his routes are.
“When it comes to catching the football, that’s what I’m paid to do,” Tyree said. “By my standards I haven’t put together a full day. My standards are high even though I’m not a highly-touted receiver.”
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