Giants, Justin Tuck get their chance for payback against Eagles on Sunday night
Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson, left, is chased by punter Steve Weatherford during the second quarter of a game Sunday. (Nov. 20, 2011) Credit: AP
The Giants have not forgotten.
They have moved on. They have won a Super Bowl. They have vanquished other teams and they have accomplished lofty feats. But that feeling of being pushed around on their own field by the Eagles last season -- and not being able to do anything about it at the time -- still eats at them.
For the first time since Philadelphia beat the Giants, 17-10, last November, they have a chance to retaliate. That game included DeSean Jackson catching a 51-yard pass and flipping the ball dismissively at defensive coordinator Perry Fewell and defensive end Trevor Laws' taking what the Giants thought was an unnecessary shot at Eli Manning after an interception.
It had the Giants questioning their own toughness.
"That was a long time ago," Justin Tuck said. "That's not a question now."
Still, an answer must be provided to the Eagles. In person.
Tuck, speaking yesterday at the launch of the fifth year of his RUSH for Literacy initiative, said the Giants got the last laugh against the Eagles and every other team in the league.
"When people ask me questions about other teams and things of that nature, I always say this: You go back to February and you see the last team that was standing," he said. "You ask any of those guys, where would they want to be on that date, they would say where we were. I don't think we have anything to prove."
And yet, those transgressions are not forgotten. Nor are any of the litany that have passed between the two NFC East rivals, a long back-and-forth that goes back as far as Herm Edwards and Joe Pisarcik all the way up to Jackson and Matt Dodge.
And, of course, to Osi Umenyiora and LeSean McCoy. Those two have been feuding for years, calling each other names in person and on Twitter. Umenyiora has called McCoy "Lady Gaga" in the past and this spring he tweeted that he should enjoy his day. On Mother's Day.
McCoy pushed back in an interview with ESPN's E:60 that aired Tuesday night. He said he wasn't truthful when he called Umenyiora the Giants' third-best defensive end in the summer of 2011, when Umenyiora had a contract dispute with the Giants. "He's the fourth now, so I actually did lie," McCoy said. He also called Umenyiora "a ballerina in a Giants uniform."
Umenyiora took most of the comments in stride, both during the ESPN show and in a radio interview Tuesday. "This is for real, like I don't like Osi," McCoy said in the program. "I don't know how he feels, he might think it's a game, but I don't play them type of games so every time on the field I would say stuff to him like 'You is a bum!' "
Add it to the list, Tuck said.
"We don't forget anything," Tuck said. "I'm sure they don't either. They don't forget the 12-sack game against [Donovan] McNabb, because they've tried their best to block the crap out of us since then. And we don't forget McNabb going to the sideline picking up the phone [in their January 2009 playoff game], [Jackson] tossing the ball at Perry, all different things.
"We'll handle that on Sunday night."
