Rolle plays important role for Giants

His soft side is what you don't see.

Lost in the litany of bombastic claims and catchphrases is the gentle, generous Antrel Rolle.

His spirit is infectious, his dedication to winning all-consuming. But it's his quest for greatness in himself and others that makes the defensive back an unequivocal leader among the Giants.

Said linebacker Michael Boley: "The locker room wouldn't be what it is if he wasn't in here."

When the Giants visit Candlestick Park to play the 49ers in Sunday's NFC Championship Game, Rolle will be leading the charge. Not simply with his mouth, but with his play.

"There's a lot of guys that talk -- a lot of guys," defensive end Dave Tollefson said. "But when a guy like Antrel talks, he's about it. You see it every Sunday, in the locker room, in meetings, at practice. He's extremely passionate, which makes him the type of player that he is."

Rolle's unwavering self-confidence was forged on Harris Field, where he fell in love with football in his hometown of Homestead, Fla. And the trust in his abilities only grew as a defensive back, a kick and punt returner who was "uncanny,'' in high school coach Don Drinkhahn's words, and a quarterback (albeit briefly) for South Dade Senior High.

"He could have played anywhere," Drinkhahn, the former Buccaneers head coach for 24 years, said from his home in South Carolina.

After South Dade's starting quarterback suffered a shoulder injury, Rolle, then a junior, was asked to take over the offense. "He ran the option, he ran the football, and he passed the football. And we went into the next spring with the idea of putting him at quarterback," Drinkhahn said.

"He probably could have played offensive line in high school -- he was that kind of athlete. So I'm not surprised that when they move him around that he's performing at a high level in the NFL. I know Antrel would do whatever's best for his teammates. He's a good person. And he wants to win bad."

Rolle, 29, who signed a five-year, $37- million contract (one of the largest ever for a safety) with the Giants in 2010, couldn't hide his frustration over being moved from safety to nickel back this season because of injuries in the secondary. He admittedly tried to do too much, attempting to fill roles that he wasn't comfortable with. But a heart-to-heart with Deon Grant helped get him back on track.

"I told him, ''Trel, you're an All-Pro safety. They paid you a lot of money. Get back to doing you,' " said Grant, who signed with the Giants the same year as Rolle. "He was trying to do everything in his will to make everything right, when one person can't do that. And since I told him that, he's just been back on his game."

One of Rolle's best performances of the season came in last week's NFC divisional win at Lambeau Field. He made eight tackles and a second-quarter fumble recovery in the Giants' win over the top-seeded Packers.

"He was all over the place," coach Tom Coughlin said of Rolle, a two-time Pro Bowler. "He has played very, very well. He has been into it and you see the bounce in his step."

Said Grant: "I wouldn't say it's the best game, because I've seen 'Trel play unbelievable. But I definitely have to say it's in the top three."

Rolle, who registered a career-high 96 tackles and two interceptions during the regular season, credits the scout team for keeping him on his toes.

"Every week he tells me, 'I need you to bring all the tricks out for me,' " said Jerrel Jernigan, who mimics the expected routes of opposing slot receivers in practice. "If he stays with me, he tells me he can stay with anybody in the game."

To understand the roots of Rolle's dogged determination, look no further than his parents. His father, Alexander, is Homestead's first African-American police chief. His mother, Armelia, is a guidance counselor and career specialist. Meticulously dressed and sharp as a tack in high school, Rolle impressed both in the classroom and on the field. He was as relentless in his collecting of doughnut money (at a quarter a pop) in school fundraisers as he was in his pursuit of wide receivers.

Through his foundation, he has awarded several scholarships to seniors in the Miami-Dade area. He personally donated $4,000 to Southridge High (where his uncle is the athletic director) for new football uniforms. And he gave $30,000 for South Dade's new weight room -- affectionately dubbed "The Rolle Room."

Pictures of him adorn the walls, along with blown-up Fatheads of him in uniform. He may be part of the "U" fraternity (along with 49ers running back Frank Gore), but Rolle, an All-American cornerback for the Hurricanes, never has forgotten where he comes from. He purchased a home down the block from his high school, so close "I could throw a rock and hit his house," South Dade athletic director Joel Furnari said.

"He's not a Miami guy,'' Furnari said. "He's a Homestead guy. And that's the difference.''

But Rolle's public persona is in stark contrast with his private one. He rubs opposing teams the wrong way with his no-holds-barred, tell-it-like-it-is approach. In the days leading up to Sunday's NFC title game, he declared "we're not going to be denied" and that the 49ers "better be careful what they ask for."

"I just think I have a big mouth, man. That pretty much sums it up," Rolle said in his WFAN radio spot. "All jokes aside, I feel something for this team, I feel it extremely deep and sometimes . . . You have to take a lot of criticism that comes along with that . . . I'll take it all day. But it gets tough, it gets hard. I'm human."

But the Giants wouldn't want him any other way.

"Antrel Rolle, aka Jimmy Hart the 'Mouth from the South,' " Tollefson joked, referring to the garrulous WWE wrestling manager. "There's a level of respect that I think everybody in this locker room has for a guy like that. A guy that's willing to put it on the line, not just with his words but his will to win. Whatever he says, I got his back."

Former Miami coach Larry Coker still considers Rolle one of his best signings. "When Antrel says those things, you listen because he has credibility because he's an outstanding player," Coker, now the coach at the University of Texas at San Antonio, said while on the recruiting trail. "When it was time to play, he was ready to play. He was such a force."

Rolle's success, Drinkhahn said, was "almost inevitable."

"The Giants exert character, not characters. And that's what wins," he said. "When you find one like Antrel, then you got something special."