David Diehl of the New York Giants during a game...

David Diehl of the New York Giants during a game against the Chicago Bears at The New Meadowlands Stadium. (Aug. 22, 2011) Credit: David Pokress

David Diehl had two words for anybody he saw yesterday on the first day of Giants minicamp: I’m sorry.

“Anybody who came up to me, anybody who talked to me, I said it right away, I apologized to them,” said Diehl, who was arrested on DUI charges in Queens on Sunday night.

Describing the past few days as “awful” and “unlike anything I’ve ever experienced in my life,” Diehl said that he’s been grateful for the support of his teammates.

“I’m an accountable player, I’m an accountable person, I’ve always been that way,” he said. “I’ve always been the guy that if anybody else needed anything they called. I’ve always been a veteran guy around here to help the younger guys. This is a time where those same teammates that I’ve helped out are right here helping me and are supporting me to the fullest. That says a lot about what people think about me and who I am.”

Diehl was arrested on Sunday after he drove down a street in Astoria and crashed into parked cars. He had a blood-alcohol content of .184, more than twice the legal limit, and was charged with two counts of driving under the influence of alcohol.

“David is very remorseful,” Tom Coughlin said. “He’s a very proud young man as you know. He’s very sorry for what happened. He’s been an exemplary citizen for this organization. I think he understands it completely. He recognizes (the magnitude of the situation) and he’s going to be a very, very good spokesperson for trying to help young people understand that his mistake can be avoided in whatever way possible. David will take care of that part of it. He’s a guy who we’ve always been able to count on and he’ll learn from this.”

Teammates seemed to rally behind Diehl, especially in the tight-knit offensive line group.

“As a team, you don’t want to do anything to put yourself in a negative limelight,” Will Beatty said. “But once it happens, as a team you still try to stick together. He made a mistake, we all make mistakes, and he manned up to it. There are things that he’s going to have to go through just because of that, but we’re not looking at it as a negative thing where one of our leaders did something. A human made a mistake, now we’re moving forward.”

“Everybody makes mistakes, everybody is human,” Kevin Boothe said. “Everybody has made mistakes in their life and it’s a matter of how you bounce back from that. I think that he’ll do a great job. He’s handled everything like a true gentleman and a professional and I expect him to do the same in this case.”

Diehl said he will work to make young people more aware of the dangers of drunk driving.

“It’s about my actions and how I handle myself from here on out,” he said. “I’m a positive role model, I’m going to continue to be one, and people are going to see the way that I handle myself and the way that I carry myself and I’m going to show the people who are behind me that they’re not wrong.”
 

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