Damon Harrison jumps the gun for Giants introduction
Damon Harrison #98 of the New York Giants during warm ups before an NFL preseason game against the Miami Dolphins at MetLife Stadium on Aug. 12, 2016 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Credit: Getty Images / Rich Schultz
Damon Harrison was in such a rush to get to his first game with the Giants on Friday night that he was offsides in the tunnel.
The 350-pound defensive lineman mistakenly ran through the smoky entranceway between the locker room and the field ahead of the rest of most of his new teammates, leaving him awkwardly standing alone in front of the team’s bench awaiting their arrival during the pregame festivities.
“I jumped the gun a little bit because you know there was a [lightning] delay and coach told everyone to come out of the locker room and that was my first time running out of the tunnel,” Harrison said on Wednesday. “I was like: ‘Are we going out now?’ And they said: ‘Yeah.’ Then I saw the kickers and the punters and midway through I was running and I was like: ‘I know I’m not running that fast, where is everyone else at?’ ”
They were still in the tunnel waiting to be announced. The Giants send their special teams players — the kickers, punters and long-snappers — onto the field a minute or so before the rest of the team to begin their final warmup before kickoff. On Friday, Harrison joined them.
While waiting for the rest of the team, Harrison said he tried to stretch and pretend like he was getting some extra warm-ups in. He wanted to make it look like he was supposed to be there.
“I thought I pulled it off,” he said.
Almost.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
