Joe Judge wants Giants to feel fans' passion flowing through MetLife Stadium
Giants fans watch practice from the stands during Giants Training Camp and Fan Fest at MetLife Stadium on Wednesday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Joe Judge has yet to coach a Giants game in front of Giants fans, but he has a pretty good idea of what that could be like.
Back in June, he found himself courtside at Madison Square Garden with his son Michael for an NBA playoff game between the Knicks and the Hawks.
"The passion of New York, having the experience of being at MSG and feeling the energy from those fans really pouring into the game, that’s something that is unique," Judge recalled on Wednesday. "You don’t go into every stadium and feel that kind of energy and passion."
More often than not since it opened over a decade ago, that’s been absent from MetLife Stadium. The Giants have yet to establish any kind of home field advantage in the building that opened for the 2010 season. Their overall record in home games there is 39-49. They have had winning home records just twice, in 2010 and 2016. Last year, with no fans allowed in the stands because of the pandemic, the Giants were 3-5. Over the past four seasons they have won just nine of their 32 games. Most of the cheering they have heard in the stadium during that time has come from fans of the opposing team who routinely wait around for Giants supporters to leave in disgust sometime in the second half then douse the visiting team with a vocal celebration that echoes through the emptying edifice.
On Wednesday, the Giants opened the gates to the crowd for a Fan Fest, a practice held in the stadium with 50,000 tickets dispersed for the event. There were about 20,000 people here filling most of the lower bowl.
The Giants trotted out past Super Bowl winners and shot off fireworks. They were also hoping to open a new era of home football, one in which MetLife Stadium can become what Giants Stadium once was and what other facilities around the league are: nearly impenetrable fortresses guarded not just by the 11 sentries on the field at any given time but the masses in the seats surrounding them.
There are players on the Giants who have experienced that kind of mentality, though not here yet. Linebacker Blake Martinez began his career with the Packers playing at legendary Lambeau Field. In his four seasons there the Packers were 22-9-1 in regular season home games. He has yet to play a home game in front of Giants fans since arriving as a free agent last season.
"Green Bay was an awesome franchise but this place is just as historic," Martinez said. "I’ve heard nothing but positive things about the fans and I’m excited to get out there [Wednesday night] and see everybody out there wearing their jerseys, screaming, yelling. It’s going to be special."
Now the key is to make it stay that way. The folks who were in the seats on Wednesday night eager to get their first in-person glimpse of the team since December 2019 are the very same ones who could be booing the team off the field at halftime in the opener on Sept. 12 if they’re not playing well.
"Obviously we have to come out and play our brand of football," said safety Jabrill Peppers, a New Jersey native. "That starts here in training camp. We get to practice in front of the fans [Wednesday], give them a preview of a product we hope they can be proud of on Sundays."
The source of home field advantages has a bit of a chicken-or-the-egg dynamic to it. Judge said he believes it’s up to the Giants — not their fans, not their building — to win games and create a winning atmosphere.
"The advantage always goes to the team that plays and executes better on that Sunday," he said. "While it can be an aid for you with the energy and excitement provided by the fans, you have to show up as players and coaches and do your best job and make sure you out-perform your opponent."
There are plenty of cities where fans file in to see games, root for their team, and leave happy no matter the result. The game is more of a cocktail party than a competition. New York is not one of those places.
"There is a natural demeanor in this area of the country, specifically in North Jersey and New York," Judge said. "It’s a mentally tough area. That’s the way it is, that’s the way it’s supposed to be, and that’s what we have to train our team to be. I like that atmosphere. I like coming to the stadium with people expecting to see excellence. That’s what they deserve for the money that they spend. That’s a product we have to work to get to."
The flip side of that is there are no pats on the back after losses. The same people who will be so elated by wins will be just as derisive by losing. And that is what MetLife Stadium has become more often than not, a place for Giants fans to vent their frustrations rather than celebrate successes.
"Look, you get what you earn," Judge added, "and we have to earn their respect."
Any chance at MetLife Stadium providing an advantage has to begin there.
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.
