Lockout's effect on Giants rookie Brewer
James Brewer, an offensive tackle from Indiana, at the NFL combine. He was drafted in the fourth round by the Giants on April 28, 2011. Credit: AP
He graduated from college last December, spent the spring interviewing for his dream job, and finally landed it in late April. But James Brewer has yet to put in a single hour at the office or cash a paycheck.
Brewer is a member of the "They Might Be Giants" draft class, technically the property of the team but clearly not a part of the organization thanks to the NFL lockout. The Giants selected the offensive tackle from Indiana in the fourth round of this year's draft, had a few cursory phone conversations with him, and he's been in blackout mode ever since.
"It's kind of awkward," Brewer said Wednesday night during a brief visit to Long Island. "You train for the combine, you go to the Senior Bowl, you do all of this preparation to get drafted and you think 'OK, now it's time to go to work.' And you can't go to work. The lockout is like being stuck in limbo. I can't play another down as a Hoosier, so I feel like I'm done with that chapter of my life. Now I'm ready to start this new chapter as a Giant and I can't. So I'm just training and training, in limbo waiting for this to be done with."
Not only has Brewer not heard from the coaches or front office people with the Giants, he said he hasn't even heard a whisper from his new teammates. He's been working out at IU, training with Rick Danison who used to work with the Bengals, and trying to make sure he's in the best shape possible when the lockout is lifted and he's summoned to go to work.
Of course there is one part of his job he cannot prepare for.
"The biggest impact it will have on not just me but all of the rookies is not being able to get the playbook early and get that jumpstart before camp actually starts," Brewer said. "That advantage goes to the older guys. And then at the same not being able to meet your teammates and trying to build that chemistry and camaraderie that you get during the offseason, those are the big negatives with the lockout.
"It would be nice to be able to look at (a playbook) and then be able to talk to the older guys and say 'Hey, this play looks a lot like this play, what's the difference?' " he added. "I don't have that luxury right now. That's going to be one of the disadvantages of the lockout, but at the same time, it's my job now. So whether this ends tomorrow or two months from now, they're going to expect me to learn it so that will fall on me."
Those are the football pitfalls for the lockout. There are real-life ones too. While veteran players have been saving - in some cases for years - for the event of a lockout, Brewer and his draftmates are still waiting for their first NFL paycheck of any kind.
"It hasn't been that big of a deal," he said. "I didn't have a lot of money before so this isn't like a new deal. My mom has been very supportive, my agent has been very supportive, getting me money for when I have to pay rent and the other bills I have to pay for. It's been one of those where the money is there when I need it but I don't want to get a giant tab started."
The Giants drafted Brewer with an eye to the future. They see him as having potential after a few years of NFL coaching. They talked about playing him at left tackle after drafting him, which was the only sign that Brewer got about how he might be used. So after playing right tackle in college, he's been focusing on the left side during his self-training.
As for having to wait - not just for the lockout but to become an impact player in the NFL - Brewer said it doesn't really take any pressure off of him. He understands it will take some time and there are established veterans ahead of him. But even though he hasn't spent a day on an NFL field, he knows what he wants in the future.
"I'm ready because my goal is to start," he said. "Whether that's this year or next year or the year after that, I want to be able to do as much as I can so when my time does come I'm ready."
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