Rolle still upset over fans' booing

Antrel Rolle still is hissing about the booing.

The safety, who caused a mini-firestorm Tuesday by calling out Giants fans who let the team hear their displeasure at halftime of Sunday's comeback win over the Jaguars, remained steadfast in his opinion that fans should not boo their team.

"They want to make it that these guys, they pay this much for the tickets," Rolle said Thursday in his first locker-room interview since Boogate began. "Yeah, I understand that. I understand completely. But you know, we risk ourselves out there on the field every day, also. When soldiers come home from Iraq, you don't boo them. So I look at it the same way. I take my job seriously."

Later, in his weekly TV interview on SNY, Rolle clarified his remark about the soldiers by saying he did not mean to compare football players to those returning from war.

"You cannot remotely compare what we do as opposed to what they do,'' he said, adding that he is "not brave enough" to serve. He changed his analogy, but not his perspective on the booing, adding that he "knows for a fact" that he's not the only Giants player who feels that way.

Others chimed in with less confrontational tones.

"I boo when taxes go up, I boo when the supermarket doesn't have the loaf of bread that I like," defensive end Justin Tuck said. "When my accountant loses money for me, I boo him, too.''

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Said defensive end Osi Umenyiora: "I'm used to it. That's just the way the fans are. But they have every right to be like that. They're paying $120 a ticket to come watch us play; you can't go out and stink it up like that. Especially not in New York. As long as they're paying to come watch us play, they can boo.''

Tuck said he doesn't pay much mind to fans' reactions, noting that he's been cheered for plays he felt he hadn't performed well on. "The fans, they're there to be entertained," he said. "For them, it's like a show. For us, it's a job, it's something we love to do."

Rolle did take some responsibility for the booing.

"We have to play better," he said. "We definitely have to play better as a team and not allow them to boo. Keep them on our side as much as we can . . . As players, we have to do the best that we can to make sure they have something to root for instead of booing."

But Rolle didn't apologize for being so outspoken.

"Once again, me who has a big mouth, I'm the one who says something," he said with a grin. "Blame my mom; I'm not a politically correct guy. You ask me a question, I'm going to give you an honest answer. If my coaches ask me, if my girlfriend asks me, I'm going to give an honest answer. I don't sugarcoat."

Rolle is learning that neither do fans in New York.