Tollefson has Giants' respect

They used to laugh.

The Cowboys defensive linemen would watch their counterparts from the Giants on film, keeping a serious eye on players like Michael Strahan, Osi Umenyiora and Justin Tuck. But every so often a lumbering body would trot in from the sideline, a long hand towel dangling from his belt.

"Who is this dude?" Chris Canty remembers asking when he was a member of the Cowboys. "Then we actually watched the film and he could play."

That dude was Dave Tollefson. For the last four years he was at the back end of the defensive line rotation for the Giants. The superstars would get winded and Tollefson would come onto the field, play a few snaps, hold down the fort, and head back to the sideline. Umenyiora and Tuck would go to Honolulu for the Pro Bowl after the season. Tollefson would go home to Omaha.

But last weekend, Tollefson got to add a new notch of respect to his resume. The headline was that Tuck, the defensive captain, was hurt and could not play against the Redskins. The fine print was that Tollefson would get his first career start in his place.

He might not have but for a Rudy-esque encounter in which the Giants approached converted linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka about moving back to his natural position at defensive end. Kiwanuka said he told the Giants they shouldn't do that, they should go with Tollefson.

"What I was saying was that a guy like Dave Tollefson who hasn't gotten a lot of attention and hasn't been in the spotlight a lot, you watch his play and there isn't any dropoff from our first to our second," Kiwanuka said after last week's game. "I believe that 100 percent. We've been here five years now, I've seen him working, in the meeting room. I know he's one of the most intelligent guys here. He's able to do the job."

SEE PHOTOSHit or miss: Giants 1st-round picks since 1986

He was, coming away with two tackles and a sack.

"It meant a lot," Tollefson said of his first start, "especially after hearing what Kiwi had to say. The biggest thing is the guys in this locker room and what they think about me. To hear your peer talk about you like that and to know that these guys trust me to go out there and play a game and start, that means a lot.

"He's told me personally that before, but to stand up and say it means something."

Tollefson is not a superstar, but inside the Giants locker room he one of the most respected players. He works hard, hustles all the time, contributes on special teams, and, as he showed last week, can step into a starting role without a dropoff.

"Talk about a guy who's gone through the ringer, made it from the practice squad, bounced around from teams, been a free agent from a small school," Giants guard David Diehl said. "Where he's at now is a credit to how he's worked. It's awesome to see how much of a better player he is."

Oddly enough, he wasn't even on the Giant's roster when training camp started. A free agent who was caught on the outside during the lockout, the Giants didn't bring him in until about a week into camp.

"I was tapping a lot of people on their shoulder and giving them some screwy looks," Tuck said of the time when Tollefson was still unsigned. "I'm not saying that that got him here, but . . . "

Tollefson laughed when he came back to the Giants because people thought his arrival was intended to push the disgruntled Umenyiora off his exercise bike and onto the practice field. "I'm just Dave," he said at the time.

In the opener, Dave was starting and Umenyiora was still on the sideline.

"I think it meant a lot to him," Tuck said. "When you think about all of the contributions he's had for this team, I think it meant a lot . . . And then back it up with having a pretty good damn game."

Tollefson does have one regret. "It just would have been so awesome to win it," he said.

He may get another chance. There's a possibility Tuck won't be able to play against the Rams Monday. If that happens, then Tollefson would likely get his second career start. It would be another opportunity to show the NFL world that he can play at a high level, and with free agency coming once again at the end of this season that wouldn't be a bad thing.

Tuck seems ready to go, though. And last year's first-round pick Jason Pierre-Paul will likely start at the opposite end with Tollefson coming in as a backup. In the next week or so Umenyiora will be back on the field and Tollefson will be pushed further back into the rotation. He doesn't mind, though. He knows the pecking order.

"I'm a pigeon flying among eagles," he said.