Tollefson making strong case for more playing time

ALBANY - So much is made about who'll be starting at defensive end for the Giants, it can be easy to overlook the rest of the rotation. While Osi Umenyiora and Mathias Kiwanuka and to a certain extent Jason Pierre-Paul compete to see who'll win the job of being out there for the first play of the game, there are others who are trying to pick up the scraps and piece them together into a life-changing form.

Like Dave Tollefson.

Whoever wins the battle for starter will be fine otherwise. They'll get their plays. They'll get their money. They'll move on in their careers. But for a guy like Tollefson, who always has been on the fringe of stardom, playing next to millionaires but not being one of them, this is a make-or-break season. And he's fully aware of it.

"This is it for me," he said bluntly about his future. "I'm going to be unrestricted next year. I'm either going to play in this league and get a chance to start at some point or I'm going to be a backup for the next five years of my career. I feel different this year. I feel a little more sense of urgency to show to the people that matter that I can play football."

He's doing a good job so far. He has been one of the most consistent players in training camp. Justin Tuck said Tollefson and Chris Canty are having the best camp along the defensive line. Tom Coughlin noted Thursday that Tollefson has been "very physical."

"The consistency with which he's worked in this camp has been better than in past camps," Coughlin said. And Tollefson also is showing his flexibility by taking snaps at linebacker in some of Perry Fewell's mix-and-match schemes.

But that might not be enough. He'll have to continue with that consistency and versatility into the season.

"Justin knows I can play football, Osi knows I can play football, all the guys I play with know I can play football," Tollefson said. "I need to prove it to the people that matter."

Tollefson received a second-round tender as a restricted free agent this offseason and signed a non-guaranteed $1.684-million contract for one year. "It's more money than I've made in the last four years combined," he said. But now he wants to get on the field and not only earn that salary but future salaries.

"Obviously I would love to start, who wouldn't?" he said. "But I'm trying to find where I fit to play. They only suit up 45 guys on Sundays. I'm trying to find my spot, whether that's special teams, defensive line, linebacker. Starting is not the issue for me right now, it's playing."

This is Tollefson's fourth year with the Giants, so he's no young project the team is waiting to develop. He's 28 years old - about six months younger than Umenyiora and less than a year older than Tuck for comparison - and in all of those seasons he's come to Giants training camp trying to make the roster. That was good, he said. It drove him. But in this season, which will not only define his career but, the way he sees it, the rest of his life, he wants more.

"Now I want to play," he said. "You look at our D-line and you ask where do I fit in? Well, I'm going to make myself fit in. I'm going to force the issue and make sure that everyone knows 'Damn, Dave wants to play.' "

It's that kind of desire that is sometimes overlooked. But that's nothing new for Tollefson, the Mr. Invisible on the depth chart at defensive end.

"No one wants to be the forgotten guy, that's the truth," he added. "So I try to make it a point to make sure people do remember me."