46 Super Facts and Stats About the New York Giants
02/04/2012 | Author Patricia Traina
In honor of the Giants playing in Super Bowl XLVI, here are 46 stats and factoids about the NFC Champions. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in 
Becoming Super: Cornerback Prince Amukamara and Defensive End Jason Pierre-Paul
02/04/2012 | Author Patricia Traina
Today we get the back stories of Giants rookie cornerback Prince Amukamara and Pro Bowl defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul. First up is Amukamara.
I was fast as a little kid so everyone just said, ‘You should play football.’ I happened to be good at it so I just kept playing. I was walking through a park one day and there was a Pop Warner team that always used to have its game there every week and they said, ‘Hey, race one of our fastest kids,” because I was a tall 11-year old. I ended up beating whoever they asked me to race, so then they put me on the team and I just stuck with it. I was a running back. I got switched to defensive back by the coaches when I went to college at Nebraska.
When they first told me they wanted me to move to cornerback, I wasn’t excited and I wanted to transfer, but then (Head) Coach (Bo) Pelini came and said I could be good at it if I worked at it, so I trusted him and stayed at it. I just have a physical nature and it’s a high risk and high reward position. You can definitely make a big play but then you can also make a bad play. I think the position also has some sense of humility so that’s why I like it.
Here’s Pierre-Paul’s story:
I used to play street football with my friends, only we didn’t have a football so we used a tennis ball. I played every position, but mostly wide receiver because I was the only kid who could catch the ball all the time. When I grew up, I just went to whatever position the coach told me to play because it was helping the team.
This Week: Giants at New England – Super Bowl XLVI
02/03/2012 | Author Patricia Traina
WHAT’S AT STAKE: The world championship. … a ticker tape parade .. a visit to the White House to meet the President… a Super Bowl ring … a place in history. People said the Giants had no chance of getting this far, but they have. Meanwhile many people seem to have already crowned the Patriots as champs before they have taken a snap. Déjà vu? If the Giants have anything to say about it, it will be more like “deja blue” sometime around 11 pm ET Sunday night. Read the rest of this entry »
Becoming Super: Defensive End Dave Tollefson and Receiver Devin Thomas
02/03/2012 | Author Patricia Traina
In today’s doubleheader, we hear from a pair of unsung heros, defensive end Dave Tollefson and receiver Devin Thomas. First up isTollefson, the man whose “roadhosue” sack dance has endeared him to Giants fans everywhere.
I used to watch it on TV and I wanted to play, but my mom made me wait until I was in sixth or seventh grade and I started playing tackle football. I started out as a guard and a kicker. I played linebacker most of my life prior to Northwest Missouri State, which was the first time I ever played defensive line. It was one of those deals where I was a thinner linebacker and then I just grew and gained weight, so they put me at defensive end.
And here is the story of Thomas, of one of the heros from the NFC Championship game.
Early off I started watching football, and I started liking certain guys. I was a Barry Sanders fan, having grown up in Michigan and then I heard about Deion Sanders and I was like, ‘Hey, they have the same last name and they’re both good!’ so those were my two favorite guys growing up. Then I finally got a chance to sign up for a team – I used to run around all the time in the backyard with a football, but my stepdad signed me up when I was in sixth grade.
In my first year, I was actually an offensive lineman and a defensive lineman because I didn’t know about the positions plus I got out there a little late, so they kind of just threw me out there. I had an all right time, but by seventh grade, I figured it all out and they put me at running back and receiver and defensive end and we went undefeated and we won the Super Bowl in our league, and I scored the touchdown to win the game.
It was a hard choice to pick one position to play, which of course is wide receiver. I feel like I’m a very versatile player and I had a couple of different options, either running back or defensive back, but I just had an itch to make the big play and I liked the idea of making that big catch for the touchdown and more of the heroics, so I picked receivers.
I think now, with me being on special teams, all of those positions I played has prepared me to where I can play on any special teams unit. That’s what gave me my versatility and I always knew, like when I was with the Redskins, that I had a guy like James Thrash who started at receiver but later started doing special teams and was humbled by it, so I took the same approach and I knew that my abilities would enable me to do special teams and be fine.
A Closer Look at the Super Bowl Officiating Crew
02/02/2012 | Author The Ref
This year’s Super Bowl officiating crew has over 90 years of collective experience and the members have officiated almost 70 play-off games.
Referee John Parry (#132) has been an NFL official since 2000. This year he headed the top ranked crew and obviously the top ranked Referee. He was also the Referee for the 49ers – Saints play-off game this year. He was the side judge on Tony Corrente’s crew for Super Bowl XLI in 2007 and was promoted to Referee for the 2007 NFL season. Parry has officiated nine playoff games, including one conference championship. Parry did not work any games involving the Giants or Patriots this season. He is a graduate of Purdue University and lives in Akron, OH where he is an Associate Financial Advisor for Ameriprise Financial. His father, Dave Parry, was the Supervisor of Officials for the Big Ten Conference and subsequently for the NCAA before passing away in 2010. His father was the side judge in Super Bowl XVII.
Looking at the only two areas where one can get an idea of a Referee’s philosophy regarding officiating, Roughing the Passer and Intentional Grounding, Parry ranked in the middle of the pack in both categories.
Umpire Carl Paganelli (#124) has been an NFL official since 1999. This year he was the Umpire on Jerome Boger’s crew. He lives in Grand Rapids, MI. He has two brothers who officiate in the NFL, Dino Paganelli and Perry Paganelli, both of whom are Back Judges and his father was Supervisor of Officials for the ARENA Football League for many years. Paganelli has officiated two other Super Bowls, Super Bowl XXXIX and Super Bowl XLI, in a span of three years. Carl and his brother Perry became the first set of brothers to be part of the same officiating crew to officiate a Super Bowl when they officiated Super Bowl XLI together. Paganelli has a reputation for not calling many fouls but he often calls them at strange times. He is not my favorite Umpire but obviously the NFL feels that he had an outstanding season.
HL Tom Stabile (#59) is in his 17th season in the NFL. This year he was on Scott Green’s crew. Stabile is from Natrona Heights, PA. Stabile was the head linesman in the Nov. 15, 2009 game between the Patriots and the Colts in which he made a key, but correct ruling that that Kevin Faulk did not demonstrate control until after he was pushed behind the first-down marker. The Colts took possession at the New England 29 with just over two minutes left and scored the game-winning touchdown three plays later for a 35-34 victory. This will be his first Super Bowl.
LJ Gary Arthur (#108) is from Findlay, Ohio and has been in the NFL for 15 years. This year he was the Line Judge on Ron Winter’s crew. This will be the first Super Bowl for Arthur who ranks very high year after year as a Line Judge. Unfortunately, he had an inadvertent whistle in the Denver –Pittsburgh play-off game this year but beyond that, he had a typically outstanding season. FJ Gary Cavaletto (#60) has been in the NFL for 9 years. He comes from Santa Barbara, CA where he started out as a high school official and worked his way up through the ranks of junior college and 4 year college before joining the NFL. This year he was on Tony Corrente’s crew.
SJ Dr. Laird Hayes (#125) graduated from San Marcos High School in Santa Barbara, California. Hayes earned his bachelor’s degree from Princeton University, New Jersey, in 1971 and was awarded a Master’s and Doctorate in Higher Education from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1976. He played on football, basketball and baseball teams in high school and on the freshman football team and four years as a catcher for the Princeton Tigers baseball team. Hayes’ officiating career started with basketball, baseball, and football games in high school and community colleges. In 1983 he was elevated to the Pac-10 as a football official. This was followed with a 1995 appointment to the NFL. During his career in the NFL, he has officiated in Super Bowl XXXVI in 2002 and Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2004. In 2011, he was on Carl Cheffers’ crew. Currently, Hayes is the Men’s Soccer Coach and Professor of Education and Athletics at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, California,
BJ Tony Steratore (#112) has been a back judge in the National Football League since the 2000 season and this year was on the officiating crew headed by referee Jerome Boger. He lives in McMurray, PA. He is the older brother of Referee Gene Steratore Jr. and his father, Gene Steratore Sr., was an official in both college football and basketball. He has previously officiated one Super Bowl game, which was Super Bowl XXXIX in Jacksonville, Florida. Outside of his NFL officiating duties, he is the president of Steratore Sanitary Supplies in Washington, Pennsylvania; his younger brother Gene is vice-president. Steratore is probably the strongest rules official on Boger’s crew and can often be seen listening in on the discussions of penalty enforcement.
The Replay Official for the Super Bowl XLVI will be retired Referee Larry Nemmers. Nemmers was the Back Judge on Jerry Seeman’s crew for Super Bowl XXV. He wore #20 and was an NFL referee for 17 years after 7 as a Back Judge.
There are also two oddities in the ranks of the Alternate Officials for this year’s game. The Alternate Referee will be Alberto Riveron while the Alternate FJ/SJ will be Don Carlson. Both worked Championship games two weeks ago and Carlson was the covering official on Vernon Davis’ run down the sideline for a TD against the Giants. Riveron is a Cuban –American and resides in Miami. He has been in the NFL for 8 years. Carlson has been in the NFL for 23 years and resides in Chico, CA. Alternates only enter the game if the assigned official is injured and cannot continue. There are five alternates all together (R, U, HL/LJ, FJ/SJ, and BJ).