Pointed Words From Antrel Rolle Help to Sharpen Focus

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — They were 12 minutes 58 seconds that pivoted the Giants’ season, but safety Antrel Rolle has said all along that he was just speaking his mind.

If a sound bite can turn around a season, Rolle provided it when he criticized the Giants for what he saw as a lack of leadership after a Sept. 19 loss to the Colts. He sent a message — transmitted over radio waves to his coaches, his teammates and thousands of listeners — that reverberated loudly at the Giants’ practice facility in the short time it took to conduct an interview.

“I don’t care what changed the season,” Rolle said last week after practice. “As long as it changed. And as long as we’re heading in the direction we’re heading now, the sky is the limit for us.”

The Giants (6-2), who host the Dallas Cowboys (1-7) on Sunday, have won five of six games since Rolle criticized them on the sports-talk radio station WFAN, their performance improving each time on the field.

The mood of the team has changed decidedly from the dismal end of last season and the frustrating start to this one. The Giants are buoyant and confident. Players joke with one another on the sidelines. The defense has hit its stride under the first-year defensive coordinator Perry Fewell, who gets into the middle of the defense before games and fires up the players like a preacher. The members of the secondary have a dance competition before kickoff.

“I definitely think it was for the better of the team,” Rolle said of his critical comments. “I only did it for the better of the team. Not taking credit for anything, but I think it woke a lot of people up.”

It may have taken an outsider’s perspective to help change the mood surrounding the Giants. After playing five seasons with the Arizona Cardinals, Rolle signed a five-year contract with the Giants in March.

On the field, Rolle has been a valuable component of the secondary, one of the three safeties the Giants deploy simultaneously to confuse opposing offenses. In the locker room, Rolle has also been a noticeable presence.

“He could stand up and speak and people would listen,” Rick Courtright, the Cardinals’ assistant defensive backs coach, said in a telephone interview during training camp. “It’s my belief guys earn the right to do that with their performance on the field. I think his performance and his track record has earned that.”

Last season, the Giants lost 8 of their final 11 games, a tailspin that left some players disgruntled, a defensive coordinator jobless and an owner fuming. Their poor play seemed to carry over into this season. They were not impressive in a Week 1 win over the overmatched Carolina Panthers, but it was a sluggish 38-14 loss to Indianapolis Colts on Sept. 19 that led to Rolle’s comments.

Two days after that loss, Rolle made his weekly appearance on “Joe and Evan,” hosted by Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts. Rolle started the interview by saying the Giants looked flat in Indianapolis. Then Benigno asked if the Giants would be ready for their next game.

“I’m assuming your team will be ready this game, though,” he said. “They won’t be too relaxed before the game. Is that fair to say?”

Rolle replied: “That shouldn’t be the case. I saw some things that I wasn’t too fond of in that locker room. I felt like there was no one that stepped up to the plate when the opportunity presented itself.”

Suddenly, the Giants found themselves in the headlines, and for the wrong reasons.

Rolle did not realize that he had caused a disturbance by sharing his sentiment on the radio until he arrived at the Giants’ practice facility the next day and saw a swarm of reporters around his locker.

“Rolle was from a culture in Arizona that had to learn how to win, and they did it well,” Carl Banks, an All-Pro linebacker who played with the Giants from 1984 to 1992, said in a recent interview. “When he came in and he started to notice some things, he spoke up. And I have no problem with that. And I think none of his teammates had a problem with it. They probably welcomed it.”

Not everyone welcomed it. Coach Tom Coughlin called a meeting with Rolle to address the matter; he asked Rolle what he saw and how things could be improved. Rolle also discussed his statements with Justin Tuck, the soft-spoken defensive end who was elected a captain in September and has been encouraged to take a greater leadership role. The issue for Coughlin and Tuck was not the content of the message, but the manner in which it was delivered.

Still, the Giants’ next game seemed to underscore Rolle’s comments. They beat themselves with sloppy and undisciplined play in a 29-10 loss to the Tennessee Titans, when they had 3 turnovers and were called for 11 penalties. Many players, though, said that game indicated that they had talent, but they needed the focus to match.

“I think that made a huge difference,” cornerback Terrell Thomas said of the week of the Titans game. “I think we just had enough of it.”

The Giants have not lost since. Perhaps the moment most indicative of the change in the team came in their first game against the Cowboys, on Oct. 25. Down by 20-7 in the second quarter, the Giants did not slouch. Tuck paced the sidelines encouraging his teammates, making his presence felt and heard, but without overreacting. The Giants scored 31 unanswered points and won, 41-35.

For his candid contribution to the turnaround, Rolle earned a towel bearing a profane saying that referred to his unvarnished assessment of the team.

After the Giants’ win over the Cowboys three weeks ago, Rolle had another bold statement to make in his subsequent weekly radio appearance.

“We are the best team in the N.F.L.,” Rolle said. “And that’s hands down.”

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(nytimes.com)