Giants' Feagles could punt to the roof

Jeff Feagles hit the roof of the Giants' indoor practice facility five times with his punts on Thursday.

"He was practicing," Tom Coughlin said with a smile.

Of course Coughlin was referring to the controversial video board that hovers 90 feet above the field at the new home of the Dallas Cowboys. There have been two preseason games played there already, but on Sunday the Giants will be the first regular-season guests. And that means Feagles could be the first punter to plant a football right in the center of those hi-def pixels.

Or maybe he won't.

"I don't want that distinction," Feagles said Thursday. Unlike Coughlin, he wasn't smiling.

"They told them to build it at 85 feet or whatever and they built it at 90," Feagles said. "The rule itself is there and if it happens — and obviously it has (in the preseason) — you just have to deal with it."

The rule calls for a dead ball and a re-kick if a punt hits the video board. That's why Thursday, when Feagles was clanking them off the roof, the Giants were actually working on having their gunners and punt coverage team take their time coming back to the line of scrimmage so they can catch their breath.

Because it would be a disadvantage for the punting team to have footballs hit the board, and because Feagles is so precise at angling his kicks, it seems unlikely that it will happen on Sunday night. Still, it seems to be something people are curious about.

Sunday Night Football producer Fred Gaudelli said he'll be in position in case it happens. "In a regular game, we're not tracking the ball on a punt, we're actually just moving down the field to show the coverage go after the returner," he said on a conference call Thursday. "But we're going to start initially tracking the ball live because obviously people are going to be wondering about that right away."

Even the T.G.I. Friday's restaurant chain has gotten into the frenzy, offering free appetizers if a punt hits the video board on Sunday night.

While Feagles downplayed the probability of hitting the board, he'll certainly be able to do it if he wants to. At least in warm-ups, just like some people can't pass an awning or street sign without jumping up to touch it, Feagles will have his chance to hit it. At 90 feet, can he?

"I can tell you that if I do hit it, it will be a heck of a punt," Feagles said. "Our practice facility here is 80 feet and I'm really hitting the top of that. Another 10 feet is pretty high."



(newsday.com)