Antrel Rolle finally finds solid ground with help from safeties coach

INDIANAPOLIS — The text message is saved in David Merritt’s phone for quick access.

That’s how much it means to Merritt, to Antrel Rolle and to the Giants’ Super Bowl season.

Antrel stay the course my young brother! Putting coaching aside you are right where God would have you to be at this point in your life and career. Find out through prayer WHY are you here? What lesson is to be learned or who are you supposed to help here on this team or in this area!!!
Merritt paused as he read the text aloud.

“Now we’re going outside of football: ‘in this area,’” he said before continuing.

Know that God has US here for a reason & sometimes a season. You may get that chance to leave in the end but WE must finish this season the right way, working unto God & not man!

This was 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 18 — roughly three hours after the Giants inexplicably lost to the lowly Washington Redskins and 2½ hours following Rolle’s ripping unnamed players who don’t practice through some hurts during the week.

At 7-7 and facing a second straight season without a trip to the playoffs, Rolle was griping via text to the Giants’ safeties coach about the defensive game plans and the lack of in-game adjustments.

The key line in Merritt’s message (“You may get that chance to leave in the end ...&rdquo was in reference to conversations Rolle had with the Giants’ staff.

He was unhappy with his role as the nickel cornerback. He was angry and considered Perry Fewell’s schemes inflexible. And for a few months by that point, he was hoping his time as a Giant would soon be over.

“He kept telling us he wanted out,” Merritt told The Star-Ledger.

Now, not so much.

In only a few weeks, the Giants’ loudest voice has gone from complaining to offering only constructive commentary about every facet of the team, including coach Tom Coughlin, with whom he’d previously clashed. He’s a content, high-energy inspiration for those around him and his turnaround has galvanized Coughlin as well as his teammates.

Many were involved in helping Rolle through the process. None has gotten less due so far than Merritt and his text-message therapy.

“Dave Merritt has helped me a lot. We’ve had a lot of 1-on-1 personal conversations, not anything about football, but about life in general,” Rolle said Thursday. “And he’s also a huge reason why I was able to buy into playing my role as a nickel (cornerback). I was extremely frustrated after the Washington game.”

According to Merritt, Rolle’s frustrations first boiled over after the victory over the Arizona Cardinals in October.

“There were a couple of things that happened during the game and I kind of critiqued him on it,” said Merritt, who is the only defensive coach who has been with the Giants since Coughlin arrived in 2004. “Although he played a fabulous game, I just wanted to get a point across about technique. And from that point on, we started butting heads a little bit.”

So began a couple of contentious, delicate months. Rolle was hot and Merritt tried to cool him down.

A linebacker for the Miami Dolphins and Cardinals from 1993-96, Merritt understood Rolle’s gripes about Fewell not making in-game adjustments. Merritt explained those changes couldn’t be made because the Giants had rookie linebackers Jacquian Williams and Greg Jones on the field.
And during the Washington game, rookie cornerback Prince Amukamara saw a lot of action in the first half.

“You’re right in a sense. But at the same time, we’re right by not putting all of this pressure on these young players,” Merritt recalls telling Rolle. “If you start to say at halftime, ‘Let’s do this now,’ it’ll blow those kids’ minds.”

Merritt wasn’t alone in trying to convince Rolle. Safety Deon Grant, general manager Jerry Reese and his family all had conversations with him.
And then, there was the chat he had with Fewell.

“He said, ‘Trel, you have to think about it this way: You and Deon are tight, right?’ I said, ‘Yeah,’ ” Rolle recalled. “He said, ‘Y’all are like brothers. How many more opportunities do you think he’s going to get to actually reach a Super Bowl?’ And when I thought about that, it actually brought tears to my eyes.

“From that point on, I never saw the game about me. I never saw the game about anything having to deal with me. I saw the game about my teammates, I saw the game about Coach Coughlin and I saw the game most of all about Deon Grant.”

Rolle and Fewell are fuzzy on the timeline of that meeting, though it sounds like it was right around the time of Merritt’s text message.
And now, just listen to Rolle.

“It really doesn’t matter to me if I play another down at safety again as a Giant,” Rolle said. “As long as we have a ‘W,’ at the end of the day, I’m good with that.”

Merritt was asked if he sees any similarities between himself and Rolle. He wanted to say yes so very badly, so he paused and tried to stifle a grin.

“No,” he finally said with a laugh. “He’s so outgoing and I am not as outgoing as he is. He doesn’t lack confidence. Maybe that’s the one thing I identify with in what I do and what I can do as a coach.

“But other than that, no. Not his swagger, not his dress. ...”

Then again, maybe these two are more in tune than they think because, in answering a question about butting heads with Rolle, Merritt said: “At the end of the day, when you approach him after you’ve had that disagreement, you go right back and say, ‘Do you understand what I’m saying? Is everything cool?’ And as long as he can look me in the eye and say, ‘Yeah I got you, Coach. I’m good.’”

Sorry but we missed the last half of that. We were too busy snickering after the “at the end of the day” part.

“There ya go! That’s an Antrel-ism!” Merritt exclaimed. “As a matter of fact, maybe he got it from me, to be honest with you.

“I’m going to give it to him, though.”


(nj.com)