I’m All In On Giants New GM David ‘Get ‘Em’ Gettleman

The New York Giants hired former Carolina Panthers General Manager Dave Gettleman to take over for Jerry Reese and his hiring has already paid dividends. Here’s why Giants fans like me are SUPER excited about Get ‘Em Gettleman.

Wow. It’s been a whirlwind three days for the Giants new GM Dave Gettleman. My man was hired on the Friday before New Year’s Day, had his introductory press conference that same day, and made some swift moves before the Giants played the Redskins on Sunday.

Big Blue View had some key takeaways from the press conference, but I thought I’d toss my own out there:

“I hope Santa made a visit or you got a Hanukkah visit.”

Straight out the gate, Gettleman lets it be known that he’s inclusive but goofy as hell. How does a holiday visit you? I’m not Jewish, but I believe Hanukkah means “dedication.” Right off the bat, we know Gettleman wants his beat reporters to be as dedicated as he’ll be.

“In terms of building a team, my philosophy – I have a saying that I learned from – you’re going to look at me like I’m nuts – ‘All in the Family’, Archie Bunker – every man is my equal in that I may learn from him, and I’ve thought about that since the ‘60s when I first heard it.”

Not gonna lie, I flat out didn’t get this quote from Gettleman. For a couple reasons:

1) I never watched All in the Family and

B) it doesn’t make sense.

I had to Google it. And, well, Gettleman got the quote wrong. In a couple ways:

A) the quote is “Every man is my superior in that I may learn from him”. THAT makes sense to me. And

2) it’s not Archie Bunker’s quote.

It was a famous quote on George’s certificate from the episode titled, “Gloria’s Boyfriend” in 1974. The original quote is by Scottish writer Thomas Carlyle and was inverted by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Not to mention, it wasn’t the ’60s, it was 1974. Butcher city for Davey G, BUT you get the point. Dude’s all about continuing to learn.

“I’m going to invoke an old Tuna saying – don’t talk about the pain, just show me the baby. So, that’s the way it’s going to operate.”

Summoning the spirit of Bill Parcells can’t hurt. Lawrence Taylor said Bill turned the Giants team into a bus station. Gettleman’s words and actions thus far indicate he’s cut from the same cloth. All aboard! Next stop: Super Bowl.

“…[A]t the end of the day, it’s the same three things you had to do in ’35 that you got to do now in 2018. You got to run the ball. You got to stop the run. You got to pressure the passer.”

The Giants defense was able to stop the run in 2016 because the defense stayed healthy and the offense *sort of* helped by not going three and out a million times.

When the defense is on the field all the time, they get tired, mistakes happen, and stopping the run goes out the window with pressuring the QB. It’s the offense’s responsibility to keep the defense fresh.

To do that, the offense has to chew up clock, keep the ball, sustain long drives. To do that, the offense has to run the rock. They did it against the ‘Skins, but Washington was in full mail-it-in mode. I’m still baffled by how they did it against Denver.

So, is the answer Saquon Barkley? Or is it the offensive line? I like Darkwa and Gallman, but Orleans has issues catching the ball and gets dinged up a lot. Gallman has fumble-itis and drop issues. Shane Vereen is almost certainly gone and Paul Perkins… woof. What a fall from grace for Perk. On the bright side, the competition should breed excellence.

“Another philosophy about team building, Tom said it to me. Tom Coughlin said it to me my first year, his first when he came in here. He said big men allow you to compete, and that’s really just so true. The o-line and the d-line, I believe in the hog mollies.”

Can’t go wrong citing another head coach that’s won the franchise’s other two Super Bowls. And casually throwing “hog mollies” out there? Never seen that term before, but it’s love at first sight for me. Let’s pop some hog mollies, y’all.

“My plan is to come in here every day and kick ass. That’s my plan, OK? And I’m going to keep doing it until they either take my key card or the Lord calls me home.”

McAdoo mentioned the key card before he was shown the door, so that gave me nasty flashbacks. Also, “the Lord calls me home” is such a folksy way of referencing death. He’s like a Disney version of Ride or Die.

“Don’t cry a violin. I drove 10 hours last night and got up here at 10 o’clock at night and let me tell you something – 14 degrees. I mean, I only came from 34, so it wasn’t like a big, huge, but you know, it was a little breezy when I got my fanny out of the car.”

What? Let’s deconstruct ‘Don’t cry a violin’ for a hot sec. It’s a mashup of ‘don’t cry for me, Argentina’, ‘don’t cry over spilled milk’, and “this is the world’s smallest violin playing just for you”. I kinda get the gist and I have a feeling that’s the gist of Gettleman.

“For example, I’m going to talk about a defensive back. So, people will say he can’t cover man. So, I look at him and say, ‘OK, tell me why.’ Don’t just make a blanket statement. Tell me why. I want to know why. I want you to break it down… Everybody is going to get a fair shake. Believe it.”

Bobby Hart’s fair shake with Gettleman was his first and last.

“Cheese and crackers.”

I mean. Wow. Am I watching the edited version of a Vince Vaughn movie on cable? Dave’s like a born-again tough guy.

“We’ve got to fix the o-line, let’s be honest. Let’s not kid each other. I told you at the top, big men allow you to compete and that’s what we’ve got to fix.”

Aaaaaahhhhh. The most refreshing statement of all-time. What in the world was Jerry Reese thinking?

“There’s two kinds of players in this league, folks. There are guys that play professional football and there are professional football players. And the professional football players are the guys we want. I don’t want guys that want to win. I want guys that hate to lose. That’s the professional football player. That’s what you want. So, it’s important.”

For me, this is the quote that will stick with me. Odell Beckham hates to lose. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie hates to lose. Eli Apple has to take a shit. I’m more surprised Apple survived the initial bloodbath than anything else.

John Mara still wants him around and believes he can part of the team’s future. Brandon Marshall claims he can help Apple, but I’m not so sure Marshall will be around to see that plan through. According to NJ.com’s James Kratch, “the Giants can move to void the remaining guaranteed money in his contract, which will make it significantly easier to cut or trade him after this season.”

“People get cut all the time, you say, ‘Whoa!’ you know?”

Did I think Bobby Hart would get cut before his rookie contract was up? No. At this point, after what I’ve read, I don’t even think Hart got to shake Gettleman’s hand before his key card stopped working.

However, after re-watching the presser, it seems Gettleman was talking about a guy like DJ Fluker, who was a former first-rounder for the Chargers was cut then picked up by the Giants and plugged into the lineup with favorable results.

Gettleman’s gashing is far from done and I can’t wait to see what he’s got in store for us. If you were a Jerry Reese draft choice from 2013-2017, you’re on notice. Who knows what Get ‘Em is capable of? He could just wish Justin Pugh and Weston Richburg bon voyage and release Ereck Flowers. What a time to be alive.

“We’re going to work our fannies off and we’re going to get it fixed.”

The guy loves the word ‘fanny’. He probably has every fanny pack known to man. Probably made a few custom ones of his own.

Gettleman’s like the nice guy dad who doesn’t take any guff. Christ, he’s got me talking like him. Get ’em, Dave!

In short, I love what Gettleman’s said and done so far:

1. Vote of confidence for Eli
2. Hasn’t judged Odell, seems like a deal is possible
3. Determined to fix offensive line / running game
4. Won’t quit on talent
5. Emphasis on improving locker room culture

Start printing the ‘Don’t cry a violin’ t-shirts!