Palladino: Giants Must Change To Regain Moral High Ground
By Ernie Palladino
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Even John Mara and Steve Tisch would have to admit that the Giants have had a rough first half of the season.
We're not talking about records here. A 5-3 mark after Sunday's 28-23 win over the Eagles puts them in prime position for a playoff spot. They're in good shape where that is concerned.
In the court of public opinion, though, not so much.
Long known as the classiest team in the NFL, the Giants have had a rough first half. Put in simple football terms, they've committed plenty of turnovers, and their reputation has taken a huge sack as a result.
The moral veneer the team has burnished for decades accumulated a lot of tarnish over the past nine weeks, and it's going to take a little more than a good wax job to restore it.
Before we begin to explore remedies to a situation that ranges from Odell Beckham Jr.'s behavior to Josh Brown's domestic abuse, to the confusion between abuse victim Annie Apple's tweets and her first-round son, let's remind ourselves that above and beyond all else that Mara and Tisch run a professional football team. Their main goals involve profit, wins and, ultimately, Super Bowl trophies.
Control of the moral high ground is hardly a prerequisite of successful ownership. Ask Jerry Jones, who had no trouble signing a miscreant like Greg Hardy last year because he needed pass-rush help. The NFC East-leading Cowboys are doing just fine this year without him. But if Jones ever finds fault with his kicking game, would anyone be surprised if he started sniffing around Brown if Roger Goodell frees him from the commissioner's exempt list before season's end?
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Moral standing has never sat high on Jones' priority list. And the Giants have proved over the last few weeks that they stand with, not above, your average football franchise.
But there's the problem. The Giants have long cherished a reputation as moral leaders in a violent, often immoral sport. Late owner Wellington Mara was a daily communicant and was an active figure in the New York Archdiocese until the day he died. The franchise remains a great friend to the police and an unparalleled supporter of the armed forces.
Since 1997, the Giants have given financial support to My Sister's Place, a shelter for abused women and their children.
They like the classy image. It truly has meant something to them. Yet, they have only themselves to blame in their recent fall from public grace.
It was the coaching staff who allowed Beckham to continue on last year's path of emotional irresponsibility with an embarrassing spate of fracases with opponents and the kicking net. Oddly, Beckham apologized only to the net, with whom he seems to have developed a deep, abiding love.
It was management who signed Brown in April, knowing full well that he had abused his wife. The fact that he was an extraordinary kicker superseded his domestic transgressions until further details sprang from his journal with the impact of a Ray Rice elevator video and forced management's hand to cut him loose.
Even then, there was more sympathy for Brown than support for his ex-wife. Teammates stuck by him when they should have excoriated him. Even Eli Manning, the first face seen in the league's anti-domestic violence "No More" ad campaign, couldn't bring himself to say that an abuser like Brown had no place in his locker room.
It took the mother of the team's other Eli, first-round cornerback Eli Apple, to say that. On SI.com, no less. Annie Apple boycotted the London game two weeks ago, writing of her unwillingness to support a team that "turned its back on what was right to protect an image."
Apple, herself a survivor of abuse, later accused the Giants of leaning on her son to get her to temper her opinions, an allegation Eli Apple disputed.
Lack of on-field discipline and disregard for off-field violence and its victims got the Giants into this public relations mess.
An overall change in attitude is what can get them out of it.
It wouldn't hurt over these final weeks if, at some point, Mara and Tisch took a definitive stand against miscreants of all types.
Create some new team policies.
Smack your wife or girlfriend, you're out. No case-by-case treatment. Forget about graduated scales of severity. If one shred of evidence reveals a raised hand to one's significant other, goodbye.
Coach Ben McAdoo can help, too. Whenever Beckham acts up, be it jumping ugly on a cornerback downfield or ripping off his helmet for a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after a touchdown, sit him the rest of the game.
Fines rarely control a player's flame. Put him on the sideline, and you'll see how fast he settles down.
Of course, the goal of winning games and exciting the fan base comes first. But for a franchise that has prided itself on its standards of behavior, sacrificing some performance to regain the moral high ground might be worth the investment.
The last thing they need is more embarrassing distractions as the primary issue -- the chase for a playoff spot -- heats up the final eight games.
And, yes, it would be nice to have again at least one NFL team that values at least an old college try at clean living.
The Giants used to be that team. With a little effort, they can become that team again.
But that's up to them.
Please follow Ernie on Twitter at @ErniePalladino
