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  • Giants Defensive Backs Stink

    MADISON BLUES
    By PAUL SCHWARTZ

    August 4, 2006 -- ALBANY - Before Sam Madison ever stepped foot on the field here for training camp, he was asked if he still had something to prove.

    Entering his 10th season in the NFL, armed with four Pro Bowl appearances and 31 interceptions on his resume, Madison has done plenty of proving. But he has done nothing yet with the Giants.

    "I still have something to prove to Coach [Tom] Coughlin," Madison said. "And you have a lot of other guys who heard about you playing in Miami and it doesn't matter what they have heard. It is what you do today."

    It is what you do every day when you're a newcomer, and Madison, 32, has not hit the ground running as the shut-down cornerback the Giants need him to be. It's early and this might not matter once Sept. 10 rolls around and he's lining up against Marvin Harrison and the Colts.

    On his way here, Madison was driving his white Mercedes and slammed into a deer, causing extensive damage to the car's front end and untold horror for the deer. On the first play of camp, Amani Toomer ran by Madison and was hit in stride by Eli Manning on a deep post that Madison didn't come near.

    He's been around the ball but hasn't gotten his hand on it very often. This Wednesday, Willie Ponder broke free on Madison, but Manning's pass sailed out of reach.

    "He's been doing OK," Coughlin said of Madison.

    As the key ingredient in the renovation of the defensive backfield, Madison is the first player the Giants targeted in free agency. They pounced on him as soon as the market opened up, signing him to a four-year, $5.6 million deal. No one in Miami believed Madison was finished, but word out of Dolphins camp was that he no longer was a star corner and was descending as far as his effectiveness.

    The Giants don't need him to be a Pro Bowl player, but they do need him to be quite good, in addition to serving as a rock of stability for Corey Webster, who in his second year moves into a starting corner spot.

    "When I was with the Jets and we were playing them every week, it seemed like you looked at Sam Madison, he was the face we tried to stay away from," said David Merritt, who along with Peter Giunta coaches the Giants' secondary. "Now with the Giants, he's on my team. Hopefully that's going to bring the fear here for us from other teams."

    Early in any camp there's a decided advantage for receivers going against defensive backs, because there's no hitting, no real pass rush, and numerous 7-on-7 passing drills that greatly favor the offense. Madison said he doesn't consider himself off to a slow start and ensures all who will listen not to worry.

    "I'm doing well," he said. "When people talk about 'they're catching balls' they're not looking at the defense. Any defense any team plays, there's holes in defenses. The whole thing is, how close are you? I'm not the fastest person, I'm not the biggest person, but I think I get things done."

    Having Madison excel is not a luxury for the Giants, it's a necessity; the secondary last season was the weak link of the defense. Madison was signed to fill the void left by the departure of Will Allen, whom the Giants had little interest in keeping and who eventually replaced Madison with the Dolphins.

    "I have a lot of young guys here, they say, 'I used to watch you play on PlayStation;' they're looking for big things from me," Madison said. "Maybe I can rub off on 'em and maybe they can learn something."
    Carson Wentz ERA


    NFC East Titles:
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