Keyboard Quarterbacks

By Adam Abramson

The Giants went Tiki Barber on everyone in their final game of the season.

Jeremy Shockey was playing cheerleader on the sidelines. You didn’t see a special teamer elevate four inches for a jump shot after a kickoff return tackle. Plaxico Burress didn’t piss anyone off.

Outside of the incident with Jon Runyan and Barry Cofield (which should have cost the Eagles and not been offsetting), the Giants had a new attitude on Sunday in Philadelphia.

But, it was too late to make nice.

This season was a Big Blue disaster when you consider the potential the Giants had after a 6-2 start.

Don’t call me crazy, Tom Coughlin knows what I’m talking about: “I know that we're in a mood and we've been that way most of the year, where it's all negative. But it isn't all negative.”

And he’s right. It’s not all negative when you have Tiki Barber on your team. I don’t know if there’s a better ambassador for the NFL, but now that’s gone.

So was New York’s positive attitude against Philly desperation? Did they finally realize the bad boy persona is so 1992? Perhaps it’s a new year’s resolution.

I am akin to think it’s the former, but who knows. What I do know is that except for the Chicago Bears and the mighty Rex Grossman, there aren’t many teams that DON’T go as its quarterback goes. And while it looked like every Giant had turned a new leaf on Sunday, Eli Manning looked like…well…Eli Manning.

You know what I’m talking about, the Eli Manning face. I didn’t invent this phenomenon. A lot of teams have a guy that has the face. There’s the Isiah Thomas face (Isiah knows how to smile, unlike Eli), Frank Beamer face (which I’m all too familiar with), Steve Spurrier face (which just screams “disappointed dad” when you screw up), George Steinbrenner face (One of these days fire will shoot from his eyes, killing Melky Cabrera), etc.

I give major props to Shockey for channeling his energy in such a positive manner on Sunday. I thought it was pretty refreshing. However, the part that stood out to me most (besides the helmet flying off and him taking on four Eagles to get a first down with one ankle) was when he came to the sideline and talked to his field general. The camera shows him going over something with Eli, but you can tell he’s being extremely positive about it. What does he get back in return? The Eli Manning face, of course. And it was a half-Eli Manning face, he pretty much just walked away.

I even saw Plaxico doing the right thing on the sidelines (again, read: Didn't piss anyone off).

Either way, it’s over for now. But if the Giants can take anything from this year it’s that the jump shot, finger pointing, Eli Manning face and all the other circus acts need to go.

And if Tiki can leave anything behind, that positive attitude would be a good start.