T-Rock's Take on the Giants

Caught up with Justin Tuck at the launch of his Tuck’s R.U.S.H. for Literacy initiative today at the Sports Museum of America. It’s always interesting to see guys away from the office (or locker room, as the case may be). Anyway, since we were discussing it here on the blog, I asked him if he ever stops to compare last year’s defense to this year’s.

“Last year’s defense helped us win a Super Bowl,” he said. “Until we can do that, regardless of where our stats are or anything of that nature, we’re nowhere near that level. I don’t want to start comparing the two.”

A few other thoughts he shared that will be in the paper tomorrow:

He thought he should have gone to the Pro Bowl last season.

He sees himself as a much more quiet personality than Strahan was.

He believes that without his “apprenticeship” of three years playing behind (or beside) Strahan and Umenyiora, he wouldn’t be as good as he is now.

“Having an opportunity to work with Michael and Osi really allowed me to not have the pressure of being in the game all game, allowed me to work on the things that I needed to work on to become a complete defensive end,” he said.

As for the program, it brings a focus on the joy of reading to children in the New York metro area and will donate over 4,000 new books and introduce Tuck’s Book Club, in which kids will read four books throughout the fall semester and write essays for a chance to be Justin’s guest at a home Giants game.