Preseason wraps up tonight; Barden, Coughlin deliver speeches

The Giants travel to New England to finish their preseason schedule against the Patriots tonight.  Tom Coughlin and his staff will have to make a lot of cuts over the next few days to get the roster down to 53, so this game will serve as a gauge for that.  It will also be the annual game in which coaches pray their starters do not get hurt….Patriots’ QB Tom Brady probably won’t play, and Eli Manning and the rest of the Giants’ starters will likely play one quarter, if that. 

Meanwhile, at the team’s annual kickoff luncheon yesterday, the Giants were surprised by rookie WR Ramses Barden.  The rookie was chosen this year to be “hazed,” as his teammates told him he had to make a speech in front of the entire organization about what it meant to be a Giant.  They do this every year but then tell the player it was a joke when he reaches the podium.  But the surprise was on the Giants when Barden actually wanted to make his speech, and that speech earned the young player a standing ovation.  Here is a portion of it:

“The New York Football Giants believe in the long-standing values of competition, integrity, courage and toughness and have afforded me an opportunity to partake in such a tradition. It’s a great feeling to be part of an organization that knows how to win and has no tolerance for anything less.”

Along with Barden, coach Tom Coughlin fired his players up as he does every year, by reminding them about how disappointing the end to last season was, and how they needed to fix that this year and make another Super Bowl run. 

Tags: Giants, kickoff luncheon, New England, Patriots, preseason, Ramses Barden, Tom Brady, Tom Coughlin