T-Rock's Take on the Giants

Shaun O’Hara clarified his remarks made yesterday which many of us in the media took as a swipe at Plaxico Burress and, in some ways, Jeremy Shockey. That whole “You’re either with us or against us” speech. Today he said his remarks were aimed more towards the outside influences (us) than his teammates.

So I went back to the transcript, and while there is some wiggle room for him, I think it’s pretty clear we’re talking about players on the team. Here are the questions and his answers, in the exact order they took place at the end of the interview:

Q: Tom did say it was the team-first concept that helped you guys win a championship. It can be a distraction, especially when you get to training camp, guys who put personal matters, business matters first. Do you think that this team is strong enough in that locker room to withstand those types of distractions?

A: Absolutely. I think we proved it last year, that the team-first concept overcomes everything and whether players like it or not this team is going to move forward. There certainly will be another center playing in my position when I’m done, and that goes for every position along the line. You’re either with us or against us, and I think the players are doing a good job of focusing on their daily tasks and their jobs. As long as we all continue to do that, this team will succeed.

Q: Does it surprise you that the Burress issue is a big thing?

A: I think it’s a disservice to the other guys who are out there doing their job and practicing. To focus on the negative is, you know, sometimes we expect that. But there’s a lot of guys out there doing good things every day. We have a lot of young guys who are getting good reps.

Q: Do you blame a guy for going out there trying to get as much as he’s worth?

A: I think there’s a right way to do things. I’ve always felt that as a player you go out there and you put your best foot forward and as long as you’re giving 100 percent effort every time, you’ll be taken care of.

So while Burress wasn’t mentioned by name in that final question, it was a follow-up to the Burress question and, I thought, pretty clear what was being discussed. Like I said, there is room for deniability, but it’s slim and O’Hara is certainly using it. He said today that he didn’t speak with Plaxico today and didn’t feel the need to because everyone in the locker room knows he wouldn’t say anything like that about a teammate.

Gotta run. Drew Rosenhaus is in the building and Jerry Reese is walking the tunnels with a cellphone pinned to his ear.