November 19, 2009
I feel like the bye week happened at a perfect time for us. It’s a great time to get everybody back on the field, get everybody healed up. It’s the latest in a season I’ve ever had a bye week and we’ve got a tough stretch ahead of us.
We haven't played our best football the past couple of weeks but that is history. And the best thing is we still control our own destiny. The NFL is made in late November and December, when all the teams are making their playoff push, getting ready to play their best to get into the postseason.
It was nice to get away from football, to sit around watching NFL games all day on Sunday, but now everybody is excited to be back and about the opportunity in front of us. What happened in the past is in the past, the only way to erase it is to take care of now, starting with the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.
You hear the criticism, bits and pieces here and there, but I don’t read the newspapers and I don’t listen to the sports shows. I understand the fans are disappointed, but it’s even more disappointing for us as a team because we have high expectations. We feel it just as much as the most loyal Giants fans. We know we haven’t played our best football, but now we’re doing whatever we can to get back on course and play confident Giants football.
The bye week was a good time to recharge and regroup, now we’re back on the grind for the next seven weeks of the season. It’s going to take extra work from all of us. If you think you’ve worked hard, then work a little more. All of us are competitors and we’re pissed off about where we are right now. The only way to get back is to go back to the drawing board, use the bye week to evaluate yourself, what you have done well, what needs improvement, then make any negatives into a positive and make the positives even stronger.
We had a great practice today, guys had a lot of energy, flying around, having a lot of fun but with a business attitude. Everybody is spending extra time on the field and in the film room so we can leave it all out on the field on Sunday, so after the game no one can say they didn’t do absolutely everything they could to be prepared to play their best football. That’s how you build your confidence.
I stayed after practice and worked extra with Dave Tollefson to make sure I’m doing everything I can to be ready both physically and mentally. We were doing some extra pass-rush drills because the Falcons have a good group coming in. They have an array of different guys that they rotate, Abraham, Davis, Biermann, and Anderson. They’re not a huge D-line but they play physical and they play fast, they play with a lot of confidence, lots of twists and line stunts. They rush open side ends and tight end side ends, they slant the D-line while applying pressure with their linebackers, they try to change it up and keep you off-balance.
Tomorrow I’ll be hitting it hard again in practice, making sure there’s nothing else I can do to make sure I’m ready to leave it all out on the field on Sunday. I know every guy in this locker room is ready to sell out for every other guy.
Dave Diehl is an offensive lineman for the New York Giants. His blog for www.playerpress.com runs at www.davediehl66.com. Find him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/davediehl66.
October 15, 2009
As an athlete and a competitor there is nothing better than a challenge. This week, the Saints are going to be an excellent challenge. They’re 4-0 and coming off a bye week and out playing us at home so I know they’re going to be fired up and excited. We’ll be on the road so we have to get off to a fast start and match their intensity.
As always, we’re ready for a 60-minute fist fight, and it’s going to take good, smart football to go in there and come away with a win.
Everybody is talking about the Saints offense putting up a league-best 36 points per game and controlling time of possession. Nobody is really talking about their defense, which has given up only 16 points per game and an average of only 83 on the ground. It’s going to be a great test for our offense. We have to play our game, do what we need to do to become successful and come away from New Orleans with a win.
Obviously we’re going to focus on getting the running game going, making sure to keep momentum on our side, which is especially important on the road, convert third downs and control the clock so we keep our defense fresh and their offense off the field. That’s how you have success on the road. The Super Dome will be a loud, hostile environment. The city of New Orleans is going to be alive and fired up come Sunday so we’ve been working in practice with crowd noise. We do all that so when we get there, we can focus on our job, which is to win a football game.
I think it’s been awesome to see the development of our offense. But even though we’re 5-0, nobody is satisfied. Nobody is content with where we’re at, they continue to raise the bar and push each other to become better players and a better unit. It’s great to see Brandon and Ahmad push each other, to see Eli working with the receivers, constantly talking it out to make the routes crisper. That’s the true sign of a good team. That’s when you see the character of a team, when things are going well but they keep working to improve and do better.
This team continues to push the buttons, to do whatever needs to be done to be a better team. It starts with preparation and crisp practices, where guys are flying around. Everyone spends extra time with their playbooks. I always see guys at the facility all the time.
The schedule gets tougher as the season progresses, we’re going to keep playing better and better teams. But we don’t care about that because we’re not looking ahead. The only important game right now is against the Saints, because that’s the next game.
Dave Diehl is an offensive lineman for the New York Giants. His blog for www.playerpress.com runs at www.davediehl66.com. Find him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/davediehl66.
October 8, 2009
We’ve got Oakland this week at home. Though they don’t have a great record, from the standpoint of an offensive lineman this will be a tough game. They have a very good front four with Richard Seymour, Greg Ellis, Tommy Kelly and Gerard Warren, they’re all veterans with a ton of experience.
Those guys all line up and play hard and they have a good linebacking crew behind them. They’re fast, downhill running linebackers who aren’t afraid to fill a hole and aren’t afraid to hit. So as an offensive line it’s going to be an awesome game and an awesome challenge.
The Raiders have good players but they also play well together. Their schemes are designed well for them and it will be exciting for us to match up with such a good front seven.
I believe that in every NFL game, the battle is won or lost between the offensive and defensive lines.
Some of the guys are nicked up a bit, but you just have to fight through it. There’s nothing you can do about it, this is the NFL and everyone has bumps and bruises and whatever. But being an NFL player, you are a Sunday Warrior, you do whatever it is that you have to do to be out there on the field and fight through it. When you win the football game, it makes it all worth it.
It was great to win three games on the road. It’s a great accomplishment but that’s in the past. We’re moving forward with our season and we’re excited to be back at home playing at Giants Stadium. No planes, no trains, no busses this week. To be able to play in our own environment with our home crowd, to have that intensity, will be a great boost for us.
When we play at home we always talk about getting off to a fast start to get the crowd into it. That really makes it a tough place for our opponent to play. We’re just fired up to have the home crowd rally behind us, and we’re ready to do whatever we need to do to come out with another win.
Dave Diehl is an offensive lineman for the New York Giants. His blog for www.playerpress.com runs at www.davediehl66.com. Find him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/davediehl66.
October 1, 2009
When fans look at the weekend’s NFL matchups, they use records as one of their main aspects in determining who is going to win. But it’s not that easy. Winning games in the NFL is tough. Everybody on the outside looking in is saying that Kansas City should be an easy game for us, but that doesn’t matter. As a player you can’t allow yourself to think that way.
If you don’t come to play, you’re gonna get your butt kicked. It’s part of the job of being a professional athlete, you have to be prepared to play, no matter what else is happening, no matter what people are saying. You constantly strive to become a better player and a better team.
Our team has a great attitude and I love the direction that we are headed in. We had a great day of practice today, guys are fired up. You can never take for granted your current state. It’s always about where you want to be, not where you are now, and it’s all about how you’re going to get to where you want to go.
The Chiefs defense has some great players even though their record doesn’t show it. They have four first-round picks on defense, they play hard, they’re fast, they run around and attack to the football. I’ve never played in Kansas City before but everyone talks about how loud Arrowhead gets. It’s a tough environment. The season isn’t going the way they want it to at this point, but I know that as competitors and athletes, they’re going to go out there and lay it on the line on Sunday. They are going to do whatever they can to get their home crowd to get behind them and come away with the win.
We’re preparing for another fight, a solid, 60-minute fight. We’ve been working all week to get better, because if you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse.
Someone mentioned to me that I’ll be starting my 100th straight game since I was drafted in 2003. Obviously, it’s a great feeling, but I still have a long way to go. I’m not looking to end my career anytime soon. Knock on wood, the whole point is just to keep going out there and starting every game.
It’s an accomplishment and something to be proud of. I definitely take pride in always being there for my teammates and playing no matter what the circumstance, fighting to do whatever it takes to win the football game.
But I’m far from done, and I’m far from being where I want to be as a player. I will keep doing whatever it takes to be out there for every down of every game for as many years as I can play.
Dave Diehl is an offensive lineman for the New York Giants. His blog for www.playerpress.com runs at www.davediehl66.com. Find him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/davediehl66.
September 24, 2009
A lot of people are saying Tampa Bay won’t be tough because they’re 0-2. But in 2007 when we won the Super Bowl we had that same experience. We started 0-2 and people were counting us out from the get-go.
When a team is down, it will fight, scratch and claw to dig out of that hole and get their season going in the right direction. So we’re looking forward to a 60-minute fight. The Bucs are going to come out swinging, with energy, especially playing at home. We’re preparing for a fistfight, because that’s what it’s going to be Sunday at 1 p.m. in Tampa.
The regular season is 16 1-game seasons, you can’t look past anybody. I hate to use a cliché, but on any given Sunday, if a team comes out and plays hard and focused and mistake-free football, they can win. That’s the parity of the NFL and why you can never look past anybody ever.
You have to do what it takes to improve every week, so week in and week out you become a stronger football team. You make your weaknesses your strengths and make your strengths even stronger. Our team has great character and our coaches do a great job of telling us what we do well and what we need to improve.
After our win last week I can see two things we need to improve on as an offensive line and as an offense. We need to strengthen the running game. Sometimes you get in a situation where you need to throw the ball, like against Dallas. It’s a challenge to run the ball when they’re loading up the box, but regardless of the situation you have to be able to run the ball. It’s a challenge for us but we look forward to it and we wouldn’t want it any other way. We’re going to work hard to make sure we get Brandon and Ahmad more involved, and we’ll scratch and claw and do whatever it is we need to do that.
The other thing we need to improve is our offense in the green area. Getting a field goal is always great, but putting those six points on the board instead of three, down the stretch that’s going to make all the difference. We don’t want to keep settling for field goals.
Dave Diehl is an offensive lineman for the New York Giants. His blog for www.playerpress.com runs at www.davediehl66.com. Find him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/davediehl66.
September 17, 2009
What do you have to do to get pumped up for this? Sunday Night Football, once again against a division rival, at Dallas, opening a new stadium. It doesn’t get any bigger or better than this. It’s going to be a tough game, a physical game, the crowd is going to be fired up and into it and we’re going to have to match the intensity of the Cowboys.
To be successful we have to get them out of their game and do our job on offense, which means controlling the ball. I hate to use a cliché, but we really do have to take it one play at a time. On the road, it’s crucial to think about it that way. Things won’t always go your way on the road, there will be adjustments to be made, but you can’t let anything throw you off of your game plan or make you fail to execute.
I like to say I play with no conscience. If you make a mistake you learn from it right away, learn why that play didn’t go your way and then move forward. If you let it trickle down, especially on the road, it will lead to disaster.
I’m excited to be going to Dallas, it’s always a battle, always a challenge. They’re going to be fired up. Our coaches have done a great job of putting us into the right game plan, using our strengths to make us successful. It’s got to be a group effort, the whole team has to rally around each other and go out and play a great football game.
Dallas has a great defense. They not only have great players but the 3-4 scheme they run puts players in the right position to use their talents to the best of their ability. In the 3-4 they use one defensive end on my side and one standup linebacker. The main guys I’ll be blocking are Igor Olshansky as the end and either DeMarcus Ware or Anthony Spencer on the outside. Usually it’s DeMarcus.
As a football player you always want to challenge yourself against the best in the NFL, and DeMarcus is one of them. He’s athletically gifted, he’s 6-5, 265 and runs like a linebacker, he’s smart and instinctive and fits into their 3-4 system perfectly. You have to account for him at all times.
DeMarcus also plays the game real hard and real fast, you really have to play him to the whistle and make sure you finish him or he’ll make plays downfield and on the back side.
It’s awesome, I’m excited to go up against him again, so I’m making sure to study all the film I can to see if he’s done anything different from last season during the preseason or their first game against Tampa Bay.
I’m preparing for a 60-minute battle, because that’s what it’s going to take to be successful out there.
Dave Diehl is an offensive lineman for the New York Giants. His blog for www.playerpress.com runs at www.davediehl66.com. Find him on Twitter @davediehl66.
September 9, 2009
There’s no better way to start the season than with a home game against the Redskins. This is what we play the game for. This is what football is all about.
Don’t get me wrong, you have OTAs, mini-camp and the preseason, but all of that is to get you prepared for the regular season. You have to put yourself in the best position possible both physically and mentally heading into the season.
When it’s over, no one describes your season by how you did in training camp or preseason, it’s all about what you did in the regular season. It is what gives you an opportunity to get to the playoffs and to win the Super Bowl. It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon. You have to go out there each and every week for a 16-game stretch and do whatever you can to be in the best position to make a run at the Super Bowl.
That’s what we’re all playing for and it starts now.
It was awesome to go in yesterday on our day off and see so many guys in there, preparing themselves to play, breaking down Redskins film. It just goes to show how excited everybody is and how willing they are to put in the time, to make sure Sunday at 4 we’re ready to take on the Washington Redskins.
You always want to start fast and on a high note. What better way to start than a home game against the Redskins, not only our long-time rival but a division rival. All games in our division are important.
This is why everybody watches preseason games and follows the draft. It’s all in preparation for this weekend. THE NFL SEASON.
On any team, you have younger guys and the veteran leadership. For the rookies, nothing matches the speed and intensity of a regular season NFL game. They’ve gone through preseason and practices, but none of that accounts for what they are going to experience this weekend in a real game, so the older guys are going to do their best to make sure the younger guys are fully prepared. When the ball is snapped, it’s a 60 minute fist fight and you need to be the aggressor.
I’m excited and looking forward to seeing how this team handles itself and how it responds. It all starts this week with practice and preparation. I know the energy is going to be there, the team is fired up, we’re excited. Now you have to have crisp, clean practices and everybody has to be on the ball. Have our game plan down so when adjustments need to be made you are all over it. We have to spend extra time watching film so when we go out there on Sunday we’re able to adapt to anything the Redskins are going to do. They’re going to do something different with their defense that we haven’t seen. Whether its alignment, blitz, etc., and when they do we have to be able to adjust and move forward.
I’m not one for predictions, I’m not going to guarantee a certain number of wins or a Super Bowl or anything, I just know this team is going to play hard, play fast, play with a lot of energy, and play with confidence. We will sell out and do whatever it takes to win the football game.
Dave Diehl is an offensive lineman for the New York Giants. His blog for www.playerpress.com runs at www.davediehl66.com. Find him on Twitter @davediehl66.
August 19, 2009
Man, you get so sick of hitting each other, day in and day out, it was awesome to go out there and hit someone other than your teammate. It felt good to get the competitive juices flowing and get that game day feel back. More important, what a great way to end a game. That's why we work so hard in practice. To get out there and play hard, play fast, play smart, and transfer what we've learned in practice to a game situation and get a win.
As an offense we did a great job of coming out strong and fast, setting the tempo, pushing the running game and getting play-action involved. Eli did a great job of managing our offense and putting us in the right plays. He was confident with all his calls and made sure he was on the same page with everybody on the offense.
The running backs did a great job stepping up. Brandon Jacobs ran hard and made good reads on which holes to run through. But he wasn't the only one. Ahmad Bradshaw came in with fire and Danny Ware also had a good game as well. A lot of different wide receivers caught balls, and they're getting better as a group, pushing each other to compete. The receivers are definitely getting more confident with things out there and with Eli.
It's exciting to see the direction this team is going in.
I think I played pretty well, but you are limited to just so many plays. There are definitely some things I'll see on film technique-wise and scheme-wise that I'll make sure to hammer out. That's what these games are about, to help us improve come the first game of the regular season. Each week you have to get better, even though your snaps are limited and you don't have a lot of opportunities. So you have to go out there and play fast and play hard.
Now it's time to get into the film room and see how I can improve heading into preseason game 2. This team is headed in the right direction, you can see the camaraderie and the team coming together. The offense was cheering for the defense, the defense was cheering for the offense and everyone was rallying around special teams. That's what training camp is all about, a team establishing its identity.
Dave Diehl is the starting left tackle for the New York Giants. His blog for www.playerpress.com runs at www.davediehl66.com. Find him on Twitter @davediehl66.
August 5, 2009
I spent the last 5 weeks before training camp going back and forth between Chicago and New Jersey. In NJ, I worked out at Joe DeFranco’s gym, working on strength, power and explosion, using weights and rubber bands. In Chicago I worked out at Attack Athletics with Tim Grover, the guy who trained Michael Jordan, working on quickness, agility and balance, side-to-side, lateral movement. In both places I did conditioning.
I feel like I’m in the best shape of my life right now.
I’m excited that we’re back in training camp. There are always some little butterflies heading in, though. I got here a day early so I could check in, get my keys, get settled in my dorm room and get in the locker room so I didn’t have to rush the first day of camp. That day I woke up, had breakfast and relaxed before camp officially started.
By 1 p.m. the first day of camp you had to have a weight/body fat test right away. There are certain goals everyone has to make after having 5 weeks away from the team. Then we have the conditioning test, which is 10 half-gassers, up and down each sideline and back, under a certain time.
I did the test before camp last Tuesday to make sure I could, just to ease my mind, and I felt great afterwards.
I know I’ve done everything I can to make myself a better football player and help the offense.
It’s just one of those things, every year you have to come back to training camp and reestablish yourself, who you are, reestablish your identity, regardless of how many years you’ve been in the league. This is my 7th training camp and I still feel that way. I want to show how hard I’ve worked in the last 5 weeks away from the coaches, that I’ve done everything in my power to come in in the best shape I can be in and show that I’m willing to work again to earn my position. Even though I’ve been a starter for 6 years, nothing is ever given to you in this league.
Don’t get me wrong, I took some breaks, too. I love Chicago-style pizza and I made sure I got some. You have to splurge sometimes, even though you’re working hard, because before you know it summer is over and look, it’s time for training camp.
The way I look at it, each year is more important than the year before. Each season is completely different. As a team, you come to training camp and set the standard for how you’re going to compete, how you’re going to prepare. What we do now reflects on what we’re going to do the rest of the year.
Heading into last season we were Super Bowl champs, now we have a chip on our shoulder. We didn’t play a good enough game our last game of the season to move forward, and that still lingers in my mind. That’s the type of thing you use as motivation to push yourself in the right direction.
Dave Diehl is an offensive lineman for the New York Giants. His blog for www.playerpress.com runs at www.davediehl66.com. Find him on Twitter as davediehl66.
August 3, 2009
I know I haven’t been blogging a lot recently, but for me it’s never about what you say, it’s all about what you do, and all I was doing the last 5 weeks was training and keeping myself physically and mentally prepared for training camp. It was my time to take care of business and I used that time to the best of my ability to get ready for the weeks that lie ahead.
We start training camp today in Albany. We know it will be tough, that pretty soon every day will start to feel like Groundhog Day and we’ll be going through the heat and tough two-a-day practices.
In New Jersey and Chicago we’ve had plenty of rain this summer, but when we get to training camp it never seems to rain. We joke that Coach Coughlin made a deal with The Man upstairs that it will only rain when we’re done practicing for the day. In the six years I’ve gone to training camp I think we’ve had maybe two rainouts. And it just seems to get hotter and hotter every day after we show up for camp.
Every once in a while a guy will do a rain dance, but that never works out. Even when it does rain it seems to stop the minute we start practicing, then we have to practice in the muggy heat, which is even worse.
But the truth is this is a fun time for everyone, too, as hard as it is. It’s great being around your teammates all the time. Don’t get me wrong, it’s tough being away from your family, but it allows you to focus on football. As hard as training camp is it’s also some of the most fun you have all season because of the camaraderie. Everybody comes back and shares stories about how their summer was, the funny things that happened.
That’s what football is all about.
When people step away from the game that’s what they miss most. The sweat, the blood you all share, these are the guys you do it with day after day. Guys miss that common thread when they retire.
Also, there’s always the rookie hazing at camp. Every rookie has to stand on a chair in the lunchroom, say their name, school and signing bonus, and sing a song other than their school fight song. It’s always a lot of comedy that breaks up the monotony of being in training camp. It’s a ritual, I had to do it, that’s the way it is and it’s a lot of fun. I sang Eazy-E, “Eazy-Duz-It.” If a guy’s not good, they make him sing another one. I only had to sing once, though.
One thing I don’t look forward to about training camp, though, is dorm life, and waking up at 6:30 every morning. You’re only there to sleep, really, but after a while the room starts to get a musty smell to it, with a bunch of nasty football players living in the dorm. You’re living out of your suitcase so your clothes choice is limited, and after a while you have to wear some of the same clothes if you don’t get a chance to do laundry. And the cafeteria food starts out good but gets old real fast. It starts to get repetitive, especially for the guys who really like food.
Training camp is a great time and a bad time. It’s bittersweet. It’s the toughest three weeks physically, and regardless of how you feel, how sore you are, you have to block out the temperature, block out injuries, block out everything that’s happened and go out there and perform. When everyone does that together it can make the difference between winning and losing during the season, pushing through everything and getting the job done.
This is where a team’s identity is formed. Here, we all go through it together.
Dave Diehl is an offensive lineman for the New York Giants. His blog for www.playerpress.com runs at www.davediehl66.com. Find him on Twitter as davediehl66.
May 28, 2009
Up until Wednesday, the rookies had just been lifting and meeting on their own. Now, because of the OTA’s, they have started to lift, practice, and are in the meeting rooms with the vets. It’s and exciting time for them. I remember what it was like to be a rookie just stepping in. Every NFL player had that experience and has been through that situation, as rookies or free agents.
It’s nice to have guys coming in hungry. As a Giants player, we have a lot of faith in Jerry Reese and what he’s doing upstairs to help us win games and go back to the Super Bowl.
The fans and media worry a lot about our wide receivers, and it is tough to lose a player like Plaxico Burress, of course. But we’ve got guys who are hungry and are excited about getting the opportunity to play.
Bringing in Hakeem Nicks as a first-round pick is exciting, he’s a tremendous guy and tremendous athlete. We have the same agent so I know that he’s already found a place to live so he can stay here all summer and catch passes and run routes with Eli. It’s awesome to see a guy with the intensity and dedication. He can make a splash right away.
Steve Smith is a player who has made big plays for us and we just got a glimpse of what Domenik Hixon can do last year, he’s just coming into his own and should get a lot more playing time. Sinorice Moss and Mario Manningham are also players look to get into the mix. And even though he is a tight end, I see Kevin Boss playing a big role in our offense this year. Best thing about all of these guys is that they are still young and have tons of potential.
I have a lot of confidence in the wide receivers we have, it is definitely not a problem spot for us. I know we’ve got the pieces in place to have a successful offense.
Off the field this year I’ve gotten very involved with Project Sunshine. Project Sunshine is a nonprofit organization that provides free educational, recreational, and social programs to children facing medical challenges and their families. Project Sunshine serves 60,000 children each year in 150 medical facilities. It’s an unbelievable organization. To learn more about this terrific organization visit www.projectsunshine.org. Comix, the comedy club in New York, got in touch with me with the 12 Angry Mascots through my management firm, PR PR, and said if I did some comedy with them, they would donate profits from the night to Project Sunshine.
So I did it. Every once in a while I think you have to try something new, challenge yourself by going outside the box. But more importantly, I was doing it to raise money for charity. Click on "videos" here on my site to check it out or click HERE.
I was more nervous than I have been with most things in my life, because there’s nothing worse than watching a comedian bomb. A lot of the sketch was improv, and I had a great time doing it. I’m not looking to become a standup comedian or an actor, I’m a professional football player. But it was fun, people laughed and thought it was funny, and it was for charity.
So all in all it was a win-win. What I couldn’t believe was how fast the buzz spread on the web. I did it last Wednesday, and by Thursday night and Friday morning people were calling me, it was on NFL Live, it was just crazy.
Sure, I poked a little fun at Brett Favre, but let me get it straight that I love Brett. I doubt there will ever be another quarterback like Brett Favre, a guy who sold out each and every game for his love of the sport. I mean, who didn’t love watching Brett Favre play football?
I hope everyone knows that the joking about him was done in the spirit of an NFL locker room, where we joke about everybody and play pranks on everybody.
Dave Diehl is the starting left tackle for the New York Giants. His blog for www.playerpress.com runs at www.davediehl66.com. Find him on Twitter as davediehl66.
May 26, 2009
I just want to say I know I haven’t been on the site in a while but I’m back now and I’ll be updating a lot, so I hope Giants fans will keep checking in on the website.
We officially start OTAs tomorrow and it’s always exciting when you have new teammates, preferably guys who can come in and help us win football games.
It was real tough losing to Philadelphia. We play the game for one reason, to go to the Super Bowl and be champions. When you don’t make it there, all the hard work and dedication from the season feels like it didn’t count for anything and then it’s all over.
It’s very sudden, one minute you’re playing the Eagles and the next day you have an exit meeting, exit physical and then that’s it. Everyone goes their separate ways until off-season training starts on March 16.
In the off-season you have a lot of time to think about things. I went to the Bahamas with my family and friends. It was great to spend vacation time with them. You are so busy during the season its nice to be able to give them the attention they deserve. I went swimming with my daughter in the pool, walked the sand and went in the ocean. You play, you relax but the loss was always in the back of my mind and left a bad taste in my mouth. Same when I went back to Chicago to spend time with my family.
As a Christmas gift, Eli Manning flew me out to the Pro Bowl in Hawaii. I’m not going to lie, I always said that the Super Bowl and the Pro Bowl were two games I would never go to unless I was playing in them. Being a Pro Bowl alternate last year was a great accomplishment but it’s not the same thing.
But Eli really wanted me to be there, he said he wouldn’t be going if the offensive line didn’t do their job.
Honestly, I left Hawaii angry with an even bigger hunger in my stomach to be a better football player. I saw how much the guys there were enjoying themselves and what it meant to them to be there.
It was probably one of the best things I could have done to give myself extra motivation to push myself even harder this season. I left Hawaii at 5:30 p.m., was in Chicago at 5:30 a.m., and by 7:30 a.m. I was in the gym working out.
I’m excited about the direction this team is headed and where I am. I feel like I came into the off season program in the best shape I’ve ever been in to start the program on the 16th. This whole game is about accountability, each guy on the field selling out for one another. You always know that all the guys in the huddle are depending on you. I know that I’m doing everything I can to make this a better football team.
I’m doing everything in my power right now to be in the best shape possible and to become the best left tackle in the NFC. That’s my goal.
It also helps to have someone call you out. The Redskins said they drafted defensive end Brian Orakpo from Texas because the tackles in the NFC can’t handle speed rushers.
That will stay with me during the season. There’s nothing better than being personally challenged.
Dave Diehl is the starting left tackle for the New York Giants. His blog for www.playerpress.com runs at www.davediehl66.com. Find him on Twitter as davediehl66.