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.