Zak DeOssie

New York Giants veteran Zak DeOssie announces his retirement

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The veteran New York Giants long snapper announced his retirement on Friday. He already has a second career lined up.

New York Giants long snapper Zak DeOssie has announced his retirement after 13 NFL seasons. DeOssie made his declaration on Twitter and it was later posted on the Giants’ website. He acknowledged he had come to the decision to retire months prior, but wanted to make an official announcement to properly say farewell to the Big Blue community.

“I am retiring from football,” DeOssie says in his opener. “I wanted to make a formal announcement to acknowledge those who have made this experience so awesome – and this milestone so bittersweet.”

The North Andover, NJ native goes on to thank the Giants, their fans, his family, his alma mater of Brown University, and many others. The 36-year-old also reveals that he has already found a post-football calling, as he is set to take a role in Private Wealth Management at Goldman Sachs.

“Head down, hands steady, produce results. I learned from my time with the Giants that hard work pays off,” De Ossie concludes. “As I walk away from the game as a player, I thankfully get to keep that mentality – and I’m excited to bring it to my new role in Private Wealth Management at Goldman Sachs. I have had the tremendous opportunity to work and learn at GS in my off-seasons, and am thrilled to be re-joining my team to deliver championship-level energy, effort, consistency, and results.”

“Thank you all. Go Giants!”

With the retirements of DeOssie and Eli Manning, the Giants have no more members leftover from their Super Bowl XLVI team, their last championship squad. DeOssie was also the second-longest-tenured member of the team behind Manning, having joined the team as a fourth-round pick (116th overall) in the 2007 Draft. His father Steve previously played for the Giants from 1989 through 1993 and was part of their championship team in Super Bowl XXV. When Zak won Super Bowl XLII, the pair became the first father-son pairing to win a Super Bowl with the same team.

Zak DeOssie earned 94 tackles in his NFL career and reached two Pro Bowls (2008, 2010). He played a major role in the Giants’ last Super Bowl titles, successfully enacting the snaps that led to New York’s game-winning field goals against Green Bay and San Francisco in 2008 and 2012 respectively. DeOssie took part in 199 regular season Giants games, good for fifth-most in franchise history.

Casey Kreiter, formerly of the Denver Broncos, is set to take over DeOssie’s snapper spot.

Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

New York Giants: 2019 Team Captains Announced

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The New York Giants wrapped up the preseason this week and are on to preparing for regular season week one. The Giants will head to Dallas on Sunday to take on the division-rival Cowboys. Part of the preparation for the regular season is selecting team captains.

The Giants typically have six total captains, two captains for each phase of the game: two on offense, two on defense, and two on special teams. This year, the Giants have seven team captains.

Offense:

Eli Manning:

Of course, Eli Manning is once again a team captain. This will be Eli Manning’s thirteenth consecutive season as a team captain. It is well deserved as Eli has been the face of the franchise for over a decade. Eli has always been a leader on and off the field and he fully deserves to be a team captain every year until he retires.

Nate Solder:

Nate Solder is entering his second season with the Giants and his eighth season in the NFL. The Giants’ starting left tackle was selected as a captain last year, too. Solder will continue to bring his veteran leadership to the Giants’ offense.

Saquon Barkley:

The best running back in the NFL heading into his second season, Saquon Barkley has earned himself a captain’s patch. Saquon Barkley is a leader on and off the field and a transcendent talent. It is rare to see a player earn the patch after only one season, but Saquon Barkley is fully deserving of this honor.

Defense:

Alec Ogletree:

The Giants’ starting middle linebacker was acquired via trade last offseason. Alec Ogletree stepped in as a captain from day one with the New York Giants and he has earned that patch again this season. Ogletree is another veteran that the Giants have made a captain. Alec will be entering his sixth season in the NFL.

Antoine Bethea:

Like Alec Ogletree last year, Antoine Bethea will be a defensive captain before he ever plays for the Giants. Antoine Bethea is entering his fourteenth season in the NFL and his first with the Giants. Bethea has taken on a mentorship role in the secondary, aiding in the training efforts for the youthful Giants defensive backs.

Special Teams:

Zak DeOssie:

Zak DeOssie has been the Giants’ long snapper for over a decade now. He is the second-longest tenured player on the Giants behind only Eli Manning. The two-time Super Bowl champion has been a stalwart player for the Giants special teams and has earned the right to don this patch until he is no longer a member of Big Blue.

Michael Thomas:

The Giants’ second special teams captain is safety/special teamer, Michael Thomas. Last year was Michael Thomas’s first year with the Giants and he was also named a captain then. Michael Thomas was even selected for the Pro Bowl last year, so he was an easy captain choice this season.

New York Giants: Zak DeOssie Weighs In On 18 Game Season Debate

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Currently the NFL season is only 16 games, but that might not be permanent. There’s been talks of expanding the season for awhile now and those talks seem to have reached NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell based on Goodell’s statements last week. “I’m not sure, talking with coaches, that four preseason games is necessary anymore to get ready for a season to evaluate players, develop players,” Goodell said in Batavia at Jim Kelly’s charity golf tournament.

“There are other ways of doing that, and we’ve had a lot of discussions about that,” Goodell said. Apparently, ‘other ways’ includes adding two more regular season games while cutting a couple of the preseason games. It’s a strange idea, as teams are less likely even with the longer season to give playing time to younger and backup players if the games count for something – unlike preseason games – but that hasn’t kept the idea from being brought up.

New York Giants long snapper Zak DeOssie, however, disagrees with the proposal for the reason that the season is already long enough and tough enough on the bodies of the players as it is.

“It’s just more opportunity to get hurt. The game is physical enough. It’s hard enough. The argument is there’s more money to be had collectively to play 18 games, but health and safety is paramount to us. Always has been. And we think the NFL is going pretty well right now, so I don’t see why adding two more games would be necessary,” DeOssie said.

DeOssie is notably on the executive committee of the NFLPA, which mean that his opinion carries more weight than the average player on a matter such as this. It looks unlikely that the NFLPA as a whole would agree to something like this – right now, at least. The talk has been going on for awhile and it will continue to go on, as will complaining about the preseason.

One can hope, however, that if the season is extended, the Giants are in a better state than they were last season. It wouldn’t be fun, after all, to have to sit through an extra two games of the 2018 season.