Amani Toomer signals an unhappy ending to his Giants career

Amani Toomer signals an unhappy ending to his Giants career
January 29
New York Daily News
" When Amani Toomer left Giants Stadium for the final time three weeks ago, he did it quietly, without saying a word.

Wednesday he made sure to slam the door.

The 34-year-old receiver, who will become an unrestricted free agent on Feb.27, said he doesn't expect to be back with the Giants - and that he might not come back even if he was wanted. The ending of his 13-year career in New York was apparently very bitter for one of the greatest receivers in team history because of the way Toomer felt the coaches were trying to prematurely phase him out of their plans.

"They tried to do it earlier in the season, but I kept playing well and keeping myself in the mix," Toomer said after helping build a playground at an East Tampa school. "They let me play myself out of it, then kind of pulled the rug out from under me. I was fighting it. I was fighting it for as long as I could. I kept making big plays and I felt like if they kept throwing to me, I'd keep making big plays.

"But I feel like they made a decision that, 'Look, we can't keep him sticking around. We've got to turn the page. We can't just keep letting him go on and on.'"

As a result, after catching 48 passes for 580 yards and four touchdowns this season, but only 11 for 126 yards in the final five games, including the playoffs, Toomer said he's looking forward to testing the market and that "I definitely think that in the current situation I don't think I could go back."

"It's a very touchy situation for me right now," he said. "I mean, it's hard not to get emotional just because I've been there so long. But I understand. I've seen it happen many, many times before to other players. It's part of the business. We have a disagreement. They have one opinion of me, I have another. When the relationship's good, it's good. When it's not, it's not."

Toomer, the Giants' all-time leader in catches (668), receiving yards (9,497) and touchdown catches (54), said he began to realize he was no longer in the Giants' plans when his playing time decreased after Plaxico Burress was suspended. He said that strategy "(didn't) really make much sense when you think about it, with us being not able to throw the ball effectively and keep the defenses off guard." He also said it was a big reason why the Giants lost four of their last five games.

But he understood it was the coaching staff's "agenda" to "see what the younger guys" - such as Domenik Hixon and Steve Smith - "could do." Toomer never got an explanation about why his playing time was "cut in half" in the final five games. He wasn't going to "make myself look like an idiot" and ask for one, either. "
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