Big Blue View
And he never had the sense of home so much as when he felt that he was going there. It was only when he got there that his homelessness began.
– Thomas Wolfe, You Can’t Go Home Again
I don’t know what I’m searching for
I never have opened the door
Tomorrow might find me at last
Turning my back on the past
But, time will tell, of stars that fell
A million years ago
Memories can never take you back, home, sweet home
You can never go home anymore.– The Moody Blues, You Can Never Go Home
After too long away, he’s finally back as a member of the New York Giants.
Welcome home, Jason Pinnock!
Oh, you thought I meant the other guy? OK. After an offseason, and really several years, of speculation, Odell Beckham Jr. returned to the Giants after being traded away in 2019. It’s a wildly popular move among Giants fans, who remember the four 1,000-yard receiving seasons, the three seasons with at least 10 touchdowns, the seemingly impossible one-handed touchdown reception against Dallas on Monday Night Football in 2014, the slant to the house on fourth down to beat John Harbaugh’s Ravens in 2016, and even the 57-yard touchdown pass to Saquon Barkley in Carolina in 2018.
The fact, though, is that Beckham is now 33, and has two major ACL tears in his left knee in his past. The OBJ Giants fans remember no longer exists. The question is whether he still has enough left to make the 53-man roster this summer and what he can contribute if he does. It turns out that there are quite a few examples of New York professional athletes coming home for a last hurrah, sometimes to their original team and occasionally to a different New York team. What can we learn from these? Let’s look at a few, starting with two notable former Giants.
Jacobs had a seven-year Giants career during which he was one of the league’s best and most physically imposing running backs, putting together two 1,000-yard seasons. By 2011 he was slowing down, though, and was no longer the lead running back. The Giants released him a month after their second Super Bowl victory over the Patriots. He signed with San Francisco for the 2012 season but only appeared in two games, with five rushing attempts, 7 yards, and 1 TD. After complaining about his lack of playing time the 49ers released him. Jacobs re-signed with the Giants in 2013. He had 58 carries for 238 yards and 4 TDs in seven games. Jacobs retired after that season, although by 2021 he was lobbying for a return to the NFL…this time as a defensive end.
Manningham was never the Giants’ WR1, but he emerged as a key figure in the offense in the years between their first and second Super Bowl runs...
