Heels in the League 05/09/09 (Nicks & Goddard)

Hakeem Nicks

For the first time ever I am going to talk about Hakeem Nicks and Trimane Goddard in the “Heels in the League” (NFL) and not in the UNC FB section, but that what happens when you go from impressing people on the ncaa fields to doing the same when working out with your new pro team, the New York Giants. And from the several articles I found on Tar Heel Times (a must go to web site about anything/everything Carolina) about the ex wide out for head coach Butch Davis he seems to be making many heads turn while on the field. On the other hand, the ex UNC safety might have made some eyes rolls in the first practice with the Big Blue. But let’s see what they say and what I think about their comments…

First off in a piece by the Associated Press it says of the ex receiver from Chapel Hill:

If one play was any indication, the first-round draft pick from North Carolina certainly showed he could provide a deep threat that the Giants lost when they waived the troubled Plaxico Burress early last month.

To that comment I say this: one play, one game, one week, one month, one season, it is always going to get better as Hakeem Nicks is going to be that type of player that will not only make the Giants forget about Plaxico Burress, but become one of the wide outs that people in the Big Apple will always remember. There will be learning curves, bumps in the road, but in the end I truly believe that this pick is going to be favorable for both the player and the team.

But Nicks, smartly, wants to avoid the comparison to the Burress, and wants to be Nicks:

Nicks insisted that he wants to be himself and do the things that made him a first-round pick. He caught 21 touchdowns in his Tar Heels career, averaging almost 16 yards a reception.

I think that is the right way at going at this and I think this is going to make Nicks even a better player. The last thing that a rookie needs while playing in the media crazed atmosphere of New York is to put un needed pressure on himself. I have to say for someone who does not follow the pro game, with the exception of the teams that have a touch of carolina blue, I can not wait to be able to see this young man in action in real games.

However there will be the pressure, especially when you are compared to a great ex receiver:

Butch Davis, Nicks’ coach at North Carolina, went even further, comparing him to Hall of Famer Michael Irvin. And if that’s a lot for a 21-year-old receiver to deal with as a rookie . . . well, the real Irvin says, that’s just tough.

But it’s not just his ex coach giving the wide out high praises, so is his new team:

The Giants even turned up the heat when they compared their first-rounder to Pro Bowler Anquan Boldin.

You have to admit that with the high praises will also come the high expectations. Hopefully in the family that is the New York Giants there is that meshing that keeps young men, such as Nicks, from falling not because of the lack of talent, but because of the too high goals that one puts on himself. With the money and fame comes the goals and expectations that sometimes a player with the talent that the ex UNC wide out didn’t have to worry about when running wild in the back field of college teams.

The Star Ledger says this in their recap of the rookies:

Nicks also did a great job of creating separation on CB Vince Anderson on a pair of hooks. Again, the stuff you expect from a “polished” veteran. Nice ball from Bomar on the second one.

You have to like the fact that they see a polished player that could be passed off as a veteran. I know that this is just the beginning of the road, but if you see the day by it’s morning, Nicks’ should have a very sunny day (or career) ahead of him. In another piece head coach Tom Coughlin said “we will see if they (speaking of all the rookies) can come back and do it a couple of days in a row”, and you have to agree with that, and probably would not be shocked if Nicks has a down day here and there, but there signs to be happy about and so I will be.

However, speaking of down days, that could be the case for Trimane Goddard or so tells us the Star Ledger, who is trying on with the New York Giants as an undrafted free agents:

You can’t afford to make mistakes as a tryout and S Trimane Goddard had back-to-back drops in individual INT drills. He then battled the next ball but was able to hang on.

As Tar Heel Smitty said in a comment on another piece about Goddard, there might be something to worry about when it comes to his speed, but not when it comes to his smarts/football IQ. Hopefully those drops were just first day butterflies that will go away and the ex UNC safety will show the Giants the talent that he has. I wish Goodard, and of course Nicks, all the best as they persue the ultimate goal of playing football on Sundays.

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