NFL Giants Senior VP & GM Jerry Reese addressed the media yesterday and "ducked every difficult question and repeatedly sidestepped accountability, refusing to explain" why the team re-signed K Josh Brown in the offseason, according to Howie Kussoy of the N.Y. POST. Reese was asked several questions, "including whether the team was aware Brown allegedly had physically abused his wife when the kicker was re-signed, as well as whether 'character' truly matters to the team if he approved such a signing." Reese -- the first Giants exec available to the media since Brown’s release last Tuesday -- "determined the public deserved no answers." Reese: "I’m not taking any questions on Josh Brown. I wish healing for him and his family and everybody involved. That’s all I’m gonna say about that.” Kussoy notes when the questions about Brown continued, Reese "grew more agitated." Reese: "Stop asking me, I’m not gonna take any questions about that, OK?" (N.Y. POST, 11/1). The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Alex Raskin notes Reese "hadn’t spoken publicly since the NFL suspended Brown for one game on Aug. 17" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 11/1). ESPN N.Y.'s Jordan Raanan noted Giants coach Ben McAdoo also "declined to address" the decision to release Brown (ESPNNY.com, 10/31). On Long Island, Tom Rock notes unlike Reese, Giants QB Eli Manning "answered a series of questions about Brown and offered some of the most thoughtful comments on the situation from the organization" (NEWSDAY, 11/1).
ACCOUNTABILITY MATTERS: In Newark, Steve Politi writes it was a "cowardly performance" by Reese, one that "reflects poorly on him and the entire Giants organization." Politi: "So much for leadership. So much for accountability. ... What a joke, but it's not surprising. Reese has been increasingly irritable and confrontational with the media." Reese should be "ashamed of his cowardly display" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 11/1). Yesterday was the first time Reese addressed the media since the beginning of training camp, and in N.Y., Gary Myers writes, "How that’s for being accessible and accountable?" Reese was "indignant even being asked to comment on Brown." Myers writes sarcastically, "That’s great leadership. The Maras and Tisches should be proud of him" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 11/1). Also in N.Y., Pat Leonard writes Giants President & CEO John Mara's "integrity has taken a deserved beating for months" due to his role in the situation (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 11/1).
DAMAGE TO THE GIANTS' BRAND? NBCSN’s Rob Guerrera said there "seems to be this air around the Giants of, ‘We are a class organization and we do things the right way.’" Guerrera: "They botched this at every single opportunity and once again, they’ve done it today." Meanwhile, Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio said there is a "fine line of creating a sense that ‘we do things the right way, we are different from other organizations’ and arrogance." Florio: "When you're going to stand there and not say anything, that's a horrible look for the Giants organization. I can't help but look at the stats and say that Jerry Reese didn't just go rogue. There wasn’t some plan that he was going to say things and he just decided on his own not to" (“PFT,” NBCSN, 11/1). In New Jersey, Tara Sullivan writes fans "struggling to understand how and why the Giants stood by [Brown] want to hear more from the men who made that decision." Maybe there is nothing Reese could have said yesterday to "mollify the simmering anger roiling over the Brown case." But "surely he could have said nothing in a much better way" (Bergen RECORD, 11/1).
TWITTER REAX: NFL Network's Mike Garafolo tweeted Reese refusing to answer questions about Brown is the "weakest of sauces. Owner, coach, players have all faced the music by now. Bye week is when Reese is available. Don't get it." N.Y. Post's Mike Vaccaro: "The Giants used to be a model not only of decorum but smart public relations. Reese refusing to talk JBrown keeps the story alive. Idiotic." Newsday's Tom Rock: "If Jerry Reese's goal today was to make Ben McAdoo seem more likable and forthcoming, well, mission accomplished!" Bergen RECORD's Art Stapleton: "There is no justification for why #Giants re-signed Josh Brown with what we know now. Nothing Reese says today would change that narrative."
