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Having a father who played in the NFL was great, and it must be even better for kids who are old enough to enjoy it. For me personally, I was only three years old when my father Archie retired, so I really don't remember him playing at all. What I do remember is that in the years after he retired, he did the radio call on Saints home games. Every week, he would take my two brothers and me to the games, along with one of my brother's friends. We'd get there around 9 or 10 a.m. and roam around...

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The New York Giants completed their rookie minicamp Monday with former George Mason basketball star Jai Lewis lined up at left tackle. For the moment, that's where he stays. But stay tuned. There's been talk of Lewis as a long snapper. And there's always the possibility that he goes back to tight end, a position he played in high school. That, by the way, is the last time Lewis played football, which makes his move to the NFL -- how shall we say this -- intriguing. It's a bold experiment by the Giants, who were sufficiently...

Classic NFC East clash. The division's best defense (Washington) taking on the division's most balanced offense (the Giants). The hitting would be fierce, the scoring low and close. Or so you probably figured. This one basically ended about 1 p.m. Sunday when the Giants won the coin toss. On their first play, Tiki Barber bounced it outside, sliced through four or five Redskins defenders -- who looked as if they weren't quite awake -- and was off to the races for 57 yards. That set up the first of five Jay Feely field goals. And that would be all the...

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- I used to feel sympathy for Kevin Gilbride. No pro football coach should have to stake a career on Ryan Leaf. But look at it this way: Without Leaf, Gilbride might have missed out on Eli Manning. So let's try this again. Congratulations, Kevin. Gilbride is the quarterbacks coach of the New York Giants, and it's on his watch that Manning is developing into one of the best young passers in the NFL. But before Manning there was a young Ryan Leaf, and that experience was unlike anything happening to Gilbride or the Giants today. Once...

(Oct. 6, 2005) -- After just four weeks into the 2005 season, several teams are beginning to show their dominance. But what if some of those teams are in the same division? Then that will make for some interesting showdowns as the 2005 campaign rolls on. So which division has the strongest grouping of four teams? The NFL.com experts try to show their dominance of football knowledge and came up with their answers. They know that one great team doesn't save a whole division, but on the flipside one great team can legitimize a couple of decent teams. In the...

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- If New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning wants to know what to expect from Sunday's crowd in San Diego, I have a suggestion: Talk to your general manager. Eli Manning returns to the city he refused to play in. "I don't have to talk to Eli," said Ernie Accorsi. "If he were another type of personality, it would be different. But he's as poised a quarterback as you could want, and he handles every situation in an unflappable manner." But this is different. Nothing Manning has been through in his short NFL career can prepare him...