The Super Bowl champion spoke about the future of his Giants and Scarlet Knights squads and what football without fans would be like.
It’s safe to say that each of Shaun O’Hara’s former football squads could use him right now.
O’Hara, who turns 43 on Tuesday, was born to be a New Jersey gridiron legend. Having grown up in Hillsborough Township, O’Hara would go on to star for the local high school’s Raiders before embarking on a five-year journey at Rutgers. An 11-year career in the NFL awaited him afterward, one that was primarily spent just about 45 minutes away fro Piscataway in East Rutherford. As a New York Giants, O’Hara served as one of the most consistent protectors for Eli Manning as the Giants’ center for seven seasons. His vital role in the team’s fortunes was commemorated with three Pro Bowl invitations and he would hoist the Lombardi Trophy at the end of Super Bowl XLII. O’Hara is currently a regular on NFL Network and has provided game day analysis for ESPN Radio, Fox, and Big Ten Network.
The former center recently sat down with ESM to discuss his new endeavors and how his old squads can recapture their glory days…
(Special thanks to Vegas Insider for making this interview possible)
Q: As someone who partook in plenty of classic moments with the New York Giants, what’s your favorite and why?
A: There are a lot of really cool ones. The coolest moment I experienced as a Giant, the coolest thing, the most memorable thing I ever got to do as a New York Giant was the Super Bowl parade down the Canyon of Heroes in 2008.
The NFC Championship Game in Green Bay was special, the Super Bowl was special. Those were games, the pinnacle of the game of football. But the Canyon of Heroes was nothing that I had ever dreamed about. I didn’t even know you get a parade! It’s the most memorable because it was something that none of us had ever experienced. None of us really knew what to expect. It was so memorable because it was an entire city, a city that is thought of as a hard-nosed, not-very affectionate, has a very chew-you-up-and spit-you-out kind of label and identity. And yet, here was this entire city embracing us as a team, as champions.
I remember when they told us we were going to have a parade and we got on the buses, we went into the city, we went through the tunnel. We were all talking, everyone’s running on fumes, we hadn’t slept. It was on a Tuesday. We flew home Monday as a team, nobody slept Sunday night or Monday night. Nobody knew what to expect back then. When we looked down the street, all we saw was people, just a wave of people. I’ve never seen a crowd like that in New York City. I had never seen that big of a crowd in the street. That took all of our breaths away, seeing that and seeing that day. That was so special.
Q: What can the modern Giants do to recapture those glory days?
A: The Giants have really, to me, struggled in the last four years in not just winning games but also not losing them. I feel like, many times when I turn on film and I’m watching the Giants, a lot of the losses are self-inflicted. It’s inconsistent play, both physically and mentally. When they have had the lead, they don’t have the confidence or the ability to close out a game. That’s been really tough to watch over the past couple of years.
I think a lot of the problems stem from accountability and I don’t think that, for whatever reason, the players have not been accountable to be a pro and do what you’re asked to do week in and week out. Don’t beat yourself. It’s in techniques, it’s in assignments, but it’s also in game situations. I think that’s what they have to get back to.
Q: You know better than anyone about the impact a stable offensive line can have on a team. What sort of effect can a selection like Andrew Thomas have on the Giants?
A:Â I think Andrew Thomas is going to bring a really great pedigree at tackle. I think that he can easily play right tackle as a rookie. He has also shown the ability to move to the left tackle position. I think he’s got unbelievable length. Any time you’re talking about playing at tackle, you’re talking about playing in space. If you’re going to be playing in space, you better have strong arms, you better be able to keep the defenders at bay. That’s something he did a really good job at Georgia. I thought he did a really great job at handling power rushes. I thought he was athletic enough to handle the speed rushers. He does a good job with his hand placement.
I think all of those things are going to give (the Giants) a much more competitive and a much more consistent right tackle. It’s absolutely an upgrade not just in year one, but it’s an upgrade that’s only going to continue to get better over the next couple of years. I think he’s going to be a cornerstone draft pick for the New York Giants, like their previous two first-round picks (Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley) have been. I think that he has the ability to become a Pro Bowl-type player, now he just has to go out and do it.
Q: What’s the one piece of advice you can offer Daniel Jones right now?
A: My advice to Daniel Jones, I think right now, would be to not let a day go by where you’re not calling plays, pretending to be in the huddle, saying them over and over. The formations, the plays, the snap count, the rhythms. Don’t let a day go by where you don’t spend time either on the phone or via Zoom or Facebook, whatever they’re using now, where you don’t spend time with your offensive line and your receivers going over different parts of the offense.
I think he can handle it. He’s a great kid, he’s ambitious, he’s got the right demeanor. But the fact they’re installing a new offense makes it a bit tougher. With OTAs and minicamps potentially lost, it’s less physical and more mental things. That would be my advice: not to lose those mental reps. You can’t be hesitant and be a leader. You have to have confidence and you can only do that by knowing every aspect of the offense in and out.
Q: What are your thoughts on the NFL’s developing stance on current events and demonstrations?
A: I think the NFL is trying to react positively to everything that’s going on, and that’s not always easy to do. I think that each athlete is a different kind of athlete. You can’t just put your helmet on and say you’re not going to participate or be aware of what’s going on. Today’s athlete is much more aware and much more engaged and I think the NFL is trying to embrace that as best as they can. I think every team is going to listen and they should be because what I see is that the NFL is reacting to how the players are handling all of it. If the players didn’t want to participate in this and not want to use their platform to promote certain aspects, I don’t think the NFL would be after that. But because the players are being so outspoken, being so emphatic and passionate about their causes and their platforms, I think the NFL is trying to be supportive and rightfully so.
Q: If and when we get a season, games may be played without fans. As someone who has called NFL games, how can broadcasts adjust to these settings?
A: It’s definitely going to take away from the gameday atmosphere and the action. Any time I call a game, whether it’s on the radio or on TV, one of the cool parts about is the raw emotion and energy that erupts in a stadium. Hearing the noise, people getting into their seats as the game initiates, even the national anthem being played, there’s just so much emotion because of all the people that are there. That’s definitely going to be something that you have to adjust to, but I think, as far as calling the games, I don’t think that it’s going to change the way that you call it.
I think one that will be different is, without the crowd noise, you will be able to hear everything that’s being said on the field. Anything said by the quarterback, anything said to an offensive lineman, to a receiver, or a protection call, you might hear. I’ll be curious to see if that happens and how teams will have to adjust week-to-week knowing that everyone can hear what they say.
Q: How can Rutgers football recapture some form of glory, especially with head coach Greg Schiano coming back into the fold?
A: To be honest, Greg coming back to Rutgers feels a lot like Joe Judge coming to the Giants. I mentioned the accountability aspect for the Giants, and the same thing is happening right now in New Brunswick. Back when he was a head coach, I got to know Greg. I respect Greg, I really appreciate everything he’s done. He’s a good man and I’m excited that he’s back on the Banks. I think the kids all respect him.
That accountability is a crucial part. Too many Rutgers teams beat themselves, not give them a chance to win the game in the fourth quarter. I think that has to be eradicated and it can’t continue. I think, first and foremost, that’s one thing Greg is going to try to instill in these guys. But I also think that, because of Greg’s track record already, he’s creating a lot of belief, a lot of belief on campus and a lot of people who may be thinking about going to Rutgers. I know what I’m going to get with Greg Schiano. I’m going to go for Rutgers, I’m going to play for Greg. Too many kids from, say Don Bosco Prep, end up going to other places. We got to keep the kids from Bosco here, we got to keep the kids from Bergen Catholic here. We’ve got to keep these guys in-state.
Q: What do future endeavors hold for you, Shaun O’Hara?
A: Well, I have my foundation. It’s something that has been extremely rewarding. It can impact other people’s lives. The main benefactor of the Shaun O’Hara Foundation has been cystic fibrosis, a disease that affects your digestive system and your lungs. Especially given this climate that we’re in right now, where COVID-19 attacks your lungs, this is a very dangerous time for everybody in the CF community. One of the things that really turned me to the cystic fibrosis community is that it’s considered an orphaned disease. Less than 200,000 people have it, so it receives zero funding from the government. While the government every year allocates millions of dollars in research toward finding cures for things, like cancer and other diseases, cystic fibrosis gets no federal funding. So any money that goes towards research, towards finding a cure comes from private donations and other stations that raise money them. That’s something that’s near and dear to my heart.
I also want to give my wife Amy a shoutout here. She was my nurse, I was at the Hospital for Special Surgery. I gave her my phone number and we’ve been together ever since. As a former nurse at HSS and Hackensack hospital, when this pandemic hit she was checking in on some of her former co-workers, asking how they were doing if they needed anything. They were relaying to her how overwhelmed they were. So many patients were coming and so many lives were being lost because they didn’t have the capacity. She started off by delivering meals to the hospital to help out and then a lot of other people started helping out.
She decided she wanted to help the patients out too. She heard from the nurses about the patients who were battling COVID are isolated by themselves. They can’t talk to anybody, they can’t see anybody. The only time someone comes in to see them is when the doctors make their rounds and they all go in at one time, put on the PPE. You’re kind of like a leper in there. A lot of patients that were dying, a person would come in and hold an iPad or a phone and their family members could FaceTime them and give them a parting wish virtually. It was really heartbreaking for her, or anybody, to hear that. She decided that she wanted to try to do something for the patients that were alone in these hospital rooms. She reached out to a friend of hers who does paper labels and paper crafts. They created the Be A Rainbow Project and she delivers single roses with these tags on them, that have a rainbow heart on them with a message. She has delivered almost 3,000 roses now to hospitals that have COVID patients. I think one of her biggest deliveries was 200-300 roses for one hospital. The numbers have come done since then, thank goodness, but it’s been something that she has been doing for the last couple of months.
For more information on the Be A Rainbow Project, visit their website here
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags