Ian O'Connor
@Ian_OConnor
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5-time NY Times bestselling author of 6 books. Order my latest bestseller on Aaron Rodgers: https://t.co/H9LSSoDQ9j ...20-time winner in national contests
New Jersey
Joined September 2009
I wanted a 5th New York Times bestseller before my 60th birthday & got it with 8 hours to spare. We debuted at No. 5. Thanks to all of you and to @AaronRodgers12 for being such a compelling figure & all-time great QB. Here's hoping ARod & the 2024 #Jets win the whole damn thing.
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Tom Brady once told an NFL coach, if Aaron Rodgers had Patriots' offensive scheme & institutional knowledge on opposing defenses, "He'd throw for 7,000 yards every year. He's so much more talented than me.".
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A personal note on Eli Manning & how seriously he took his job.
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Eli Manning drank beer on the Giants bus. He sang Sinatra with Yogi to celebrate a title. Before his final Sunday as a Giant, the story of how “Opie from Mayberry” conquered New York. - via @ESPN App
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Drew Brees should know that during WW2, whites in military sometimes crossed the street rather than salute a black officer. And that all white men except 1 (Steve Belichick, Bill’s dad) walked out of the Okinawa officers club when a black Naval officer, Samuel Barnes, walked in.
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His North Vietnamese torturers offered to send him home & John McCain said no. "That is your final answer?" they asked. "That is my final answer" he said. Wouldn't leave his fellow Americans. What a man
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You don't often hear an NFL player call a teammate a cancer on the radio, but Landon Collins just said that about Eli Apple to @espnbob.
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Andy Reid finally wins a Super Bowl, and, more importantly, proves that nice guys do finish first. #Chiefs
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On being very thankful, and determined, at the end of my ESPN journey.
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Today I lost my brother Dan to brain trauma caused by a massive heart attack. World-class big brother who taught me to love sports. Morristown (NJ) Medical raised a flag to honor his final precious gift - donating his organs to help others.
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Aaron Boone on Derek Jeter's scouting reports on pitchers when returning to dugout: "Derek always said, 'This guy f----ng sucks.' Every single time.".
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Sorry, even for those of us who were OK with a Year 3 for Joe Judge a few weeks ago, it's no longer OK. He made it easy on John Mara. He fired himself. The Giants absolutely need a new head coach to go with their new GM.
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OK, my all time top 5 events I've covered:. 5-2004 ALCS.4-Super Bowl 42.3-1997 Masters .2-Duke-Kentucky, 1992 .1-2019 Masters.
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Washington was worried Colin Kaepernick wouldn’t fit its system. If you’re down 40 points at home to the Giants, you don’t have a system.
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The New York Jets are the Kansas City Chiefs of losing.
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The Knicks offseason mission is clear — build a robust package of players/picks around Julius Randle in a trade that will land the star who can move this program closer to a championship.
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Urban Meyer note: Aaron Hernandez caused Florida so much trouble over 3 years Meyer told an interested NFL team not to draft him. And yet AH was benched one game out of 40. One. That's Urban Meyer.
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Giants owner John Mara, asked by The Post about Daniel Jones: “It’s great. To draft him as high as we drafted him, we got a lot of criticism. He took a lot of criticism. To see him come into his own is very gratifying.”.
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The Steelers' JuJu Smith-Schuster: "I think it was a bullshit-ass call by the refs.".
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Giancarlo Stanton to The Post on why he's totally fine with Aaron Judge as the Yankees' undisputed franchise player:. "You let great people be great. What is the point of a rivalry? He's on my team. This isn't a popularity contest. We're here to win.".
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How can Juan Soto ever leave the Yankees? What a perfect marriage it’s been.
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According to a Patriots source, when the Giants were interviewing New England assistant Joe Judge, Bill Belichick told John Mara, "He's better than the last two guys you hired.". Yes, it does seem Judge is better than Pat Shurmur & Ben McAdoo.
John Mara says Daniel Jones can win a Super Bowl "without any hesitation". says Giants roster is "good enough to make the playoffs.". says Golladay was not top target. says fans "can't call us cheap anymore." My 1-on-1 for The Post. via @nypostsports.
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So Aaron Judge calls a meeting. Hal Steinbrenner calls a press conference. and the Yankees sleep 3 nights on their toughest regular-season defeat in memory, and this is how they respond at home vs. the second-worst offense in baseball?.
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Pat Riley: "If I was a high school player and I was really good, I'd want to go with somebody who was not going to kiss my ass, who coached the hell out of me and made me better. I guarantee I'd want to play for Patrick Ewing.".
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Just got a voicemail from an NFL scout who's been in the league more than 30 years. "I've never, ever seen that kind of surrender before in the NFL. That's the worst thing I've ever seen.".
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Dan Hurley made a very smart decision to stay at UConn. I think he'll win another championship ring or two, then finish the final 10-15 years of his career coaching the one NBA team he was meant to coach -- the New York Knicks.
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The New York Giants:. No quarterback. No identity. No vision. No spark. No nothing.
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Aaron Judge looks like Alex Rodriguez did — right before Joe Torre demoted A-Rod to 8th in the batting order in a playoff game.
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I just walked by a young teenage boy shooting baskets by himself in his driveway. I stopped to watch. I could have stood there for three hours.
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The Knicks’ longshot path to the NBA Finals looking a bit more realistic by the hour. Milwaukee in trouble with a banged-up Giannis, Knicks are better than Cavs & Heat, and Knicks beat Boston three straight this year. Still unlikely, but not that unlikely.
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Despite the result, if you’re a Knicks fan, I don’t know how you could be prouder of this team. Unreal tenacity under very adverse circumstances.
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OK, let me try this again. "Patriots will regret firing Belichick".
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Aaron Rodgers trainer Aaron Alexander on his Achilles recovery: "He went through an incredibly dark period. There were questions like, 'Will they want me back? What does my life look like now? I let everyone down.'" . Finally, No. 8 plays football for the #Jets tonight.
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Matt Rhule grew up on Roosevelt Island, worked for the Giants, & still didn't even bother to wait to talk to them. for the freakin' Panthers. A gut punch for the Giants & what they think of their structure, their roster, Gettleman, their QB, everything.
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I've been to a lot of press conferences in 36 years of doing this, and I can't recall one where a new head coach or manager came off as more genuine than Brian Daboll did this morning. A great start . But of course, now comes the hard part.
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The Giants were never terribly concerned that Joe Schoen might take an offer from the Bears or anyone else because Schoen told them during the process that they were his No. 1 choice.
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Tiger Woods' caddie Joe LaCava was out walking the course this morning with Justin Thomas' caddie Bones Mackay. LaCava said that he expects Tiger to play some this afternoon, and that he likes the way his guy looks.
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I've worked in this business 32 years, and I've kept only one note from a sportswriter. From the greatest of all time, Dan Jenkins. This was like a JV high school golfer who can't break 100 getting a note from Ben Hogan:
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Of all the things Tom Thibodeau has done with the Knicks, turning Julius Randle into Bernard King is one I did not see coming.
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The Padres have just announced Jake deGrom as the Mets' Game 2 starter.
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For Yankees fans too young to know, that crowd tonight was vintage Old Stadium 1996-2001.
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The Knicks were 182 games under .500 over six years preceding '20-21. and then Julius Randle gave the city an incredible gift coming out of the pandemic. Though his standing with the crowd went sideways at times, that gift will never be forgotten by the fans who received it.
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Dave Gettleman is 18-40 with no playoff trips in 4 years with the Giants. His predecessor Jerry Reese was 90-82 and 8-2 with two rings in the postseason. In Reese's final 4 years, his poor record - 25-35 (fired after 12 games in '17) - was still much better than Gettleman's.
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John Mara reached out to Brian Flores a couple of nights ago, a source told The Post. Very good conversation. Mara assured Flores that he's a serious candidate and that Giants will be willing to eat money to clear up some cap space. This could be Flores-Daboll steel cage match.
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Fitting my last ESPN piece is on yet another guy hired to save the Knicks. Jeff Van Gundy told Tom Thibodeau to be more open with the fans via the media (good advice). I do hope Thibs is the guy to end the title drought, because Knicks fans deserve it.
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The first true crisis of the Jalen Brunson Era in New York & Brunson responds with 41 points and 12 assists to send the Knicks to the second round. What a special player.
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4 yrs ago Brooks Koepka told the Florida St. assist coach who recruited him: "I'm stronger than Tiger is. I'm longer, I hit it straighter, I have a better short game than he does & I putt it better. How is Tiger ever going to beat me?".
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When I think of 2019, I'll always think of the 16th at the Masters & the security guy who shockingly allowed me to crouch under a tree (with my brother) to get a point-blank look after Joey told Tiger to just put it in the effin' hole. Have a blessed 2020.
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Brian Daboll has got a hell of a task in front of him. He earned the right to fix the Giants fair and square.
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Richard Sherman was the 1st losing player to offer Tom Brady a handshake after one of the most devastating Super Bowl defeats ever. So he has great credibility when lecturing Baker Mayfield on handshake etiquette, via @MikeSilver
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Find one Giants fan out there thinking, "You know what, we simply cannot fire three coaches in a row after only two seasons. Joe Judge is brutal, but we have to wait until this time next year to fire him so the rest of the league doesn't think we're a joke.".
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The McCourty twins, driven to Super Bowl LIII by their mother’s “iron fist” rule & the memory of their late father - via @ESPN App
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John & Chris Mara really liked Brian Flores & once John called Flores there was feeling on Flores side that could be the difference. But Maras really liked Daboll too & were never going against Schoen's recommendation. John did what he promised on all fronts & deserves credit.
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John Harbaugh to @nypostsports on Don "Wink" Martindale "Giants fans are going to like his style. He will be in attack mode. Definitely 1 of best playcallers in league. Highly confident, charismatic coach. He's a winner. He will keep offenses off balance." Compares him to Spags.
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Had a conversation w/ Patrick Reed's father that left us both emotional. Imagine being unable to hug your winning son at the Masters via @ESPN App
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The 2-4 Jets have given their fans absolutely no reason to believe they can reach the postseason and make some noise once they get there. Just like the 22-33 Mets, who are now seven wins away from a World Series title. Sports is crazy. You never know.
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Dave Gettleman has been rewarded for hiding in the world's largest market, for showing zero accountability. For doing exactly what Eli Manning didn't do the last 16 years.
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Jack Nicklaus calls USGA decision to tell Dustin Johnson at 12 of possible penalty "terrible" & "very unfair.".
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James Dolan on why he can't rule out selling the Knicks & Rangers, why he fired Phil Jackson, why he went to war w/ WFAN, why he mishandled the Anucha Browne Sanders case, why he ended his friendship w/ Harvey Weinstein.
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As a Pacers assistant in the 2000 conference finals vs the Knicks, Rick Carlisle got fined 10K for deliberately trying to trip Latrell Sprewell from the bench. He's got to get hit a lot harder than that today for effectively saying the NBA is trying to advance the big-city team.
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A whole lot of human beings gathered here in the Barclays Center. A beautiful sight.
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Source close to Tom Thibodeau: "The #Knicks are the job he's always wanted. He would crawl to Madison Square Garden.".
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The good news is the Giants are still getting bombarded by execs & their reps trying to get added to the GM interview list of 9. It's already a strong list. And word is Joe Schoen, among the presumptive favorites, certainly didn't hurt himself yesterday.
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Go get Mikal Bridges with those Knicks assets, and have one parade next year in the city, and another around the Villanova campus.
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Brian Flores is also believed to be on the head coach list of all 3 Giants GM finalists, but since he's not currently employed, no permission requests required.
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Giants source said Joe Schoen vs. Adam Peters "was almost a dead heat" before final decision was made. So Schoen by a nose. and now it's time for another equally important horse race.
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Jordan Fuller, pick No. 199 in the 2020 draft, intercepts Tom Brady, pick No. 199 in the 2000 draft.
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Darrelle Revis is an all-time Jets great & yet his biggest accomplishment was helping the Patriots win a ring. Only the Jets.
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The Belichick quote of the week, if you're a Jets fan, regarding Parcells: "We worked together as assistants & then I worked for him in 3 different organizations. The Giants, the Patriots, and another organization.".
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One son killed, another in the Super Bowl. On a heartbroken country music songwriter, Casey Beathard, and a great football family's trip back to the biggest game in sports.
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Just talked to source very close to Brian Flores. Q: Are you worried about Brian Daboll?.A: Yes.
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If Brian Daboll gets Giants job, it's because they feel he can fix broken offense, turn Jones into poor man's Josh Allen & collaborate better w/ Schoen. If Brian Flores gets it, it's because his face-to-face w/ Schoen went very well & the GM/Mara feel he's better gameday leader.
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Mike Vrabel won 3 Super Bowl rings as a player, went to 3 straight postseasons as head coach w/ Ryan Tannehill as QB, beat Belichick and Harbaugh in playoff games and played Reid/Mahomes tough in AFC title game. Jets should hire him ASAP as coach and give him voice in GM search.
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Dan Hurley wanted to be the head basketball coach at St. John's nine years ago. And nine years ago this week, St. John's told him thanks, but no thanks. How's that decision looking right about now?
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Just like Giants GM frontrunner (at the time) Joe Schoen did nothing to hurt himself in his 1st interview, word is presumed HC frontrunner Brian Daboll did nothing to hurt himself in his. I think Brian Flores is the Adam Peters candidate here, needing to find a way to overcome.
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Big day today in Giants GM search with Joe Hortiz the only candidate on the interview schedule. The Ravens are afraid of losing him. John Harbaugh raves about him. One Ravens official told me yesterday "Joe almost never makes an evaluation mistake.". Sounds just like Gettleman!.
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Word is Brian Flores did what he had to do today & gave sound answers to the tough relationship questions. Still considering several OC names…In the end, Daboll still gonna be tough to beat. 2 very different candidates w/ very different personalities make it a fascinating race.
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In talking to many of his players for my biography, I think Bill Belichick's finest Patriots moment might've come in the wake of his most devastating defeat -- to the Giants in Super Bowl XLII. The players were shattered in that locker room, knowing they would've gone down as the.
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One decision. Just one decision. Had Dave Gettleman taken Josh Allen instead of Saquon Barkley with the No. 2 pick in 2018, the Giants would probably be the NFC's five or six seed today, rather than a total wasteland.
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Everything will be OK. The Knicks get to play Games 6 and 7 in front of their home crowd.
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Tough, tough loss. But anyway, Daniel Jones should clearly be the Giants opening day starter in 2023.
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Julius Randle -- 33 points, 13 assists, 10 rebounds in his 70th game played out of 71. In the load management era, can't say enough about his professionalism in leading the Knicks to 40 wins -- 18 more than predicted.
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And since we're always pointing out bad sportsmanship. good sportsmanship by the Cowboys' Jayron Kearse, who saw a woozy Daniel Jones stumbling about and hustled over to help in case he fell down.
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In talking to someone close to the Giants GM process a couple weeks ago, got the impression Joe Schoen might be the one to beat. The Bills exec was the first person mentioned at the time by the source among Giants targets & the first ID'd yesterday as an interview candidate.
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The Giants source who, before the Eagles game, leaked out that Joe Judge was effectively safe for 2022 didn't do Judge any favors. They still had to play 3 games, 3 more chances to be humiliated, 3 more chances for the fans to put more pressure on John Mara to reverse field.
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By the way, Steve Tisch is in the building today and very much engaged.
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Very few athletes have ever come through New York who "get it" like Jalen Brunson gets it. He would have fit in with the 1970-73 Knicks as easily as he fits in with today's Knicks.
Jalen Brunson’s 4-year, $156M extension with the Knicks has player option in Year 4, per SNY source. Brunson’s decision to extend gives NYK immense financial flexibility. If he waited for next summer, Brunson would be eligible for 5-year, $270M deal. ESPN first on deal.
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Saquon Barkley will never, ever NOT play extremely hard for the Giants or any other football team, no matter how hopeless the situation. It is not in his DNA.
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As expected, word is Adam Peters was great yesterday with the Giants. I believe he made it a two-man race with Joe Schoen. Everyone sees the younger Ryan Poles as a big star in the making. Giants will make decision today. I'd put 20 bucks on Schoen but Peters is right there.
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A tribute to #Jets fans and what they delivered on the night of 9/11, 2023:.I drove Aaron Rodgers’ parents to that opening-night game against Buffalo. Aaron took the field knowing his parents were in the stands–they bought their tickets through the Jets-despite having virtually
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Fun fact about Brian Daboll, very serious Giants coaching candidate: When first hired by the Patriots, he had nothing. Belichick had to lend him a car "for my first six months just so I could get around.".
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Daniel Murphy has as many HRs (7) in 9 postseason games as Hank Aaron & Willie Mays combined for in 42 postseason games.
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Roger Staubach gave up 4 years of his NFL prime to serve his country. He volunteered to go to Vietnam. And yeah, he's absolutely one of the 10 best QBs ever.
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John Mara confirmed our report in The Post that he personally called Brian Flores to tell him he was a serious candidate before any coaching interviews were held. The Giants say that call was in good faith, Flores is now alleging it was not. Looks like the courts will decide.
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Beer and champagne-soaked Aaron Judge asked if four walks were frustrating. "Not when you win," he said. "I'll take four walks for a win every single day.".
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Pele called it one of his life's great thrills to put a record 77,000-plus soccer fans in a building in the U.S. -- Giants Stadium. Still thrilled to have been one of those fans as a 12 year old. RIP to the GOAT of GOATs.
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