New York Giants Name Team Captains for 2014

With the New York Giants opening their season on Monday, the team has announced their captains for the upcoming year.

The five captains (two offense, two defense and one special teams) are quarterback Eli Manning, wide receiver Victor Cruz, linebacker Jon Beason, safety Antrel Rolle and long snapper Zak DeOssie.

Head coach Tom Coughlin shared his thoughts with Giants.com. “I’m hoping we have 53 that take full responsibility and accountability for our team, pride in our team,” Coughlin said. “But I think the players have spoken in terms of who they have chosen to be in the leadership position as captains. We’ve spent a lot of time talking about leadership. The unselfish commitment to team, and ‘team first’ must come from your captains, and your captains must be young men who put the team above themselves.”

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No nonsense and old school. Typical Coughlin.

Manning and DeOssie are perennial captains, and Rolle was named captain at the beginning of 2013 after displaying adept leadership skills.

Although getting off to a shaky start with Tom Coughlin and the Giants, Rolle has developed into a leader. Rolle was the only Giant to make the Pro Bowl in 2013.

Manning has been captain since the NFL decided to put the captain patches on jerseys. DeOssie was first named captain at the start of the 2011 season.

Beason was somewhat of a no brainer to replace Justin Tuck as the defensive voice and play caller. Although only being with the Giants for a short period of time, Beason has developed a lot of respect within the locker room and within the organization, which obviously led to him being named captain. Beason has been credited with being the catalyst for New York’s defensive turnaround last year. Beason was previously a captain with the Carolina Panthers.

Wide receiver Victor Cruz is a new captain as well, but it’s well deserved. Cruz is one of the hardest worker on the Giants, and he’s starting to help mentor the younger wide receivers. Victor is the oldest Giants receiver, so his presence and leadership is instrumental in helping the younger players learn how to improve on and off the field. Cruz told the New York Daily News back in May that he wanted to be named captain. Cruz has been the Giants’ leading receiver since his breakout 2011 performance.

With the Giants’ captains chosen, the only thing left to do is play some football.