As the New York Giants continue their wait for their star defensive player, Jason Pierre-Paul it’s time for JPP to look himself in the mirror. Throughout the entire fiasco which took place when he blew off a finger in a fireworks accident on July 4, Pierre-Paul has been playing hideaway.
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While Odell Beckham Jr. is the highlight superstars and Eli Manning is the face of the franchise, Jason Pierre-Paul is arguably the team’s best player on defense and it’s time he starts acting like it. While enough has been said about JPP putting himself in a position that has caused him to lose his index finger, what about his actions since?
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Almost to prove how ashamed and embarrassed he is for the incident, Jason Pierre-Paul has not been in contact with pretty much anyone associated with the Giants showing truly just how foolish his actions were. All of his actions since the incident, have shown that Pierre-Paul has only hurt himself by avoiding his teammates, coaches, and those in charge of making decisions for the team.
When head coach Tom Coughlin spoke to the Jenny Vrentas of TheMMQB.com in late July, he made it known that at the time, JPP didn’t want help from anyone, including team doctors when they flew down to Florida to visit him at the hospital.
Tom Coughlin on JPP:
"“I want to help. I want to be there for him. He thinks that something will come of it. But, all I care about, all any of us care about, the whole organization, is the well-being of the kid. Something traumatic has taken place here, and we have all kinds of experts here in this city that are at our disposal. Putting those things together is very easy.”"
On August 26, wide receiver Victor Cruz was a guest on the Rich Eisen show and asked about the situation which you can watch below (JPP questions start at 6:05). When asked if he’s talked to Pierre-Paul, Victor Cruz said he has not spoken to him, but did send him a text right around the time the incident happened. Eisen followed up by asking if anyone on the team had spoke to him, Cruz said “not that I know of”.
Again, the head coach (Coughlin) and one of the primary voices of the team (Cruz), have spent their time reaching out to Jason Pierre-Paul, but for whatever reason they did not receive a response.
Most recently, on September 7, quarterback Eli Manning spoke on JPP’s situation and practically played down his importance until his teammate is back on the field.
Eli Manning on JPP:
"“Obviously, he wasn’t out there today,” Manning said of Pierre-Paul. “So I think you just plan and prepare as if he won’t be out there. If he can get back and practice this week? Great. If not, we’ll just keep going forward and wait until he gets back.”"
It started with ownership, management, and head coach Tom Coughlin, Jason Pierre-Paul didn’t want to talk, he wanted to hide. Then when one of the franchise’s biggest players both on-and-off the field reached out, JPP didn’t respond.
When the franchise quarterback plays down your importance, even if you’re the most important player on your respective side of the ball, you know you’ve made a mistake.
The New York Giants have tried, Jason Pierre-Paul’s teammates have tried, but he’s done nothing but embarrass the franchise, his teammates, and most importantly himself.
While yes, it was recently reported by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport that JPP won’t be signing his franchise-tender because his hand isn’t “quite ready”, instead he’ll sign it when he’s ready to return to the field and still make part of the $14.8 million he was scheduled to make had he signed his tender and avoided the fireworks fiasco.
From @AKinkhabwala & me: Jason Pierre-Paul won’t sign his $14.8M tag today or soon. His hand isn’t quite ready. Could be more than a month
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 8, 2015
#Giants have not rescinded JPP’s franchise tag. He’ll sign it when he’s healthy & receive a prorated portion of $14.8M. He’s heading home
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 8, 2015
So we know about Jason Pierre-Paul’s contract situation, we know about his unfortunate fireworks incident, but what we don’t know is when he’ll take responsibility for his senseless actions which not hurt himself but hurt his team as well.
One way to bring it back together? Jason Pierre-Paul needs to take responsibility for his own actions.
Next: Giants: Jason Pierre-Paul Will Be A Non-Factor in 2015
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