New York Giants Official Website

20 Years And Counting
P Jeff Feagles, is entering his 20th season in the NFL.
By Michael Eisen, Giants.com

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August 17, 2007

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Jeff Feagles doesn't need a calendar or Tom Coughlin's schedule to tell him the Giants will soon leave their summer home here.

"I can always tell when it's starting to get close to the end of camp," Feagles said, "because the reporters are starting to talk to me now."

No one understands the rhythms and customs of training camp better than Feagles, who is participating in his 20th camp overall, his fifth with the Giants. Feagles knows that at this late date in camp, most reporters have already examined the team's key issues and need a story to get them through the day. Why not chat with the punter?

Of course, Feagles is no ordinary punter. He is the most durable and prolific player at his position in NFL history. Feagles has played a league-record 304 consecutive games and he is atop the record book in punts (1,514), yards (62,928) and punts down inside the 20-yard line (483).

Feagles' longevity and proficiency have - pick a word - sentenced, forced, cursed - him to spend a month each year at training camp. That's more than a year-and-a-half of his post-college life spent on campuses, sleeping in dorms, eating in cafeterias and kicking thousands and thousands of footballs in the air.

"They're all about the same to me," Feagles said this week. "You're here, they are a grind, all you do is practice and meetings and eat and that's it. The only thing that has changed is the rules, which are a little stricter than they were 20 years ago. We went out more, we had nights off, sometimes we didn't have curfew. Guys used to break curfew a lot more than they do now. I think guys are just more tired these days."

Feagles has played for five teams and attended camps all over the country. His first two seasons were spent with the New England Patriots, who then trained at Bryant College in Rhode Island. His four training camps with the Philadelphia Eagles were at West Chester University in Pennsylvania. Then it was on to the Arizona Cardinals, who trained at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. Feagles played five years for the Seattle Seahawks, who spent their summers three hours away at Eastern Washington University in Cheney.

"I've been in some good and bad places," Feagles said of his training camp experiences. "When I was in West Chester, it was horrendous, terrible. One reason was we had roommates in the bedroom, because the whole dorm didn't have air conditioners. They could only put window air conditioners in every other room, so we had to double up. I did make a great lifelong friend in Dave Alexander, who was my roommate. We still are best friends. But it was the worst place I've had camp. It was hot, humid, the facilities were terrible.

"The best place I've been was in Rhode Island - they had brand new dorms, really nice rooms."

Feagles didn't hesitate when asked his best training camp story.

"When I was in Philadelphia Jim McMahon, for some reason, had a master key and could get into everybody's room," Feagles said. "In our dorms the fire extinguishers had water in them; they didn't have the powder. McMahon got up one night and he and Ron Heller, our left tackle, decided about 2 o'clock to open people's rooms and spray them with the water. We, of course, were along for the ride and to hear the screams and yells of the rookies in their bed at 2 a.m. getting sprayed with water was quite comical. And they don't know what to do and by that point we're gone and go hiding in the showers and they never found us."

Feagles' most comfortable training camp experience was with the Cardinals. He grew up in Phoenix and his parents had a summer home in Flagstaff, which is two hours away.

"It was nice to know the town and my family could come up," Feagles said. "It's very cool up there in the summers. It's got the mountains - kind of reminds you of Colorado. And having training camp almost 6,000 feet above sea level, you have a pretty live leg. The ball flies a little bit up there.

"The first three or four days of camp there, you have to get used to it because of the altitude. A lot of guys have trouble breathing, sleeping, some guys get sick. One thing about that training camp is that we practice outside in the mornings, but inevitably every day we practiced in the dome because there were always thunderstorms in the afternoon. You could set your watch by them - at 3 p.m. there was some sort of rain coming."

That wasn't a problem at Eastern Washington, though it ranks low on Feagles' list of favored training sites.

"We were out in the wheat fields, literally," he said. "The temperature was in the low 90s every day, it was very dry, very sunny and the fields were dirt. It was terrible, because you are out in the middle of nowhere. There is nothing to do. Downtown Cheney consists of a bank, maybe three restaurants and a grocery store and a big silo. The train comes through every single night. One thing I liked about Cheeny was there was a golf course nearby. We were able to go play golf very early in the morning before practice."

Feagles gives generally good grades to the University at Albany, though what he likes most about the school is its location, two hours from his Bergen County home.

The veteran has played for an eclectic collection of head coaches in his 20 years, from the laid back Raymond Berry in New England to disciplinarians like Buddy Ryan with the Eagles and Cardinals and Tom Coughlin.

"Raymond Berry was very relaxed," Feagles said. "My first two years I was oblivious to everything going on around me. As a rookie, you just don't know what to think about. You go back to your room and hope for tomorrow. That's about it."

Feagles had a much more challenging experience with Ryan.

"Training camp with Buddy was very, very rough," Feagles said. "It was tough for everybody - long practices and two-a-days every single day. Buddy Ryan cut a running back on the field one day. He jumped offside in a nine-on-seven drill, he fumbled on the next play and then he was processed, so to speak. That kind of woke some people up.

"But Buddy loved defensive players and the punter is a defensive player. He loved the inside the 20s kind of stuff. I got along with him very well. Then he brought me to Phoenix after that and things were always the same."

Coughlin is also a demanding coach. When he joined the Giants in 2004, Feagles called him "the little birdie on my shoulder" because Coughlin would stand behind during punting drills and recite a steady stream of dos and don'ts. Feagles listens to everything he's told, but he long ago devised a method to turn down the volume on coaches' critiques - and everything else. Since 1994, he has worn ear plugs.

"In training camp there was a company that was trying to develop these ear plugs with filters so that in loud games the linemen could wear them and hear the quarterback," he said. "I tried them and I've used them ever since. It just helps me concentrate and block things out, including coaches, which is good."

Feagles said both his training methods and his and the NFL's approach to punting have changed significantly in his 20 seasons. As a young player, he stayed on the field for every practice, start to finish. Now, he essentially participates when needed (he is also the holder for extra points and field goals). When the Giants practice twice, Feagles, 41, stays indoors and follows his own regimen, which includes long swimming sessions.

"I can't do the stuff I did when I was 30, so I've got to combat that with some other things," Feagles said. "That's what helps me be able to do what I do at my age - the stretching, the swimming, staying off my feet, getting my treatments on my knees, things like that.

"I'm kicking well. I've always kept in great shape and my strength is there. Of course, I can't kick it as far or high as the young guys anymore, but I certainly have the experience to put it wherever I want to and I think that's going well."

Directional punting is in vogue throughout the NFL and nowhere more than in Giants Stadium. Feagles' career-high gross average of 44.3 yards was set in Arizona 10 years ago. Last season, he averaged 40.2 yards. But his net of 37.0 yards (for the second straight season) was more than a yard higher than his career average. Feagles can't crush the ball as he once did, but he can place it with stunning accuracy. And that's the skill Coughlin values most.

"When I came into the league, there was no directional punting - nobody did it," Feagles said. "We didn't have the long snappers we have now. Usually it was just a lineman or tight end that did it. Everything is specialized now, most importantly the returner. These guys are all so good, you just cannot give them the ball. And if you do, you have to give the coverage team some direction on where it's going.

"I think if the game had not evolved into that, maybe I would have been gone a long time ago. I'm able to put the ball along the sidelines or out of bounds where Tom likes it every time. Your statistics suffer a little bit from that, but it's not about your statistics, it's about putting your team in position. If 35 yards out of bounds is what they want, you take it. It might go 20, 25 or it might go 50, you don't know."

When Feagles helped the Giants win the NFC East title in 2005, he thought he was playing his final season. His knee hurt and he wanted to spend more time with his family. But the knee was surgically repaired and he his wife, Michelle, and their four sons have essentially given their blessing for Feagles to play as long as he'd like. So it's possible several more training camps are in Jeff Feagles' future.

"There were some things, health-wise, that bothered me and I thought maybe it was time, but we got those things fixed," he said. "Then there was the family side of it and we've gotten that fixed now. So with those two now pretty much wrapped up and taken care of, I can still think about my career. I say this over and over, 'As long as the Giants or any organization is going to give me a chance to still play at my age and I'm going to show them that I can do it, there's no sense in why I can't keep going.'"

*The Giants received some good news on the injury front today when cornerbacks Corey Webster(hip flexor) and Gerrick McPhearson (groin) returned to practice. Tom Coughlin said he hopes both of them will play in Sunday's preseason game in Baltimore...Wide receiver Sinorice Moss did not work because of an ankle injury and Coughlin said the team likely won't know until tomorrow if Moss will travel to Baltimore...Rookie linebacker Zak DeOssie (ankle) long-snapped but did not participate in defensive or team drills. His availability will be determined closer to game time...Several players will not play: Wide receiver Plaxico Burress (ankle), safety Michael Stone (hip), linebacker Gerris Wilkinson (knee) and center Todd Londot (ankle). Safety Craig Dahl (groin) and wide receiver Marco Thomas (groin) also missed practice...Coughlin said the starters "will play deep into the second quarter, I think. Some more than others. It's time to move them up."...Eli Manning will start at quarterback, followed by Jared Lorenzen and Tim Hasselbeck...Coughlin addressed the UAlbany football team following the Great Danes' practice this morning. "We don't have it that hard, we're in the greatest situation of our lives," Coughlin told the team. "You guys are young, you're representing a great university, you have a great coach. You have a guy that has been there when it was good and been there when it's been bad. You cannot sit on the fence gentleman. You can't be there when it's good and then not be there when it's going bad. That is not part of the brotherhood. That is not loyalty. That's not what this game is all about. So as you go forward, stick together gentlemen."...Today's attendance was 1,415, increasing the camp total to 27,005...The Giants will return here next week for four final camp practices: one each on Tuesday and Thursday and a double session on Wednesday.

The Giants today signed cornerback Darren Barnett, who was with the team for a month earlier this year. Barnett was signed by the Giants on May 14 after attending the rookie mini-camp on a tryout basis. He was waived on June 19. Barnett, a 6-0, 181-pounder, played in 16 games with 12 starts as a freshman and sophomore at Michigan State in 2002 and 2003. He recorded a total of 45 tackles and two interceptions. Barnett transferred to Missouri State and played there in 2004 , but was ineligible in 2005 and 2006.

To make room on the roster for Barnett, the Giants waived defensive tackle Titus Adams, who had been with the team since he was signed off the Jets' practice squad on Dec. 6, 2006. He was inactive for the final five games of the regular season and the NFC Wild Card Game.