Three members of the Giants organization walked across the stage on crutches at the Super Bowl rally in MetLife Stadium. One was the co-owner and treasurer, and the other two were tight ends.
While Jonathan Tisch could tend to his duties following foot surgery, Jake Ballard and Travis Beckum have more physically-demanding jobs. Both suffered torn ACL injuries in the Super Bowl victory, and yesterday general manager Jerry Reese said the two will likely begin the 2012 season on the physically unable to perform list.
Also on that stage was the crutch-less Christian Hopkins, who is one of two healthy tight ends currently on the roster. The other is Bear Pascoe, who caught four passes in Super Bowl XLVI after his first career touchdown in the NFC Championship.
Meanwhile, less is known about Hopkins.
A day after Tuesday's parade and rally, he and eight other players on the practice squad were signed as free agents.
Here's a rundown of Hopkins.Hometown: Chicago, ILCollege: ToledoHeight: 6-5Weight: 277Age: 26
Following college, Hopkins spent two years in the UFL before joining the Giants at the start of the 2011 training camp.
Reese commented on what we could expect from Hopkins.
"[He] is a big kid that we like – practices hard every day – that our coaches like and think he has some potential to come in and compete for a job as well," Reese said. "He's a big kid. He's at least 6-5, about 275 pounds and he works hard every day at practice. He's endeared himself to our coaches with how hard he works and he has soft hands, catches the ball nice. He'll be a guy. And obviously we'll look in free agency and we'll look in the draft for positions that we think we may have some holes right now."
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