The New York Giants have won five NFL championships since 1956 and each time, they were anchored by defenses that featured either a legendary — or Pro Bowl-caliber — middle linebacker.
In 1956 they were led by Hall of Famer Sam Huff, who was the prototype for the all the great linebackers of the 1960’s and 70’s. In 1986, they had another Hall of Famer, Harry Carson, in the middle Four years later, they had the solid duo of Pepper Johnson and Gary Reasons.
In the new millennium, the Giants had Pro Bowler Antonio Pierce in Super Bowl XLII, who was followed by the overachieving Chase Blackburn (one of the most popular Giants of his era), whose passion help fuel Big Blue to another victory over the Patriots.
Nowadays, the Giants have Alec Ogletree, who general manager Dave Gettleman has identified as his only “dog” in the middle level of the defense. But the Giants need more.
LSU linebacker Devin White may be available for the Giants to select at No. 6 in the first round of the NFL Draft on Thursday night. He has met with Gettleman and told the GM that he is the missing ingredient to the Giants’ success.
“When a team wins a championship, a Super Bowl, they always got a great middle linebacker,” White said on Wednesday in Nashville. “You want to win, get you a great middle linebacker…. [That’s] what I told him.”
And White has the makeup to be just that, a great NFL linebacker and the defense- starved Giants know it, too.
“Coach Gettleman, he’s so funny,” White said, perhaps not realizing Gettleman isn’t the coach. “I can’t speak about what we talked about, but he’s a great guy and I feel like I’m very much in play if I’m on the board at six.”
New York is the biggest stage and it won’t be too big for White, who has been one of the top players in the rugged SEC the past few years.
“I would love it,” White said about playing in New York. “I would thrive in it. Because I’m such a likable person. I don’t fake it. It’s just me every day, I wake up out of bed smiling.”
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