Mike Francesa, who has traditionally had a solid relationship with the New York Giants, may suddenly be persona non grata at the team’s training camp this year and could also be getting shut out of major interview opportunities during the season.
Feuding with local teams is nothing new for the WFAN radio personality, who was at odds with the New York Jets for many years. Francesa is tentatively scheduled to make his annual visit to Giants training camp on Aug. 20, but that visit may not happen.
“My relationship with the Giants is a little strained right now, so we’re still working on that. I don’t know if we’re going or not,” Francesa said, per NJ.com. “I mean, I’ve been there every year for like 35 years. I don’t know about this year, though. I don’t think I’ve ever missed a Giants training camp, but it could happen this year. We’re a little … we’re still negotiating. We’ll see.”
In the spring, Francesa confirmed that Eli Manning will not be doing his weekly show this season, claiming Manning did not want to be on the air if he was no longer the team’s starting quarterback.
Francesa’s issues with the Giants could be his constant railing against their selection of quarterback Daniel Jones with the sixth overall pick in this year’s draft, plus the mischaracterization of the shooting of draft pick Corey Ballentine.
Overall, Francesa has not been as kind to Big Blue as he has been in the past. The bad blood may go back to the day when Tom Coughlin was unceremoniously relieved of his duties in favor of offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo, whom Francesa constantly derided.
Francesa was also not a big fan of Odell Beckham Jr., taking every chance he could find to call OBJ out as a selfish player and lambaste the team for their kid-glove treatment of him.
The final straw could have come this year after the draft when he called them a “sad, chronic, losing organization that has proved under Gettleman’s leadership that a) you can’t believe a word Gettlmen says and b) that they don’t have a plan.” In the same tirade, Francesa labeled the Giants a “clown show.”
The Giants apparently have taken umbrage to those remarks and could be freezing Francesa out.
