Giants' Coughlin Irked By Apparent Hazing Video; Weatherford Apologizes
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) — Tom Coughlin talked about the usual pros and cons after watching the video of the Giants' preseason win over the Jets, and the report on injuries to running back Ahmad Bradshaw and rookie cornerback Jayron Hosley seemed OK.
What the Giants coach had a problem with Sunday was a video of Pro Bowl defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul throwing second-year cornerback Prince Amukamara into an ice bath at training camp at the University at Albany. It was tweeted by punter Steve Weatherford before Saturday's 26-3 win over the Jets, and it contains some inappropriate language.
The incident also could be considered either hazing — although that's odd for a second-year player — or even bullying.
Some might explain it as camp bonding, but Amukamara doesn't look amused.
Neither was Coughlin.
"I'm learning about that today," Coughlin said. "I really didn't have any information about that until maybe an hour ago, an hour before this conference call. I'm going to look into it; I'm going to talk to the parties involved."
It was not clear whether Coughlin had seen the video of Pierre-Paul carrying a non-resistant Amukamara through a hallway as teammates followed, some shouting inappropriate comments. Once Pierre-Paul reaches the ice tubs he seems to fling Amukamara into the water.
The cornerback gets out of the water quickly but the look on his face suggests he is upset.
Watch (Warning: contains graphic language):
"Anything that occurs within this family or within our group should not be a part of any social media aspect," Coughlin said. "I'm going to address that strongly, and I've spent a little time on that this preseason, but I'll look into it further."
Giants players were off Sunday.
"I want to apologize to the fans," tweeted Weatherford. "The video I posted was distasteful. Our team is a family, and we love each other. I am sorry to the fans."
Amukamara told the Star-Ledger of Newark after the game that he was confused getting thrown into the bath since he was no longer a rookie, but he said: "I know it's all love. Yeah, no one ever likes it, especially when it's you vs. eight and no one's helping you. But it doesn't mess up our team morale or anything."
NFL spokesperson Greg Aiello described the incident as a "club matter" to ProFootballTalk.com.
Your thoughts on the video? Let us know in the comments below...
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