A Giant Issue: How New York Fans are Too Quick to Criticize Their Teams

Check out Coach Gene Clemons' beliefs about the rigidity of Giants Nation in recent years.

Nov 8, 2024; Munich, Germany; New York Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers (1) during a press conference at the FC Bayern Munchen training grounds at Sabener Strasse. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

In the latest episode of his “A Giant Issue” podcast, host Coach Gene Clemons offers a new perspective on New York Giants fans. 

As the episode title suggests, he asks fans to “Stop Running Off the Talent.” Clemons says that Giants fans and media are ride-or-die when the Giants are on top. However, they are quick to criticize players and the team as a whole when the team is struggling. 

He specifically points to WFAN’s Sal Licata and his comments on Giants rookie receiver Malik Nabers.

After New York’s second loss against Washington this season, Licata expressed disappointment with Nabers’ criticism of Coach Daboll’s recent play-calling, describing his behavior “unacceptable.”

“I don’t call the plays, so I mean, I don’t know,” Nabers said on November 3. “When you run the clock out in the first half, you’re scratching in the second half to try to score points, as many as possible. As an offense, you’ve got to be versatile. You’ve got to be able to run. You’ve got to be able to pass. You can’t pick between half and half what you want to do.”

Clemons says this is exactly the type of behavior he is talking about, and that his comparison of Nabers’ behavior to former wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. isn’t entirely correct.

He calls on Licata, saying that it’s unfair that coaches can criticize players, but it’s suddenly unfair when the athletes do the same to their coaches.

He also notes that several of his reasons for calling out Nabers are somewhat contradictory; one being that Licata says to “forget about the losses,” which Clemons finds to be ironic being that the losses are exactly why Nabers is in this position. 

Then, Clemons says it’s unfair for people like Licata or any other fans to blame Nabers for the offense-sucking as they are the end of an offensive sequence. 

“The coach has to call the plays that are supposed to go to the wide receiver. The quarterback then has to decide to throw it to that particular wide receiver, and the offensive line/running back/whoever else is blocking [has] to hold up in protection long enough for you to get the ball to that receiver.”

“Blaming the receiver for why the offense sucks is low-hanging fruit,” Clemons says.

He returns to his original point of running off the talent, noting that this is precisely the type of behavior that makes players leave and ultimately excel with New York’s opponents. 

Someone like Nabers is only in his first year with the team, and he is already being held to the standards that top Giants players like Beckham were held to. 

Overall, Clemons requests that fans not only slow down the speed at which they comment on Giants players but consider whether their opinions are fueled by the heat of the moment rather than their overall performance.

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