January 2, 2024 • 20 mins
On this episode of the Giants Huddle podcast, Paul Dottino is joined by Corey Webster, a 2-time super bowl champion who spent his entire career with Big Blue. Webster recalls some of his biggest plays during his career and talks about why it was important for him to retire a Giant. SUBSCRIBE NOW **Apple** | **Spotify** | **Google** | **Pandora** | **iHeartRadio** :00 - Retiring a Giant 4:00 - Interception on Brett Favre 9:09 - Playing in the Super Bowl 12:41 - Webster’s best seasons 15:28 - Thoughts on today’s NFL
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's time to get inside the Giants. Hunt's go, Let's go,
Let's go. Giants Come. Can I like it out like giantsble?
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Give me some jobs?
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Part of the Giants podcast network.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
Let's roll. Welcome to the Giants Total Podcast, brought to
you by Citizens, the official bank of the New York Giants.
And today we are so honored to bring back defensive
back Corey Webster. Nine years with Big Blue and he
comes back to have a one day retirement as part
of this organization drafted out of LSU back in two
(00:30):
thousand and five, two times Super Bowl champion. And I
guess the first question is Corey, besides the fact that
it's so great to see you, is why was it
so important to do this and why was it so
important to you that you only played with this organization
and never put on another uniform.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
Well, this was the organization that took a chance on me,
right when you know a lot of talent come in
here and you go. But I want to leave with
Mark and I think we just talked about, you know,
being a part of that nine years we won two
super Bowls. Nothing think that was awesome, But to finish
it with one club, I thought that was very important
to me, just to show loyalty and you know, as
(01:08):
the type of family man I want to be, as
the type of family I want to have, and so
I you know, I committee gave those nine years and
the Giant's been nothing but great to me, you know
what I mean. So I wanted to finish it here.
I didn't plan it, you know, like I said, I
didn't plan to play football. I didn't plan to play dB.
So it all happened. So I didn't plan on retirement.
But the significance of wearing twenty three and this is
(01:29):
the closing up the year twenty and twenty three.
Speaker 5 (01:31):
I think that was a cool deal. You know.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
It's funny.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
You were just telling some of the media during your
conversation how over the course of your time from LSU
to the Giants you were so devoted to the game
and now you can be more of a family man.
You got your family here. I know they're looking forward
to the desert side of lunch already.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
But but what did you.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
Take from your time as the Giants, Because you said
to yourself, you said to us that you helped raise
your family with the lessons you learned being a giant.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Let me make me want of two of those things.
Speaker 4 (02:02):
The big you know, accountability, you know, I mean somebody's
relying on you, and then meaning an accountability partner, right
making sure that you can look yourself in the mirror,
say I set out to do those things I and
I did them right. And the discipline that comes along
with that. You know, discipline is a word that to
me means doing something that you may not want to do,
but doing it with a smile on your face.
Speaker 5 (02:21):
So you know, those two things right there.
Speaker 4 (02:23):
There's a lot more that I can go into, but
those two words right there with accountability, accountability partner, and
you know, just having the discipline to be able to
do those things and then you know, focusing their attention
on something positive.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
All right.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
So I'm going to add endurance to that because at
the front end and back end of this man's career,
he battled through a lot of injuries.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
But boy, in the middle, it was juicy. It was
really jersey.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
And I want to go to this because you folks
out there will always remember him for the pick against
Brett Fahr.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
But to me, it's not just that.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
I will go to a whole stretch in two thousand
and seven. I will go back to the Buffalo game
where the Giants clinched the playoffs. He had the only
in your career, I believe, right down the sideline.
Speaker 5 (03:02):
You got it.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Yeah, did you say that?
Speaker 5 (03:05):
I got it?
Speaker 4 (03:06):
I have all of the interception ball, you know, that
was my little thing. I have them all, yes, except
except for the Brent Fear one I gave. But I
know where it is. Lieutenant Colonel Greg Getzen has that one.
Speaker 5 (03:14):
I know where they all are.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Why does she have that?
Speaker 5 (03:17):
Because he was a big part of what we was
doing there.
Speaker 4 (03:19):
You remember, used to come around, do a lot of
motivational speaking and you know, keep us engaging, tell us
how to be attention to detail in they game they
lose lives, right, I was just ws and l so
to be able to apply some of his lessons to
our game. I think him, you know, following us, and
he was out there on the field in Green Bay.
It was negative, you know, to win Shields third coldest
game ever, so he was there.
Speaker 5 (03:40):
I thought he deserved that.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Very very cool. All right.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
So so I remember the Bills game when the Giants
Clintchill playoff spot. So he gets his only pick six
of his career in that game. I remember what happened
in Tampa, gets a pick in the end zone, gets
a fumble recovery in the playoff game against the Bucks, right,
I mean, you had a role, you had a month
and a half that some guys just don't have in
a career. Okay, and then of course what happens.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
What happens, So you get the five pick in the
Green Bay, and then what about.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
The Super Bowl?
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Now let me let me let me.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
Touch on the farve one first, and then I want
to go to Arizona. The far you're covering driver on
the left side of the defense down the sideline. The
ball's frozen like the shot put. Okay, what was the
read on the play?
Speaker 2 (04:26):
What was the route? What was the read?
Speaker 3 (04:27):
Because you know, in overtime you make a mistake and
you jump around and that guy's gone behind you, all
of a sudden you lose the game.
Speaker 4 (04:34):
Well for me, I got missed up on a play earlier,
so I was looking for that play again, you know,
I mean to be able to respond back to that.
What I mean, me and down the Driver was jamming
each other on the line. I thought it was a
bit of a run play, so I thought he was
swinging me and that was going to allow me to
get to the running back. But it was a pass place.
So remember that driver got like a ninety yarder early
in the game. So for me, I was reading him
(04:55):
the whole game and see his brakes in and out,
so I was able to get a good read and
his breaks throughout the game, and then being able to
come up with a big plane overtime to undercut his route.
And like you said, the ball takes for ever to
get there that point it does. It might be two
or three seconds, but it looked like it's an eternity,
and I was able to make it and catch the
ball that was frozen at the time.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
You loved turf.
Speaker 6 (05:16):
You're good at it, So you start a turf fizz
business grows, your savings grow, become the most celebrated name
in turfs. Are you ready for all that life brings?
Speaker 3 (05:29):
Giants? Fans love a winner. It's why they loved Citizens
named a twenty twenty two Best Bank in the US
by the Banker as the official bank of the Giants
and sponsor of the Huddle, Citizens is made ready for
fans of Big Blue. Learn more at citizensbank dot com.
So how happy were you guys to get off that
field with a win, not just to win, but to
(05:50):
get out from the colt.
Speaker 4 (05:52):
I think a lot of guy was happy to get
out of there because it was code. If you remember
in Green Bay, none of the benches was.
Speaker 5 (05:57):
Working, right.
Speaker 4 (05:58):
We only had one flame on the sideline that was working,
when we normally have two or three of them, So
everybody was gathered by one big flame. So I don't
know if that was a coincidence or whatever was going on.
So we was happy to get out there with a win,
but we was happy to get off that field and
get warm.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
Everybody talked about the cold with confidences, face turning purple, right,
and they were amazed at how well Eli threw the ball.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
All right, He didn't seem to have any trouble at all.
All right.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
What is it like for a defensive back to have
cold frozen hands?
Speaker 4 (06:26):
I remember having like my fingers tape early in the game,
and you need to take the tape off because the
blood was freezing at the tips, so you couldn't have
any tape on the hands and things of that nature.
Speaker 5 (06:36):
That's strange. You don't even think about that that's not
even the thought. So I learned that being out there
in the cold. So it's the same just you know,
you know.
Speaker 4 (06:42):
Trying to keep them as much as you can warm.
When he's under twenty negative twenty eight yields, so say,
because you're only gonna get one chance to catch the ball. Yeah,
and we had a couple of problems. I want to
call the name, but remember dB dropped the ball a
couple of times that game. I'm not gonna go there either,
So that it was all in our mind to like, hey,
let's get all this sleeves off so we can have,
(07:04):
you know, feel the ball, so we can have traction
with the ball.
Speaker 5 (07:06):
So we did that and he was able to come
up with a bit.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
How much have you talked to far since that time,
because a lot of people will bring that up.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
To you, but do you ever have you ever had
to talk to him? I did not.
Speaker 4 (07:17):
I think rich Silver was trying to set it up
one time. He had an event going on, and I
think in Wisconsin somewhere. I don't want to lie, but
you know, we just couldn't get it going. I think
he had a some type of event, was a charity
giving him something like that. He tried to set it
up to bring myself in far about there.
Speaker 5 (07:34):
So never he was all, as you one time to
do a motivation of speaking.
Speaker 4 (07:37):
But we miss each other at that time too as well,
so I never got a chance to talk to him.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
Okay, so now let let me go back a little
bit now, just to rewind before I go to the
Super Bowl, because you guys played the Patriots, yes, at
the end of the season, and we all know about
how the Giants gave them such a scare, and you
guys felt a lot of confidence that you would then
wind up winning if you played them again. From your perspective,
I remember talking to Sam Madison after the game and
(08:01):
we had a private conversation in the corner of the room.
I said, you got these guys, and he knew, he knew,
and a lot of you guys knew. What was it
about that game that told you you were going to
beat them.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
In a rematch?
Speaker 4 (08:13):
Well, some things like if I don't know if we've
ever said this, but that I called it the second
game because we played them in the last game of
the preseason as well, So the second game, the last
game of the season that we played the Patriots that year.
I wasn't in the defensive strategies and scheme the first
half because of the you know what was going on previous, right,
(08:36):
So second half I became a part of the scheme
that was going on, and that's Coach Spack said, we're
gonna go this way.
Speaker 5 (08:43):
Right.
Speaker 4 (08:43):
If you remember, they broke every record the first half
of the game. And I'm not trying to exclude myself.
I'm just giving you the thought process of what was
going on in our mind. So we knew we had
and even in early in the game, we busted a
lot of plays. Communication wise, It wasn't just a minor
e minor one man better than another man. It was somebody,
you know, eleven on a team on the same page
and we might be nine and eleven on our defensive
(09:05):
team on the same page. And then Randon Moss touched down,
Brady touches down here. So we knew how we closed
that game the second game in the second half and
took the statistics in the stats from there, we knew
we did that for sixty minutes that would be hard
to beat.
Speaker 5 (09:19):
And that's what happened.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
Wow, all right, so let's go to that game all right,
because it's really for you. The very end of that
game turns out to be a two sided sword, right,
because you're slipping the end zone when Moss catches the touchdown.
And by the way, to that point you would play
the really good game. I mean you, I mean this
is Randy Moss was talking about, right, and all he
(09:41):
had done was catch short stuff, yep, And on that
one it's a six yard touchdown, you slipping the end zone.
The helpless feeling you must have had at that moment,
I can only imagine.
Speaker 4 (09:51):
Well, I always knew the camaraderie we had built in
the locker room that we never flinched, right, so straight
hand you can go see him on the side, and
we never flinched like office gonna do their part. So
we had then did things before and as long as
they had time on the clock, we had a chance.
Speaker 5 (10:06):
Right.
Speaker 4 (10:06):
So to your point, though, I did just me randomly
thinking from that game, I don't think he had caught
that uppass except for that last drive when we was
in cover two. Okay, so man, the man quarter covered,
I don't think he had caught up ass.
Speaker 5 (10:21):
Now you know they could go ahead check and make
sure I'm.
Speaker 4 (10:23):
Right, But he caught I think a couple of passes
in cover too, and then he caught that pass right there, right,
And that was kind of in my mind thinking like,
let's just keep doing what we've been doing. I think
we went to zone, you know, he kind of softened
them up, and we played that way and we gave
up the yards and just tried not to lose. But yeah,
it was one of those things, just like the Green
Bay game. You know, we had to overcome it and
(10:44):
we had to go out there and make a play,
and we had to see how our office brother had
our back, and they went out there and did their
job so well.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
And that and that's the thing though, that makes it okay,
right because then Eli leads the Giants down for the
winning score, hits flexicle burns in the end zone and
then Brady gets the ball back and now you gotta
worry about Moss and they throw two two bombs down
the sidelines.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
Ja bro Wilson, little Lake coming over, but he helped
you out.
Speaker 5 (11:10):
Just throw everybody down when you get there.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
But so so take me through now that last defensive series,
if you can recall it back, what were you thinking about? You?
Speaker 2 (11:22):
I have to know that Brady was gonna look the
moss the facts.
Speaker 4 (11:24):
Yeah, I'm no different than the green big game, you
know what I mean. I know he was looking for driver,
so I'm ready. Right the first one he launches it,
he put it a little too much air on it
and he goes out of bond. And I'll tell you this,
mister Tish was. I think he was on the sideline
with a skiing accident. He has crutches, and I kind
of avoided him at the end. He always thanked me
for that. Thank you, thank you, thank you. So that's
the first player, right, so the next player in my mind,
(11:46):
I'm thinking I'm gonna intercept it. So if you go
back to watch that last play, I didn't judge the
ball well, but it did hit my middle finger.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
Yeah. Oh, I busted him so many times about that.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
God you had long fingernails that day, because my god,
it was close.
Speaker 5 (11:58):
Yes.
Speaker 4 (11:58):
So I'm just trying to make play on the ball
and we was. You know, I was able to they
call it, you know, the fingertip finger nail, you know,
knocked the ball away, PBu.
Speaker 5 (12:06):
So we was able to get that way.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
You know.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
It's funny because you know while we all knew that
mass was going to be the target because he's the
big play guy and Brady's got to get it to him.
He just ran straight down the sideline. How did you
know he wasn't gonna wun a post or run something else?
Speaker 4 (12:20):
Film study things of that nature, you know, I mean
knowing you know how he's you know gyrations are when
he's you know, running straight down the field, how his
body straight up and down when he running. You know,
just a lot of film study knows that that was
going to be either a skinny post or a go route.
Speaker 5 (12:35):
And that's what he was.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
That's see, that's that's what a cover corner does, right
They study their kids.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
And you knew what you knew what he was gonna do.
Speaker 4 (12:42):
We studied all gyration, attention to detail to the minute,
you know what I mean, I know of them hips
up high and we're seeing high knees and things of that.
He's not breaking down and running the road or putting
his foot in the ground and change that.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Rick awesome stuff, all right, So now I want to
I want to recap for a few minutes a few things. Now,
I told you this before I went back, and I
looked up a few numbers because I remember plays, I
remember players, I remember games. But there were some numbers
that I gotta I gotta run by you that are
go to soccer your socks off? Did you know that
in two thousand and eight you led the National Football
League with twenty four passes defensed?
Speaker 5 (13:13):
Did not know that?
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Is that unbelievable?
Speaker 5 (13:17):
Yeah? I did not know that at all.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
I don't remember anybody making a big deal out of
it at the time.
Speaker 4 (13:24):
Maybe it's pretty incredible. Maybe because I didn't make a
big I don't know. I'm just finding out in twenty
twenty three, So now I did not know that.
Speaker 5 (13:30):
That's good to know.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
And you had two games, one game in two thousand
and eight when you were guarding Santana Moss where you
had five passes defense, and then in two thousand and
nine you had five against Atlanta when Roddy White was
playing against you.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Okay, did do those games run? It ring a bell
for you at all? Well?
Speaker 4 (13:48):
My ax, was this the game that Saintana Moss and
I got in a fight, Because I.
Speaker 5 (13:52):
Would have to ask that.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
I don't think it was the fight game. Okay, you
and him got into it.
Speaker 4 (13:57):
I thought it was two years later, So I'm saying,
but I could be wrong on that. And I didn't
know why we got into it because we had always
been nice to each other, meaning his brother Sonari's mass
So I didn't know. So I was thinking that that
may have been the reason. Okay, while we got into
a little scrummers because we never had any bad problem,
no bad blood, never.
Speaker 5 (14:15):
And then we was fighting. I'm like, why are we fighting?
So that may have been the start of the bad blood.
He may have knew that that and I didn't.
Speaker 4 (14:21):
Okay, So I'm just trying to put some some thoughts
behind your numbers right here.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
I know this snubber Corey nos six interceptions UH in
the UH in the two thousand, twenty eleventh season, which
led the team.
Speaker 4 (14:35):
Well know, people don't let you. People tell you that,
you know what I mean. I wouldn't have known that,
but people.
Speaker 5 (14:40):
Tell you that all the time. You know, you had
this about your teammates.
Speaker 4 (14:42):
That's counting, you know what I mean, because I forgot
who had second, but that's who. Remind I never cared
about numbers. I just cared about getting it done, getting
those ws. So but you have teammates that's gonna remind you. Man,
I had this amount, but you got more than me,
you know what I mean? So I got I say this,
I learned a lot about my myself when they retired
my jersey at my high school.
Speaker 5 (15:03):
I had no idea the stuff that he read off
to me, no kidding he's reading. I'm like, oh, that's me.
Speaker 6 (15:10):
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So go to that retreat. Knew you moves to the country.
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Speaker 3 (15:25):
The Giant Settlers brought to you by Citizens, the official
bank of the New York Giants. From game day to everyday,
Citizens is made ready for Giants fans with insights, guidance,
and solutions. Learn more at Citizens bank dot com. Yeah,
but you see, the one thing he just told the
media before this morning was that I remembered winning a
championship in college and high school and went in two
(15:47):
with the Giants.
Speaker 4 (15:47):
That stuff, you're a masters stuff, I remember, you know
what I mean? I guess thats the team oriented goes.
That's the stuff I remember. The individual stuff, it just
goes alone to help the team win. So that's the
stuff I remember.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
All right, let's bring this back a little bit, Pierson.
How much time do we got it? All right? So
let me bring this back. Well, yeah, well he's got
a family out there and chowing down at lunch. He
wants to get out there a couple more minutes. Let
me bring this back to today. The game's a little
different now. They play more.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Video game fo call than when even when you play,
what about this game today, this passing game that that
is so dominant in the NFL today raises your curiosity
as to how these defensive backs have to try to
compete against the new rules.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
And some of these players, I.
Speaker 5 (16:29):
Think they have a very challenging job.
Speaker 4 (16:31):
And when I say that because a lot of the rules,
I'm sorry, NFL, but a lot of the rules go
against the defensive back.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
We don't know that.
Speaker 4 (16:38):
I didn't know that was a common thing that we
could agree, all right, So they have a challenging job.
But what I also say is, I don't know if
they're up for that challenge. You know what, I mean,
to watch as much film as they need to watch
to get them over the hunt so they can be competitive.
Because the odds are against you, and I'm cool with
the odds being against me as long as I know
the rules.
Speaker 5 (16:54):
So now that I know the rules, I.
Speaker 4 (16:55):
Can go back and you know, work with the scheme,
work on individual stuff to help me get better. I
don't see that enough, and that doesn't, you know, take
away from them. I think they're you know, very athletic,
but I don't think just me watching the game, giving
my bias opinion, I don't think they put in that
much time.
Speaker 5 (17:11):
I know the rules are against you. You can't touch, you can't.
Speaker 4 (17:13):
Do this down the field, but I think that they
can overcome that because they're that talented, they have that
much time on the hands, and all of the technology
that they have on you know, receiving footage and and.
Speaker 5 (17:23):
And being able to go out there. There's so much
science behind this, the workouts and stuff like that.
Speaker 4 (17:28):
Now, So I would say, I know it's uphill battle
and cornerbacks DB's are the best athletes on every field,
but I think they can. I think they will too.
I think they will challenge that and become better. As
you see football going fault all right.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
I can't let you get out of here without asking
you about and unless you will Cordell Fly who is
playing for this team right now, and he's had a
nice young career, had some injuries himself, but this this
guy's got some talent and I think Giants fan's gonna
be real happy to see him the next seple of years.
What do you know about his time at LSU and
then coming to the Giants.
Speaker 4 (18:02):
Well, I would say this not a whole lot, because
I had been, you know, diving into it like I have,
Like I would want to to be able to, you know,
comment on those individual guys.
Speaker 5 (18:11):
But what I would say is I hear a lot
with the injury going on right now, So I would.
Speaker 4 (18:16):
Love for all those guys to take care of themselves.
Yeah right, I know you can't.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
You know, pretty hard up here.
Speaker 4 (18:23):
So just just be mindful, do some prehabs so you
don't have to do rehab. But right, I call it
the prehabs so you don't have to do the rehab.
So I think, but all those guys got a beautiful
career ahead of them. Just take advantage of all the opportunities.
Make sure that you can, you know, control what you
can control, and you know, get ahead of the curve
when it comes to that prehab versus the rehab part of.
Speaker 3 (18:41):
It, and is that your best advice to teams who
have been best by injuries is that somehow you've gotta
you've got to head them off at the past before
they even happen.
Speaker 4 (18:51):
Yes, yes, you know certain little things like ankle. You
can train things now. You know things gonna happen because
we play a collision sport, right, not just a context
bort So thanks gonna happen. But I think if you're
taking care of a little attention of details in the
weight room, in the training room prior to it happening,
then you can be ahead of the curve. I remember
I had sold the surgery. I forget what it was.
(19:11):
But when they checked the show that I had surgery
on and versus the opposite one, when it was time
to have surgery on the opposite shoulder, it was like, oh,
you need to.
Speaker 5 (19:21):
Have surgery on it. I'm like why.
Speaker 4 (19:23):
It was like what it looked like, you've been rehabbing
this one. It's about two or three weeks based on
how it looks because you have been rehabbing it, because
you never stopped doing the rehab from your opposite shoulder.
So That's why I can't prehab.
Speaker 5 (19:36):
You football.
Speaker 4 (19:37):
You play, you're gonna hit with your shoulders, you're gonna
twist ankle, you're gonna step on somebody foot.
Speaker 5 (19:40):
Those are some things that you can work on.
Speaker 4 (19:42):
Attention to details and get ahead of it so when
it does happen, become the most flexible person that you
can possibly be. You know, when it says flexibility, you
more more flexibility, less prone to injury.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
Very cool, see and not so like me. Just has
to be able to move his jaw. That's all I
needed to do.
Speaker 5 (20:00):
You do it well. So you do it well. You
speak on the game. I like it.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
Corey Webster nine years with the New York Giants, two
Super Bowl championships and number twenty three comes back today
to have a one day retirement as a member of
Big Blue.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
My friend, Happy New Year. Always great to see you.
Speaker 5 (20:15):
Thank you, thank you very much.
Speaker 3 (20:17):
That'll do it for this edition of the Giants Subtle
presented by Citizens the Official Bank of the New York Giants.
It's time to get inside the Giants. Hunt's go, Let's go,
Let's go. Giants Come. Can I like it out like giantsble?
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Give me some jobs?
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Part of the Giants podcast network.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
Let's roll. Welcome to the Giants Total Podcast, brought to
you by Citizens, the official bank of the New York Giants.
And today we are so honored to bring back defensive
back Corey Webster. Nine years with Big Blue and he
comes back to have a one day retirement as part
of this organization drafted out of LSU back in two
(00:30):
thousand and five, two times Super Bowl champion. And I
guess the first question is Corey, besides the fact that
it's so great to see you, is why was it
so important to do this and why was it so
important to you that you only played with this organization
and never put on another uniform.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
Well, this was the organization that took a chance on me,
right when you know a lot of talent come in
here and you go. But I want to leave with
Mark and I think we just talked about, you know,
being a part of that nine years we won two
super Bowls. Nothing think that was awesome, But to finish
it with one club, I thought that was very important
to me, just to show loyalty and you know, as
(01:08):
the type of family man I want to be, as
the type of family I want to have, and so
I you know, I committee gave those nine years and
the Giant's been nothing but great to me, you know
what I mean. So I wanted to finish it here.
I didn't plan it, you know, like I said, I
didn't plan to play football. I didn't plan to play dB.
So it all happened. So I didn't plan on retirement.
But the significance of wearing twenty three and this is
(01:29):
the closing up the year twenty and twenty three.
Speaker 5 (01:31):
I think that was a cool deal. You know.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
It's funny.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
You were just telling some of the media during your
conversation how over the course of your time from LSU
to the Giants you were so devoted to the game
and now you can be more of a family man.
You got your family here. I know they're looking forward
to the desert side of lunch already.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
But but what did you.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
Take from your time as the Giants, Because you said
to yourself, you said to us that you helped raise
your family with the lessons you learned being a giant.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Let me make me want of two of those things.
Speaker 4 (02:02):
The big you know, accountability, you know, I mean somebody's
relying on you, and then meaning an accountability partner, right
making sure that you can look yourself in the mirror,
say I set out to do those things I and
I did them right. And the discipline that comes along
with that. You know, discipline is a word that to
me means doing something that you may not want to do,
but doing it with a smile on your face.
Speaker 5 (02:21):
So you know, those two things right there.
Speaker 4 (02:23):
There's a lot more that I can go into, but
those two words right there with accountability, accountability partner, and
you know, just having the discipline to be able to
do those things and then you know, focusing their attention
on something positive.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
All right.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
So I'm going to add endurance to that because at
the front end and back end of this man's career,
he battled through a lot of injuries.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
But boy, in the middle, it was juicy. It was
really jersey.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
And I want to go to this because you folks
out there will always remember him for the pick against
Brett Fahr.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
But to me, it's not just that.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
I will go to a whole stretch in two thousand
and seven. I will go back to the Buffalo game
where the Giants clinched the playoffs. He had the only
in your career, I believe, right down the sideline.
Speaker 5 (03:02):
You got it.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Yeah, did you say that?
Speaker 5 (03:05):
I got it?
Speaker 4 (03:06):
I have all of the interception ball, you know, that
was my little thing. I have them all, yes, except
except for the Brent Fear one I gave. But I
know where it is. Lieutenant Colonel Greg Getzen has that one.
Speaker 5 (03:14):
I know where they all are.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Why does she have that?
Speaker 5 (03:17):
Because he was a big part of what we was
doing there.
Speaker 4 (03:19):
You remember, used to come around, do a lot of
motivational speaking and you know, keep us engaging, tell us
how to be attention to detail in they game they
lose lives, right, I was just ws and l so
to be able to apply some of his lessons to
our game. I think him, you know, following us, and
he was out there on the field in Green Bay.
It was negative, you know, to win Shields third coldest
game ever, so he was there.
Speaker 5 (03:40):
I thought he deserved that.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Very very cool. All right.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
So so I remember the Bills game when the Giants
Clintchill playoff spot. So he gets his only pick six
of his career in that game. I remember what happened
in Tampa, gets a pick in the end zone, gets
a fumble recovery in the playoff game against the Bucks, right,
I mean, you had a role, you had a month
and a half that some guys just don't have in
a career. Okay, and then of course what happens.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
What happens, So you get the five pick in the
Green Bay, and then what about.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
The Super Bowl?
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Now let me let me let me.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
Touch on the farve one first, and then I want
to go to Arizona. The far you're covering driver on
the left side of the defense down the sideline. The
ball's frozen like the shot put. Okay, what was the
read on the play?
Speaker 2 (04:26):
What was the route? What was the read?
Speaker 3 (04:27):
Because you know, in overtime you make a mistake and
you jump around and that guy's gone behind you, all
of a sudden you lose the game.
Speaker 4 (04:34):
Well for me, I got missed up on a play earlier,
so I was looking for that play again, you know,
I mean to be able to respond back to that.
What I mean, me and down the Driver was jamming
each other on the line. I thought it was a
bit of a run play, so I thought he was
swinging me and that was going to allow me to
get to the running back. But it was a pass place.
So remember that driver got like a ninety yarder early
in the game. So for me, I was reading him
(04:55):
the whole game and see his brakes in and out,
so I was able to get a good read and
his breaks throughout the game, and then being able to
come up with a big plane overtime to undercut his route.
And like you said, the ball takes for ever to
get there that point it does. It might be two
or three seconds, but it looked like it's an eternity,
and I was able to make it and catch the
ball that was frozen at the time.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
You loved turf.
Speaker 6 (05:16):
You're good at it, So you start a turf fizz
business grows, your savings grow, become the most celebrated name
in turfs. Are you ready for all that life brings?
Speaker 3 (05:29):
Giants? Fans love a winner. It's why they loved Citizens
named a twenty twenty two Best Bank in the US
by the Banker as the official bank of the Giants
and sponsor of the Huddle, Citizens is made ready for
fans of Big Blue. Learn more at citizensbank dot com.
So how happy were you guys to get off that
field with a win, not just to win, but to
(05:50):
get out from the colt.
Speaker 4 (05:52):
I think a lot of guy was happy to get
out of there because it was code. If you remember
in Green Bay, none of the benches was.
Speaker 5 (05:57):
Working, right.
Speaker 4 (05:58):
We only had one flame on the sideline that was working,
when we normally have two or three of them, So
everybody was gathered by one big flame. So I don't
know if that was a coincidence or whatever was going on.
So we was happy to get out there with a win,
but we was happy to get off that field and
get warm.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
Everybody talked about the cold with confidences, face turning purple, right,
and they were amazed at how well Eli threw the ball.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
All right, He didn't seem to have any trouble at all.
All right.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
What is it like for a defensive back to have
cold frozen hands?
Speaker 4 (06:26):
I remember having like my fingers tape early in the game,
and you need to take the tape off because the
blood was freezing at the tips, so you couldn't have
any tape on the hands and things of that nature.
Speaker 5 (06:36):
That's strange. You don't even think about that that's not
even the thought. So I learned that being out there
in the cold. So it's the same just you know,
you know.
Speaker 4 (06:42):
Trying to keep them as much as you can warm.
When he's under twenty negative twenty eight yields, so say,
because you're only gonna get one chance to catch the ball. Yeah,
and we had a couple of problems. I want to
call the name, but remember dB dropped the ball a
couple of times that game. I'm not gonna go there either,
So that it was all in our mind to like, hey,
let's get all this sleeves off so we can have,
(07:04):
you know, feel the ball, so we can have traction
with the ball.
Speaker 5 (07:06):
So we did that and he was able to come
up with a bit.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
How much have you talked to far since that time,
because a lot of people will bring that up.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
To you, but do you ever have you ever had
to talk to him? I did not.
Speaker 4 (07:17):
I think rich Silver was trying to set it up
one time. He had an event going on, and I
think in Wisconsin somewhere. I don't want to lie, but
you know, we just couldn't get it going. I think
he had a some type of event, was a charity
giving him something like that. He tried to set it
up to bring myself in far about there.
Speaker 5 (07:34):
So never he was all, as you one time to
do a motivation of speaking.
Speaker 4 (07:37):
But we miss each other at that time too as well,
so I never got a chance to talk to him.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
Okay, so now let let me go back a little
bit now, just to rewind before I go to the
Super Bowl, because you guys played the Patriots, yes, at
the end of the season, and we all know about
how the Giants gave them such a scare, and you
guys felt a lot of confidence that you would then
wind up winning if you played them again. From your perspective,
I remember talking to Sam Madison after the game and
(08:01):
we had a private conversation in the corner of the room.
I said, you got these guys, and he knew, he knew,
and a lot of you guys knew. What was it
about that game that told you you were going to
beat them.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
In a rematch?
Speaker 4 (08:13):
Well, some things like if I don't know if we've
ever said this, but that I called it the second
game because we played them in the last game of
the preseason as well, So the second game, the last
game of the season that we played the Patriots that year.
I wasn't in the defensive strategies and scheme the first
half because of the you know what was going on previous, right,
(08:36):
So second half I became a part of the scheme
that was going on, and that's Coach Spack said, we're
gonna go this way.
Speaker 5 (08:43):
Right.
Speaker 4 (08:43):
If you remember, they broke every record the first half
of the game. And I'm not trying to exclude myself.
I'm just giving you the thought process of what was
going on in our mind. So we knew we had
and even in early in the game, we busted a
lot of plays. Communication wise, It wasn't just a minor
e minor one man better than another man. It was somebody,
you know, eleven on a team on the same page
and we might be nine and eleven on our defensive
(09:05):
team on the same page. And then Randon Moss touched down,
Brady touches down here. So we knew how we closed
that game the second game in the second half and
took the statistics in the stats from there, we knew
we did that for sixty minutes that would be hard
to beat.
Speaker 5 (09:19):
And that's what happened.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
Wow, all right, so let's go to that game all right,
because it's really for you. The very end of that
game turns out to be a two sided sword, right,
because you're slipping the end zone when Moss catches the touchdown.
And by the way, to that point you would play
the really good game. I mean you, I mean this
is Randy Moss was talking about, right, and all he
(09:41):
had done was catch short stuff, yep, And on that
one it's a six yard touchdown, you slipping the end zone.
The helpless feeling you must have had at that moment,
I can only imagine.
Speaker 4 (09:51):
Well, I always knew the camaraderie we had built in
the locker room that we never flinched, right, so straight
hand you can go see him on the side, and
we never flinched like office gonna do their part. So
we had then did things before and as long as
they had time on the clock, we had a chance.
Speaker 5 (10:06):
Right.
Speaker 4 (10:06):
So to your point, though, I did just me randomly
thinking from that game, I don't think he had caught
that uppass except for that last drive when we was
in cover two. Okay, so man, the man quarter covered,
I don't think he had caught up ass.
Speaker 5 (10:21):
Now you know they could go ahead check and make
sure I'm.
Speaker 4 (10:23):
Right, But he caught I think a couple of passes
in cover too, and then he caught that pass right there, right,
And that was kind of in my mind thinking like,
let's just keep doing what we've been doing. I think
we went to zone, you know, he kind of softened
them up, and we played that way and we gave
up the yards and just tried not to lose. But yeah,
it was one of those things, just like the Green
Bay game. You know, we had to overcome it and
(10:44):
we had to go out there and make a play,
and we had to see how our office brother had
our back, and they went out there and did their
job so well.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
And that and that's the thing though, that makes it okay,
right because then Eli leads the Giants down for the
winning score, hits flexicle burns in the end zone and
then Brady gets the ball back and now you gotta
worry about Moss and they throw two two bombs down
the sidelines.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
Ja bro Wilson, little Lake coming over, but he helped
you out.
Speaker 5 (11:10):
Just throw everybody down when you get there.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
But so so take me through now that last defensive series,
if you can recall it back, what were you thinking about? You?
Speaker 2 (11:22):
I have to know that Brady was gonna look the
moss the facts.
Speaker 4 (11:24):
Yeah, I'm no different than the green big game, you
know what I mean. I know he was looking for driver,
so I'm ready. Right the first one he launches it,
he put it a little too much air on it
and he goes out of bond. And I'll tell you this,
mister Tish was. I think he was on the sideline
with a skiing accident. He has crutches, and I kind
of avoided him at the end. He always thanked me
for that. Thank you, thank you, thank you. So that's
the first player, right, so the next player in my mind,
(11:46):
I'm thinking I'm gonna intercept it. So if you go
back to watch that last play, I didn't judge the
ball well, but it did hit my middle finger.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
Yeah. Oh, I busted him so many times about that.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
God you had long fingernails that day, because my god,
it was close.
Speaker 5 (11:58):
Yes.
Speaker 4 (11:58):
So I'm just trying to make play on the ball
and we was. You know, I was able to they
call it, you know, the fingertip finger nail, you know,
knocked the ball away, PBu.
Speaker 5 (12:06):
So we was able to get that way.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
You know.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
It's funny because you know while we all knew that
mass was going to be the target because he's the
big play guy and Brady's got to get it to him.
He just ran straight down the sideline. How did you
know he wasn't gonna wun a post or run something else?
Speaker 4 (12:20):
Film study things of that nature, you know, I mean
knowing you know how he's you know gyrations are when
he's you know, running straight down the field, how his
body straight up and down when he running. You know,
just a lot of film study knows that that was
going to be either a skinny post or a go route.
Speaker 5 (12:35):
And that's what he was.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
That's see, that's that's what a cover corner does, right
They study their kids.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
And you knew what you knew what he was gonna do.
Speaker 4 (12:42):
We studied all gyration, attention to detail to the minute,
you know what I mean, I know of them hips
up high and we're seeing high knees and things of that.
He's not breaking down and running the road or putting
his foot in the ground and change that.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Rick awesome stuff, all right, So now I want to
I want to recap for a few minutes a few things. Now,
I told you this before I went back, and I
looked up a few numbers because I remember plays, I
remember players, I remember games. But there were some numbers
that I gotta I gotta run by you that are
go to soccer your socks off? Did you know that
in two thousand and eight you led the National Football
League with twenty four passes defensed?
Speaker 5 (13:13):
Did not know that?
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Is that unbelievable?
Speaker 5 (13:17):
Yeah? I did not know that at all.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
I don't remember anybody making a big deal out of
it at the time.
Speaker 4 (13:24):
Maybe it's pretty incredible. Maybe because I didn't make a
big I don't know. I'm just finding out in twenty
twenty three, So now I did not know that.
Speaker 5 (13:30):
That's good to know.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
And you had two games, one game in two thousand
and eight when you were guarding Santana Moss where you
had five passes defense, and then in two thousand and
nine you had five against Atlanta when Roddy White was
playing against you.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Okay, did do those games run? It ring a bell
for you at all? Well?
Speaker 4 (13:48):
My ax, was this the game that Saintana Moss and
I got in a fight, Because I.
Speaker 5 (13:52):
Would have to ask that.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
I don't think it was the fight game. Okay, you
and him got into it.
Speaker 4 (13:57):
I thought it was two years later, So I'm saying,
but I could be wrong on that. And I didn't
know why we got into it because we had always
been nice to each other, meaning his brother Sonari's mass
So I didn't know. So I was thinking that that
may have been the reason. Okay, while we got into
a little scrummers because we never had any bad problem,
no bad blood, never.
Speaker 5 (14:15):
And then we was fighting. I'm like, why are we fighting?
So that may have been the start of the bad blood.
He may have knew that that and I didn't.
Speaker 4 (14:21):
Okay, So I'm just trying to put some some thoughts
behind your numbers right here.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
I know this snubber Corey nos six interceptions UH in
the UH in the two thousand, twenty eleventh season, which
led the team.
Speaker 4 (14:35):
Well know, people don't let you. People tell you that,
you know what I mean. I wouldn't have known that,
but people.
Speaker 5 (14:40):
Tell you that all the time. You know, you had
this about your teammates.
Speaker 4 (14:42):
That's counting, you know what I mean, because I forgot
who had second, but that's who. Remind I never cared
about numbers. I just cared about getting it done, getting
those ws. So but you have teammates that's gonna remind you. Man,
I had this amount, but you got more than me,
you know what I mean? So I got I say this,
I learned a lot about my myself when they retired
my jersey at my high school.
Speaker 5 (15:03):
I had no idea the stuff that he read off
to me, no kidding he's reading. I'm like, oh, that's me.
Speaker 6 (15:10):
You're ready for a change. Payday comes early with Citizens,
So go to that retreat. Knew you moves to the country.
Now you're raising goats and launching a lifestyle brand. Are
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Speaker 3 (15:25):
The Giant Settlers brought to you by Citizens, the official
bank of the New York Giants. From game day to everyday,
Citizens is made ready for Giants fans with insights, guidance,
and solutions. Learn more at Citizens bank dot com. Yeah,
but you see, the one thing he just told the
media before this morning was that I remembered winning a
championship in college and high school and went in two
(15:47):
with the Giants.
Speaker 4 (15:47):
That stuff, you're a masters stuff, I remember, you know
what I mean? I guess thats the team oriented goes.
That's the stuff I remember. The individual stuff, it just
goes alone to help the team win. So that's the
stuff I remember.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
All right, let's bring this back a little bit, Pierson.
How much time do we got it? All right? So
let me bring this back. Well, yeah, well he's got
a family out there and chowing down at lunch. He
wants to get out there a couple more minutes. Let
me bring this back to today. The game's a little
different now. They play more.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Video game fo call than when even when you play,
what about this game today, this passing game that that
is so dominant in the NFL today raises your curiosity
as to how these defensive backs have to try to
compete against the new rules.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
And some of these players, I.
Speaker 5 (16:29):
Think they have a very challenging job.
Speaker 4 (16:31):
And when I say that because a lot of the rules,
I'm sorry, NFL, but a lot of the rules go
against the defensive back.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
We don't know that.
Speaker 4 (16:38):
I didn't know that was a common thing that we
could agree, all right, So they have a challenging job.
But what I also say is, I don't know if
they're up for that challenge. You know what, I mean,
to watch as much film as they need to watch
to get them over the hunt so they can be competitive.
Because the odds are against you, and I'm cool with
the odds being against me as long as I know
the rules.
Speaker 5 (16:54):
So now that I know the rules, I.
Speaker 4 (16:55):
Can go back and you know, work with the scheme,
work on individual stuff to help me get better. I
don't see that enough, and that doesn't, you know, take
away from them. I think they're you know, very athletic,
but I don't think just me watching the game, giving
my bias opinion, I don't think they put in that
much time.
Speaker 5 (17:11):
I know the rules are against you. You can't touch, you can't.
Speaker 4 (17:13):
Do this down the field, but I think that they
can overcome that because they're that talented, they have that
much time on the hands, and all of the technology
that they have on you know, receiving footage and and.
Speaker 5 (17:23):
And being able to go out there. There's so much
science behind this, the workouts and stuff like that.
Speaker 4 (17:28):
Now, So I would say, I know it's uphill battle
and cornerbacks DB's are the best athletes on every field,
but I think they can. I think they will too.
I think they will challenge that and become better. As
you see football going fault all right.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
I can't let you get out of here without asking
you about and unless you will Cordell Fly who is
playing for this team right now, and he's had a
nice young career, had some injuries himself, but this this
guy's got some talent and I think Giants fan's gonna
be real happy to see him the next seple of years.
What do you know about his time at LSU and
then coming to the Giants.
Speaker 4 (18:02):
Well, I would say this not a whole lot, because
I had been, you know, diving into it like I have,
Like I would want to to be able to, you know,
comment on those individual guys.
Speaker 5 (18:11):
But what I would say is I hear a lot
with the injury going on right now, So I would.
Speaker 4 (18:16):
Love for all those guys to take care of themselves.
Yeah right, I know you can't.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
You know, pretty hard up here.
Speaker 4 (18:23):
So just just be mindful, do some prehabs so you
don't have to do rehab. But right, I call it
the prehabs so you don't have to do the rehab.
So I think, but all those guys got a beautiful
career ahead of them. Just take advantage of all the opportunities.
Make sure that you can, you know, control what you
can control, and you know, get ahead of the curve
when it comes to that prehab versus the rehab part of.
Speaker 3 (18:41):
It, and is that your best advice to teams who
have been best by injuries is that somehow you've gotta
you've got to head them off at the past before
they even happen.
Speaker 4 (18:51):
Yes, yes, you know certain little things like ankle. You
can train things now. You know things gonna happen because
we play a collision sport, right, not just a context
bort So thanks gonna happen. But I think if you're
taking care of a little attention of details in the
weight room, in the training room prior to it happening,
then you can be ahead of the curve. I remember
I had sold the surgery. I forget what it was.
(19:11):
But when they checked the show that I had surgery
on and versus the opposite one, when it was time
to have surgery on the opposite shoulder, it was like, oh,
you need to.
Speaker 5 (19:21):
Have surgery on it. I'm like why.
Speaker 4 (19:23):
It was like what it looked like, you've been rehabbing
this one. It's about two or three weeks based on
how it looks because you have been rehabbing it, because
you never stopped doing the rehab from your opposite shoulder.
So That's why I can't prehab.
Speaker 5 (19:36):
You football.
Speaker 4 (19:37):
You play, you're gonna hit with your shoulders, you're gonna
twist ankle, you're gonna step on somebody foot.
Speaker 5 (19:40):
Those are some things that you can work on.
Speaker 4 (19:42):
Attention to details and get ahead of it so when
it does happen, become the most flexible person that you
can possibly be. You know, when it says flexibility, you
more more flexibility, less prone to injury.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
Very cool, see and not so like me. Just has
to be able to move his jaw. That's all I
needed to do.
Speaker 5 (20:00):
You do it well. So you do it well. You
speak on the game. I like it.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
Corey Webster nine years with the New York Giants, two
Super Bowl championships and number twenty three comes back today
to have a one day retirement as a member of
Big Blue.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
My friend, Happy New Year. Always great to see you.
Speaker 5 (20:15):
Thank you, thank you very much.
Speaker 3 (20:17):
That'll do it for this edition of the Giants Subtle
presented by Citizens the Official Bank of the New York Giants.
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