* Shane Olivea, working at right tackle with the three's, is a beast. I will detail a couple of plays later on.

* Shane Olivea, playing right tackle with the third string, showed he has the nasty in him when he totally destroyed his man on a run by Kay-Jay Harris. In fact, we noticed several occasions where Olivea completely dominated his man this morning.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Shane Olivea threw a couple of nice blocks where he totally annihilated his man. The first one was on a pass to Brandon London by Anthony Wright. Olivea, who is HUGE and ferocious, totally ate the defender alive (I didn’t see who it was as Olivea’s big frame blocked the victim from view.)

Robert Douglas dropped a swing pass out of the backfield. On the next play, a run by Danny Ware, Olivea ate rookie Alex Morrow alive. It’s just a matter of time before Olivea works his way up the depth chart if the whispers about an eventual shake up on the offensive line come to fruition.

For those who don’t remember, in speaking with a colleague the other day, we were musing over the possibility of the Giants perhaps grooming Olivea for the left tackle spot and shifting David Diehl back inside to guard. Given how Diehl’s contract was structured and the fact that Diehl had his hands full with DeMarcus Ware in the playoff game against Dallas and again in the Super Bowl, the move would make sense. It might not be something that happens right away but the more I think about it, the more the move makes sense.

Fresh Start
T Shane Olivea is glad the Giants gave him a second chance at football
By Michael Eisen, Giants.com

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JULY 29, 2008

ALBANY, NY - Shane Olivea earned millions of dollars while starting 57 games at right tackle for the San Diego Chargers. He was regarded as one of the NFL’s most promising young offensive linemen.

But in the Giants’ training camp at the University at Albany, he is working with the backups on the second team line and the longshots on the third team – and is as content as any player here.

“You know what, I’m just happy to be putting on the pads and a uniform again,” Olivea said. “Whether it’s the fourth unit, first unit, sixth unit, all that stuff will take care of itself.”

Olivea’s comfort level stems from an understanding that football is not the most important part of his life. Not after he became addicted to painkillers. Not after those closest to him all but forced him to undergo treatment. Not after a 90-day stay at the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, Calif. And not after a four-game NFL suspension for violation of the league’s Substance Abuse Policy was overturned.

Olivea left the treatment center on Saturday, July 20. The next day, he flew to New York and on Monday he underwent a physical and a tryout for the Giants, who then signed him to a one-year contract.

“It’s a second chance in life and in football,” Olivea said. “I’m just happy to have the opportunity, because a lot of guys aren’t given that opportunity. So I feel very blessed and fortunate to have that opportunity.”

Olivea is getting his football legs back while getting accustomed to his news players and coaches and learning a new offense. But the Giants consider him a talented player who was worth a long look.

“He is a veteran player who was a former starter,” coach Tom Coughlin said. “We wanted to see where he was. He came in and he was in excellent shape. The question was answered right away on that. We are just going to have to see how he does now. You know, it’s a whole new system. He has been under another system and he has got a lot of things he has to learn. He has to learn them fast, so hopefully he will be able to do that.”

Olivea has overcome odds in the past, though he’s never faced a challenge quite like this. The Long Island native and Ohio State product was selected on the seventh round of the 2004 NFL Draft by the San Diego Chargers. Not many players taken with the 209th selection make an immediate impact, but Olivea started every game as a rookie and all 47 games in which he played his first three seasons. He started the first 10 games at right tackle last season before the Chargers pulled him from the lineup.

His demotion by coach Norv Turner was attributed to a decline in his performance. But there was a reason Olivea wasn’t playing as well as he once had.

“I just got addicted to pain medication, and just got really addicted,” Olivea said. “I don’t think they (the Chargers) knew the depth of what was really going on.”

Asked if the addition affected his play, Olivea said, “Yeah - I mean I got benched. I’ve never sat my whole life.”

The addiction had started with a single pill to ease the pain that is a constant companion to players who work in the NFL trenches. When one pill didn’t ease the pain he tried more, until his need for the medication became an addiction. The Chargers, unaware of what was happening, released Olivea on Feb. 28.

“I did a real good job of hiding it, but I also asked for my release,” he said. “I was going through a lot and I had to deal with it and I wasn’t able to give the attention that football needs and the attention needed to produce at a high level. I knew there were outside factors that contributed to me not being able to do that.”

So did those who know Olivea best.

“People close (to) me knew something was wrong,” Olivea said. “I wasn’t the same person. You can hide a lot of things, but your real family and friends know the real you and they saw a major change, drastic change. I wasn’t me. You can hide from a lot of people but your loved ones and family members know you. You can’t hide from them.”

On April 23, Olivea stepped into his San Diego home to find a group of people who love him, including family and friends. But they weren’t throwing him a party, they were conducting an intervention.

“Just like you see on A&E,” Olivea said. “And thank God they did. By the grace of God, I was able to get my life turned around. Seeing how hurt they were and the pain I had caused them was pretty humbling and gut-wrenching. The last thing I want to do is hurt the people around me.”

Olivea immediately checked into the Betty Ford Clinic to break his 18-month addiction. In June, Olivea missed a mandatory NFL drug test and received a four-game suspension from the NFL. But he missed the test because he was in rehab.

“Basically the NFL tried issuing me a league-administered drug test, but I had admitted myself into rehab, which they knew about,” Olivea said. “The problem is that the NFL drug policy and the NFL are two different entities and they just sent a form saying I missed the test and never gave me my due process and never even notified me that I had a test. But the NFL knew I was in rehab - self-admitted - and subsequently it was turned over and rightfully so. That was the past and going there was the best thing that ever happened to me.”

With the suspension lifted and Olivea – who is 6-4 and 324 pounds - in good condition, the Giants thought he deserved a chance to show what he can do. Olivea has quickly become a part of the team’s close-knit offensive line.

“Our offensive line is like a family and whoever comes in we’re going to welcome with open arms and make him feel a part of it,” said guard Rich Seubert, one of Olivea’s camp roommates. “Shane is great. He’s a good guy and he’s working hard, doing everything right, and I’m glad he’s on our team.

“He shared a lot with us and he’s been through a lot, but he’s moving on and I give him a lot of credit. He’s going in the right direction. It’s great to see him out here.”

Seubert said the linemen don’t see Olivea as a novelty with an interesting story, but as a talented lineman who can help the Giants.

“He’s got a chance to make this team,” Seubert said. “He’s great to have. He’s experienced, he’s played, and he’s one of us. He fits right in with us and he’s part of the family.”

Olivea has lined up solely at tackle early in camp, but he has some versatility.

“He can play guard, too,” Coughlin said. “Right now he has been just mostly a tackle, but we started out with 13 (linemen) so he is going to have to play a couple of spots. I want to get him used to a little bit of familiarity with the system before you start that stuff, because it is hard enough for him to just learn one spot.

It doesn’t matter to Olivea where he plays – he simply wants to be on the field.

“I know this is not a forgiving business; the NFL: not for long,” Olivea said. “The game of life is a lot bigger on the grander scale and I’m just happy to be here and happy and grateful for the opportunity the Giants gave me. I want to go out there every day and just prove to them that they made the right decision.”

*The Giants today practiced in full pads without their top three receivers, Plaxico Burress (ankle), Amani Toomer (leg) and Steve Smith (soreness). Domenik Hixon continued to be the first-team split end in Burress’ absence, while Sinorice Moss replaced Toomer at flanker. Moss caught Eli Manning’s first pass in the initial team period.

Reserve tackle Adam Koets didn’t practice after experiencing dizziness, so Olivea played right tackle on both the second and third units…Rookie safety Terrance Stringer missed practice with a strained hamstring.

*Eli Manning continues to throw the ball well. He threw a perfect strike down the seam to tight end Kevin Boss… Safety Sammy Knight intercepted a David Carr pass…First-round draft choice Kenny Phillips seems to hit anything that moves. Today he knocked down Darcy Johnson after the tight end caught an Anthony Wright pass.

*Carr practiced for the second time and is trying to get settled in the offense.

“He is just starting to work,” Coughlin said. “Really, he is going to need some more time. He is getting limited snaps and is trying to do everything he can in the limited number of snaps. It is going to take a little time, but we have time, we are in camp.”

*Practice ended with a full-contact goal line drill. Brandon Jacobs scored on third down when the first team offense and defense squared off and Derrick Ward made a nice cutback move to reach the end zone on second down when it was the backups’ turn.

*Today’s attendance was 1,160, bringing the camp total to 11,590.

How is Shane Olivea?
What’s impressive about Shane is he has worked himself in good shape. Right now, because of our numbers being down with a couple of guys missing practice, he’s taking double reps with the second and third group and he really doesn’t tire that much. I mean, once in a while he’ll tire, but not nearly as much as some other guys that we’ve been around. That’s the most impressive thing, He’s a strong guy, he’s a veteran, he’s got veteran savvy. Now, tying everything in with the schemes that we have, and the language that we have as compared to what he’s been used to is something that’s new so it causes some hesitation. But, I see that with each and every practice, the hesitation is getting less and less.

Do you see a second chance attitude with him? Maybe he’s putting forth more effort because he knows he has that second chance?
Probably, I look at it as there’s a guy that has some starts under his belt in the NFL and I’m looking for a guy that really can show us that he can do things the way we want them done. You know, that’s what we ask of guys that come from another team and here. Whatever you did in the past, you know, this is the future, this is the now, this is the present. We want you to do it our way. Our language is going to be different, but he’s got a good attitude.

How does he fit in with the guys? I know it’s a close knit group.
I think, you know, the main thing when he came in, he came in with an attitude that he wanted to work. In the meeting room, he’s tentative, on the field, the drills, everything he does is full speed. He hustles, he finishes and that’s the type of group that’s in that room so I think through his work ethic, he has gotten their attention. Being the other guys in the room, you know, ‘hey, this guy really wants to get it done’.

On a Reuben Droughns rush, there was Shane Olivea flattening a defender – I didn’t catch the number as whomever it was, he was on his back almost as quickly as the ball was snapped.