Odd Giant Out: Jeremy Shockey Forced to Sit and Watch

You've been reading all week how the Giants won the NFC Championship without some of their key players, but here is what you don't know:

It is not that Jeremy Shockey, Matthais Kiwanuka and Derrick Ward are bitter because the team is winning without them.  They are all on IR, and the Giants do not allow players on IR to travel with the team. 

That is why none of the three have been seen on the Giants' sideline.  

Plus, with all three players recovering from broken legs, you wouldn't want them there anyway. NFL sidelines can be dangerous places.

The guys will be at the Super Bowl in some capacity.  Kiwanuka is walking without crutches, Ward is recovering and Shockey is still on crutches.

Shockey plans on taking his mother to the game and sitting in the Giants' family and friends section. 

That is the closest he'll get to the field—for now.

He has been in constant contact with the team through his cell phone and email providing encouragement to his teammates and coaches.

"Everything happens for a reason," Shockey told the NY Post's Steve Serby. 

Maybe now he'll realize that he is just one of 50-some odd men and cease his selfish on-field antics.

This doesn't mean that the Giants do not miss Jeremy.  They do. He is still a huge part of this franchise.  The Giants have been lucky because they have a capable backup—rookie Kevin Boss—filling Shockey's shoes. 

But Boss is no Shockey.

Next season, Shockey will most likely be compelled to finally come to mini-camp to work with the newly-crowned and unquestioned leader of the Giants, QB Eli Manning.  He will be forced to respect Eli and defer to him at all times.  No longer will he be allowed to take over the huddle and show Eli up after miscues and incomplete passes.

Shockey will be a hood ornament on an already efficient offense.  My prediction is that he will thrive in this system once he is healthy.  As a result, he will be better than ever and the Giants will be a force in the NFC for years to come.

I feel bad for Shockey, but this is a lesson that perhaps he needed to learn.