Is New York Giants' MLB Antonio Pierce Still Fierce?

Is New York Giants’ MLB Antonio Pierce slipping?

During and after last season, there have been rumblings from fans and the media that Pierce has lost a step. He looked slow and out of place at times, and that was magnified by the play of Brian Westbrook, or the lack of play by Pierce.

Some say his mind wasn’t right after the Plaxico Burress shooting incident. So let’s take a closer look at Pierce:

The Good:

Pierce is a leader and has the respect of his teammates.

Pierce has experience and knows what to expect on the football field. He is a competitor and he is savvy. And though he may not get to every offensive player coming his way, most of the time he knows where the play is going. 

The Bad:

Pierce turns 31 this October. He has played in the league since 2001, when he was signed by Washington as an undrafted free agent. This will be his ninth season of taking a pounding, and it could be taking its toll on him.

Pierce had his worst statistical performance in the five years last season. He had 95 tackles and just one-and-a-half sacks. He looked slow on several plays, although he never was the fastest cat in the litter.

So if in fact Pierce is declining, what do the Giants have as far as possible replacements?

The Giants selected Jonathan Goff in the fifth round of the 2008 draft.  He is listed as 6'2" and 236 pounds, easily having the size to play, however he was injured most of last season and totalled a whopping two special teams tackles. He is an unknown.

Chase Blackburn is listed as the backup to Pierce on the Giants depth chart. He is adequate at best, but he's not the long term answer.

So that brings us back to Pierce.

2008 was a disappointing season for Pierce. His performance wasn’t up to par, and the Giants lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Eagles. It seems that he has put all of that behind him, and is ready to move forward.

As quoted in the Big Blue Screen Pierce has this to say about last year:

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“The past is the past; you learn from it, you live from it. There’s nothing you can do about it. Why am I going to talk about negatives? It’s behind us. We’re trying to move forward. We’ve got new faces here. We’re trying to build a new team. This isn’t the 2008 Giants. A lot of things have changed.”

"

Pierce had this to say about himself:

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“I’m just getting better,” he said. “It’s going to be the old A.P. It’s going to be a new look. I’m excited about it being a new year, new experience, and a different guy.”

"

Time will tell if Pierce will play like the old A.P. this season. He has the fire and desire…but does he still have the skills?