Amani Toomer: Romo is 'best quarterback in NFC East'

Amani Toomer can expect to get a lot of boos the next time he steps foot in MetLife Stadium this season— big time. Yesterday, the former New York Giants receiver  came out of nowhere and said Tony Romo, not Eli Manning, is the more elite quarterback.

Toomer called Manning— his former teammate and the guy who lead him to a Super Bowl XLII championship in 2008— the second best quarterback in the division while pumping up Romo's credentials at Manning's expense.

"Tony Romo is probably— if you look at him statistically— he's probably the best quarterback in the NFC East," Toomer said as co-host with Tim Ryan on 'Move the Chains' on SIRIUS radio.  "I mean, you look at Eli Manning and what he does in the fourth quarter.  But you talk about consistency . . . talk about 31 touchdowns and only 10 interceptions.  That guy can play."

Before Giants fans start comparing Toomer's comments to former Giants running back— and current Giants' pariah— Tiki Barber's diss of Eli a couple of years ago, remember Toomer is a radio analyst who is looking to give his unbiased opinions of the game.  Barber was just a disgruntled broadcast wannabe looking to lay his shortcomings on someone else.

Even after Ryan agreed with Toomer's adulation of Romo, he tried to throw his co-host a lifeline by stating the fact that Manning has two Super Bowl MVP trophies and championships to show for his career while his rival's mantle has zilch.

Toomer still wouldn't let go of his love for Romo.

"OK, that's fair," Toomer acknowledged.  "But I'm talking about for me, if I wanted a guy that is going to throw fewer interceptions and be more productive, higher completion percentage, I'm going to go with Tony Romo."

"I want a guy who is dropping dimes at crunch time," responded Ryan.

"At crunch time he's not as good as Eli but every other time he's pretty damn good," said Toomer.

Later, Toomer acknowledged he forgot Manning played in the NFC East (?) but wouldn't back down, "I stand by what I said."

Toomer's comments got Twitter abuzz with comments from the Giants camp.

Giants PR executive  Pat Hanlon tweeted: "QB or golfer?"

Giants defensive back Terrell Thomas posted: "Man toomer my dog and a great giant, helped me a lot as a young rook but aint no way romo better than Eli...both good QB's but...Well"

Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora prepared Toomer for the inevitable: "They will be Booing my guy toomer at Giants stadium.  That we can agree on"

You have to love that the DE still calls it Giants Stadium.

Manning finished the 2011 season with a QB rating of 92.9— still less than Romo's 102.5— but, after it's all said and done, the Giants quarterback was the one holding his second Lombardi Trophy over his head last February.

The two quarterbacks had one face-to-face meeting in the post-season.  In 2007, Manning's Giants defeated the No. 1-seeded Cowboys in Irving, Texas.

The Giants and Cowboys open the 2012 NFL season with a rare Wednesday night game on Sept. 5.

Amani Toomer calls Jeremy Shockey a 'Bad teammate, worse person'

Jeremy Shockey— the former New York Giants tight end who was chased out of town four years ago— is looking for  a job and has come sniffing around the Meadowlands once again.

Amani Toomer—the Giants all-time leading reciever— thinks the hot-tempered Shockey already burned his bridges and it would be a big mistake for the Giants to sign him.

Today, Toomer didn't mince characters when he tweeted about his former teammate's aspirations.

"Bad teammate," former Giants wide out Toomer said via Twitter.  "Worse person."

Toomer's harsh tweet fueled a Twitter war between him and the 32-year-old Shockey.

Shockey, who was never one to keep quiet, immediately shot back a response and accused the retired Toomer of causing the injury which sidelined him during the 2007 season and dredging up allegations made about Toomer during his 2007 divorce.

"Amani Toomer on Jeremy Shockey: Bad teammate, Haha," tweeted Shockey.  "Well he was the lazy one who broke my leg!!  ... remember when his ex divorced him and he urinated on her cloths I guess he's the good person"

Shockey didn't stop there with his Twitter assault.  "Go get a bucket of rocks and start throwing them at your glass house."

Toomer didn't like being on the receiving end of that exchange and tweeted back.  "Shockey thanks 4 proving my statement about u being a bad person, enough said.  Have a nice day buddy."

Now boys.

Toomer and Shockey played together on the Giants from 2002-07 and Toomer— one of Giants fans favorite players— was only saying what a lot of former Giants said about Shockey's antics when he was with the team.

The former first-round pick of the Giants was traded to the New Orleans Saints in 2008 after he complained about his role on the team.  He was also bitter about missing the Giants 2007 run to their Super Bowl XLII Championship because of the broken leg he mentioned in his tweet to Toomer.  Then griped when the team wouldn't fly him to the game because he was on the injured reserve list.

Shockey was blamed for stunting quarterback Eli Manning's growth and confidence because of his constant fits when one of Manning's passes sailed over his head.

Manning's career took off after Shockey was injured and unable to bully his own quarterback on the field.  Manning has two Super Bowl MVP's and the Giants have gone on to win two titles since Shockey went down and out of town.

Right before Shockey got traded, he staged a mini-camp hold-out and got into a loud argument with GM Jerry Reese that could be heard from behind closed doors.

Toomer reminded Shockey of that "meeting" in his tweet.

"' I will never play4 you again!' he yelled at Jerry Reese in 08,' Toomer tweeted.  "Let him keep his word."

Chances are slim that the Giants would ever want the troublesome Shockey back again.

And Shockey— who told The New York Daily News two days ago he wanted to return— is denying he ever wanted to return to the Giants in the first place.

"It's funny how the Ny media still try's to make money off me!"  Shockey tweeted.  "Can anyone find a quote from me on me wanting to play for the GAINTS? (sic)"