Steve Weatherford posts heartfelt farewell message to Giants fans after release (VIDEO)

Steve Weatherford was released by the Giants Friday afternoon and the veteran punter didn’t leave without a fond farewell to his fans.

The Twitter-happy Weatherford, one of the hardest-working and most popular players on the team, posted this sincere message with his wife Laura and their four children a few hours after being cut:

Thank You @Giants and the most amazing fans in the @nfl #OnceAGiantAlwaysAGiant https://t.co/oFuT4NEBDy

— Steve Weatherford (@Weatherford5) September 4, 2015

The 32-year-old Weatherford was signed as a free agent from the Jets in 2011. He was a key contributor to the Super Bowl XLVI team and spent four seasons with the Giants.

Head coach Tom Coughlin, no stranger to seeing fan favorites get cut loose, got emotional about the amicable breakup.

"He's been just an exceptional, exceptional human being," Coughlin said Friday. "The enthusiasm, the passion, the way that he had a unique ability to touch people in all parts of life . . . Steve had a very unique ability to come into a room, be the light in the room, and get people excited and emotional or speak to them in remarks which showed compassion."

They don't come with much more class or generosity than Weatherford.

Odell Beckham Jr. throws heat from pitcher's mound (VIDEO)

It's become almost routine to see Odell Beckham Jr. showing off his all-around athletic skills on social media, but here's one that might make more than a few MLB teams take notice.

Teammate Steve Weatherford posted an Instagram video of the NFL star smoking the plate with an impressive fastball at a New Jersey charity event.

And, of course, OBJ hit a home run too.

We're out here for the St. Jude's celebrity softball game and @iam_objxiii is throwing straight flames🔥 out here tonight! The sickest athlete I have ever seen! He crushed a homer ⚾️ earlier too. Just when I thought I was something special.... I'm glad he's on my squad! #NYG #Giants

A video posted by Steve Weatherford (@weatherford5) on Jun 26, 2015 at 5:32pm PDT

The two Giants players were joined by wide receiver Rueben Randle, cornerback Prince Amukamara, defensive end Damontre Moore, defensive tackle Jay Bromley and running back Andre Williams on former teammate David Wilson's team during the St. Jude Celebrity Softball Game.

Just guessing the Giants wish their star receiver would apply some of that heat to the hamstring that kept him out of minicamp last week.

Giants are latest NFL team to use drone at training camp

The New York Giants have become the latest NFL team to use a drone to videotape their teams during practice.

The Giants entered the world of high-tech surveillanceWednesday when they used a DJI Phantom 3 drone to videotape a part of the second day of a mandatory veterans minicamp.

Tiny white object above Giants practice is a drone, equipped with camera to take overhead shots of drills. pic.twitter.com/XCyucEGBYq

— Bob Glauber (@BobGlauber) June 17, 2015

The drone hovered at 50 to 60 feet over the grass field next to the Quest Diagnostics Training Center and gave coaches a chance to study plays from a straight overhead angle.

The Giants' football video department practiced using the drone above an unoccupied field for three weeks before doing it Wednesday.

Coach Tom Coughlin deferred comment until he has more detail regarding exactly what the drone will provide, and has had an opportunity to review the video shot from the drone.

Punter Steve Weatherford and placekicker Josh Brown saw the four-bladed drone hovering above and joked about about using it for target practice.

''Josh was saying: 'It's not that high up there,''' Weatherford said. ''And I said: 'Dude, look at the drone and look at the top of our indoor facility. It's higher (indoors).' Obviously I can hit the top of the indoor facility but you have to hit a pretty good ball to hit the drone. Like a really big ball.''

After a split second, Weatherford finished the thought.

''It's definitely doable,'' he said. ''They won't be putting that up there while I am punting.''

While the kickers plotted against the pesky little chopper, most players were oblivious to the white drone. Quarterbacks Eli Manning and Ryan Nassib admitted they didn't even notice it.

Giants' Steve Weatherford 'blessed' after car crash on Jersey Turnpike

Steve Weatherford had a heaven and hell of a ride over the past 24 hours.

On Sunday, the New York Giants punter and his wife, Laura, welcomed their fourth child, Josie Jaclyn Weatherford. Then, after a brief visit with his daughter, Weatherford had to jet from San Diego to Newark Sunday night so he could report for the team's OTAs Monday morning.

And the only thing harder than leaving his family was the trip back to New Jersey.

The rainstorms that soaked New York and New Jersey Sunday night cancelled Weatherford’s flight, so he hopped a different plan to Washington, D.C., at 11 p.m. From there, the Giants punter rented a car and began driving up I-95 to his Hoboken home.

It broke my heart leaving Baby JJ today, but Dad's got to get to work. Just landed in Newa... https://t.co/OFX4srEOHz pic.twitter.com/bjDE5SLx9F

— Steve Weatherford (@Weatherford5) June 1, 2015

But those storms also wreaked havoc on the highways, as Weatherford explained.

“(Three) hours into my trip at 3:30am I run into a massive body of water on the NJ turnpike, I hydroplane, slam into the median, get blasted in the face by the air bags,” Weatherford wrote on Instagram. “My rental is totaled, and I walked out without a scratch. I am feeling so incredibly blessed. Not only has God given my family and I a beautiful, healthy 10 pound baby girl. He sent his guardian angels to keep my car from flipping and possibly dying.”

Weatherford added that he called 911 and “the finest Highway Patrol in America, the NJ State Police” came to his rescue and gave him a ride back to Hoboken. Weatherford claims he didn’t get any preferential treatment from the troopers because he’s a Giant — “they didn't even know who I was or what I do.” — and shouted out Officers Adam Brozek and Kim Smith for “ going that extra step” and driving him home.

Later Weatherford counted his blessings after the sequence of events.

I'm here! And feeling blessed https://t.co/2GgHQGFSn5 pic.twitter.com/UjNr7D2ftn

— Steve Weatherford (@Weatherford5) June 1, 2015

Giants' Steve Weatherford visits NYPD precinct to say thanks (PHOTO)

New York Giants punter Steve Weatherford says he was sick to his stomach to hear of the ambush killing of two NYPD officers this past weekend.

So on Tuesday, back from the team’s trip to St. Louis, Weatherford dropped in on the 18th Precinct in Midtown Manhattan to show his appreciation to the men and women who serve New York City.

Before heading to the Meadowlands for practice a "nervous" Weatherford, with his seven-year-old son Ace in tow, spent more than an hour with New York’s Finest.

“What they do for us on a daily basis, I know it doesn’t get enough credit,” Weatherford told the New York Daily News. “People don’t say ‘Thank you’ enough for the times that they don’t need the police because everything is under control and everybody is safe. It’s a very thankless job, and I just wanted to go there and really just tell them ‘Thank you for doing what you do for us, for putting your life in danger on a daily basis to afford us the safety and security so we can sleep peacefully at night,’ and ‘I appreciate everything that you do.’”

It was an honor to spend the morning with the #NYPD 18th precinct. Thank you for all you do. pic.twitter.com/PO4F2T0Z3x
— Steve Weatherford (@Weatherford5) December 23, 2014

Weatherford hoped his simple but significant gesture — along with head coach Tom Coughlin's subtle tribute during the game — helped show the NYPD that the two officers — Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu – won't be forgotten in Big Blue Nation.

And it sure looks like he did a Giant deed.

Giants punter Steve Weatherford's Twitter account hacked by suspected Eagles fan: Report

It's no secret that New York Giants punter Steve Weatherford has one of the NFL's most active Twitter accounts. On Tuesday, his followers were stunned when he posted, "The Giants are stink and I'm no good! Fly eagles fly!"

It didn't take long for everyone to surmise that the out of character tweet presumably came from a Philadelphia Eagles fan who hacked into Weatherford's Twitter account and not the punter himself.

I'm just guessing but the "Fly eagles fly!" probably gave it away.

It didn't take long for Weatherford to let everyone know that he had been hacked.

Sorry folks, I was hacked. I think it's time for new password. My apologies.
— Steve Weatherford (@Weatherford5) September 16, 2014

But even that didn't stop his followers from having a little fun with the phony tweet.

Osi Umenyiora defends locker-room 'culture' in NFL

Osi Umenyiora said he knew the reaction to the Prince Amukamara cold-tub video would be "bad" but the New York Giants defensive end is standing up for the incident which he claims is part of NFL locker-room "culture."

In a tweet he sent to Steve Weatherford— which has apparently been deleted— Umenyiora says if Weatherford is apologizing for his video then HBO should apologize for "Hard Knocks."

Umenyiora's take on Jason Pierre-Paul's dunking of Amukamara may make head coach Tom Coughlin cringe but he is a locker room insider and has a good perspective into the way players co-exist.

"It happens.  I hate it got out there like that but when you look at it on the video, it looks a whole lot worse than it was actually was," Umenyiora told The Star Ledger.  "If you had seen the whole thing, they'd know it was just playing around and it's stuff that just happens.  But it was nothing worse then what you see on that show."

Asked if he thinks people would be shocked by a lot of the things that go on in the locker room that players consider mundane Umenyiora answered, "Absolutely.  I think so. But that's the way it is.  If you grow up in this culture or whatever, there are certain things ... I mean, you probably play around with your cousins and brothers and stuff like that in a way you wouldn't normally in a public place.  It's the same thing here."

He also knew there would be hell to pay for the hazing stunt after Umenyiora admitted he knew it looked bad to the media.

"Honestly, I was just sticking up for my teammate because when I saw it, knowing what I know about the way it actually was, I was like, 'Oh, that's bad.'  I promise you I said that," Umenyiora said when asked about the tweet to Weatherford.  "But as a team, we always have to stick together.  It was the truth, but I still have to stick up for my teammate."

Umenyiora knows the video can be decieving.

"Because of the way it looked.  Some of the language and, even though JPP and Prince were good friends, from the outside looking in, you'd think, 'Man, JPP's a bully.'  It's not like that," said Umenyiora.  "Everybody loves Prince.  I just know it didn't look the way it ever was."

Umenyiora also hinted that he might have been more than just a spectator while Weatherford was aiming his camera.

"I was right there," he joked.  "They didn't catch me on camera, but I was there egging the whole thing on."

Coughlin not happy with 'inappropriate' Prince video

Tom Coughlin made it through most of the New York Giants training camp without any tabloid landmines— unlike like his counterpart Rex Ryan and the Jets— but now a simple hazing has the head coach ready to explode.

Coughlin did not sound pleased after a video posted on Twitter went viral and showed Jason Pierre-Paul tossing Prince Amukamara into a cold tub accompanied by a slew of obscenities. He promised to "address that strongly."

"I'm learning about that today.  I really didn't have any information about that until maybe an hour before this conference call," Coughlin told The New York Post Sunday afternoon.  "I'm gonna look into it, I'm gonna talk to the parties involved, as I'm understanding it there were some parts of it that were inappropriate."



In the video— which was posted on punter Steve Weatherford's Twitter account— Pierre-Paul is recorded at training camp at the University of Albany carrying the 207-pound Amukamara over his shoulders through a hallway and dumping the second-year defensive back into a cold tub.  In the background Giants players cheer Pierre-Paul on and one shouts "stand up for yourself!"

After the dunking, Amukamara pulls himself out of the tub, wiping his eyes and doesn't look amused at the hazing ritual usually reserved for rookies.  The 2011 first-round draft pick has been pranked before— as it is the unofficial ritual in NFL locker rooms— but doesn't consider himself a newbie anymore even though he missed last season with an injury

Chris Canty, Michael Boley, Bruce Johnson and Terrell Thomas are seen in the video where Pierre-Paul spews a string of profanities and yells,"He ain't gonna do that s*** to me."

Weatherford is presumed to be recording the incident after Canty says," Steve, let me see the footage."

Fresh off a satisfying win over the rival Jets, Coughlin promised to get to the bottom of the embarrasing— but basically harmless— public Videogate. He sounded annoyed at the whole episode and the immaturity of his players.

"No way anything that occurs within this family or within this group should that be part of any kind of social media aspect," said Coughlin.  "I'm gonna address that strongly because I've spent a little time on that this preseason and I'll look into it further,"

Antrel Rolle shows up in camp with glow-in-the-dark hairstyle

The New York Giants had their first full day of practice and it looks like Tom Coughlin's normally serious two-a-days might be a little more colorful this summer especially after Antrel Rolle showed up in camp sporting a crazy glow-in-the dark hairstyle.

The defensive back's head had a Mohawk down the middle separating what was all business on the right side while on the left was a party of day-glow designs.

It took Rolle's barber four hours to complete the work of art.

"I told him to give me something different, something that stood out," said the 29-year old.  And he got it.

Even his teammates were shocked by the neon 'do. Punter — and wild man himself—Steve Weatherford did a double-take when he heard it glowed in the dark.

Asked if he thought hair could make you a better player, Rolle laughed, "Absolutely not," but the last two times he came to camp with special haircuts his team went to the Super Bowl. The Cardinals in 2008 and the Giants last year.

Rolle's crazy haircut seemed to lighten the mood around the Super Bowl champs' practice.  But a Lombardi Trophy can do that to a team too.

Giants' punter disses Mark Sanchez's 'maturation'

You know things are really tough when a guy who comes on to the field maybe half a dozen downs a game starts questioning the "maturation" of another team's quarterback.

That's exactly what punter Steve Weatherford suggested while speaking on an NFL.com podcast yesterday.  Weatherford— who was last seen flaunting his new New York Giants Super Bowl XLVI ring— was a teammate of New  York Jets Mark Sanchez in 2009 and 2010 feels the Jets signal-caller hasn't made any advancement as a leader since reaching the AFC Championship game both of those years.

"I like Mark— I think he's a very talented quarterback.  But from my standpoint, I haven't seen a lot of maturation," the punter said.  "When you're a quarterback and you come in, and you're expected to be the face of the franchise, and you're expected to lead the team, that's a lot to take on as a rookie."

"But as the years go on, I think you're expected to mature, skill-wise, and also mature as a leader. . . as much as I like the guy, I haven't seen that."

Wow!  It sounds like Weatherford and Darrelle Revis have been eating at the same lunch table as Tim Tebow.

After Weatherford made his comments, he quickly went to Twitter to diffuse a potential war of words if they ever encounter each other in a Manhattan hotspot.

"Dear bloggers, Mark Sanchez will make people forget about Tim Tebow, but the competition will sharpen him.  He has what it takes to be great," he tweeted.

Later, he wrote: "They definitely took it out of context.  I have a lot of respect for Mark Sanchez."

He also mentioned that he spoke with Sanchez to clear the air.

First, Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora takes back his mean tweet wishing LeSean McCoy a "Happy Mother's Day," now Weatherford whiffs on a verbal punt.  Hey guys, don't say it if you don't mean it.

Giants' punter leaks photo of Super Bowl ring on Twitter

In March, a photo of the New York Giants' Super Bowl XLVI ring was tweeted by linebacker Clint Sintim to the public.  The 14K white gold ring was reportedly called "tacky" and ladylike by Diamond District jewelers who checked it out.  Sintim deleted his tweet hoping to put the cat back in the bag before the Giants officially released the ring design.

At the same time, Giants defensive end Justin Tuck tweeted he had no idea who was circulating the photo and claimed the photo wasn't one of the finalized ring.

Today— one day before the rings will be presented to the players and coaches at Tiffany & Co. in Manhattan—  punter Steve Weatherford tweeted another picture of the ring which, oddly,  looks identical to the one Sintim had leaked.

Even if the ring is the same design, it looks like the Giants be slipping a magnificent piece of jewelry onto their fingers representing their hard fought run to their championship victory.

The team will get their rings at a ceremony Wednesday night at Tiffany's Fifth Avenue flagship store.

The rings were designed with input from Giants co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch, general manager Jerry Reese and team captains Eli Manning, Zak DeOssie and Tuck along with representatives from Tiffany.

According to the photo Weatherford tweeted, the  top of the ring features four Lombardi Trophies to represent the number they have won in their history and the iconic "NY" logo.  On one side of the ring is the player's name and uniform number.  On the reverse side is the word "Giants" along with the final score, 21-17, of Super Bowl XLVI when Big Blue defeated the New England Patriots.

This year's ring is actually smaller than the team's 2008 version.  It features only 1.36 carat weight in diamonds.

Former Giants defensive end Michael Strahan described the Super Bowl bling four years ago as a "10-table stunner" because he bragged you could see it from 10 tables away.

Ten tables, nine tables. . . it's still a Super Bowl ring.

Giants Punter Gets Really Excited About Going To Super Bowl

The most excited player on the field— after New York Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes booted the winning field goal to defeat the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship game— was the guy who held the ball— punter and holder Steve Weatherford.

After the 31-yard overtime kick defeated the Niners, 20-17, Weatherford could be seen running around the field trying to pull his helmet off his head and screaming what looks like, "I'm going to the f---ing Super Bowl!"

Weatherford had good reason to be happy because he had a lot to do with the victory.

His superb foot kept the 49ers out of good field position all night and his sure hands were fast enough to gather the ball for the winning kick after a bad snap from the center.  He prevented what could have been another long-snap fiasco in Frisco.

The defensive battle had him matching punts with the Niners Andy Lee all game long and the Giants punter kept pinning the Niners deep in their own side of the field.  Weatherford punted 12 times on the rain-soaked field inside Candlestick Park for a 46.4 average.

Even the winning score was set up on one Weatherford's punts after 49ers punt returner Kyle Williams was stripped of the ball by Giants special teamer Jacquian Williams into the arms of teammate Devin Thomas in 49ers territory.

A few running plays and the sudden-death kick later, the Giants were heading to Indianapolis for a rematch with the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LXVI.

Maybe after the Giants next game, Weatherford will be yelling, "I'm going to Disney World."  But without the expletives.