He isn’t even the certified feature back of the New York Giants, although you’d never know it from listening to him. It’s not that he doesn’t respect Ahmad Bradshaw, or doesn’t comprehend why he is part of a tandem at running back and not The Man. It’s just that by the way he carries and expresses himself, you’d assume you were conversing with Jim Brown, or somebody.
Some might even argue he has always promised more than he has delivered. You look at some of the stuff he does and you wonder why he isn’t a perennial All-Pro. “Brandon Jacobs is a freak,’’ maintains Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride, “and I mean that in a very positive way. There aren’t many guys that big and strong who can run that fast. Once he clears the line of scrimmage, there aren’t many LBs or DBs who want to tackle him.’’
But since rushing for 1,089 yards (5.0 average) and 15 touchdowns in 2008, he has had far more modest numbers. This season, for example, he rushed for 3.8 yards per carry and scored seven touchdowns.
Now he has scored 56 career rushing touchdowns, and that happens to be the most any Giant has had in their long, rich history. The obvious reason, of course, is that the man is ideally suited to get that tough yard or two around the goal line.
At this point in his career he is equally famous for what he says as for what he does. He is known far and wide for speaking his mind. Witness the little firestorm he created in the aftermath of a midseason loss to the Eagles, when he said of the home crowd at MetLife Stadium, “The best thing they do here is boo.’’
You can’t say something like that in New York and think it will go unnoticed. The feisty tabloids framed the outburst as Jacobs officially taking on the fans, making it seem as if he was asking each and every patron to step outside. Given his aforementioned lack of big-time production, the statement did not go down well.
Only one guess is necessary to identify his current reaction to the contretemps. “It got out of hand,’’ he says. “I never meant for it to happen. I wasn’t really talking bad to our fans.’’ And, of course, “People blew it out of proportion.’’
