The New York Giants Monday tried to throw cold water on 'Tub-Gate,' the firestorm caused by punter Steve Weatherford posting a video that went viral of defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul emphatically dumping cornerback Prince Amukamara into a cold tub.
Weatherford apologized Sunday night for posting the video, and had more to say on the matter Monday. He called the incident between Pierre-Paul and Amukamara "horsing around."
"It was just disappointing because I pride myself on being a good example, and that was a lack in judgment. Everybody in this locker room loves each other. We all get along great. It’s simply horsing around. It wasn’t perceived that way, and I apologize for that," Weatherford said. "It was a mistake on my part. What happens in here stays in here, and I think everybody in here gets along great."
Pierre-Paul said there is no issue between himself and Amukamara.
"Me and Prince, we’re cool. All the guys around here are cool. We’re all like families to each other," Pierre-Paul said. "It’s just something that we were just having fun and it got out of proportion. The media took it out of proportion."
Amukamara said the incident was comparable to brothers rough-housing, but might have been "taken a little too far."
Amukamara and Pierre-Paul both agreed that the video should not have gone public.
"It looks like it is bullying and it looks like it is foul playing and just the language. I can see why it’s taken out of context," Amukamara said. "It doesn’t give the professional football league, the NFL, a good look. Coming to the NFL, we’re taught to protect our shield and I definitely don’t think that it’s doing that. It’s definitely a situation that we’re not trying to brush under the rug. We’re trying to address it and it was just a lot of horseplay that was taken too far."
"It looked like it was a big slam, but it really wasn’t. I softened it up, but it just looks [that way because] I’m a bigger guy," said Pierre-Paul. "I don’t think Steve meant [any] harm [by] it. I think he meant for it to be funny. For us guys, it was funny. To the media and to all the fans, they didn’t find it funny. I apologize to the fans and my fans and that’s basically it. It was a joke gone bad.