New York Giants safety Antrel Rolle would prefer that you not criticize his play. Especially if you do not know exactly what his coaches ask him to do on every down.
Rolle launched into a diatribe against NFL announcers on Tuesday during his weekly section on WFAN, saying many commentators develop opinions despite not necessarily knowing what schemes the defenses are trying to play. Despite never mentioning Cris Collinsworth's name, it is expected that Rolle's rant was in response to some harsh criticism levied by Collinsworth during New York's victory against the Dallas Cowboys.
"Whenever there's a big play and you're the safeties, you're always the one who gets blamed and gets finger-pointed," Rolle said. "It's wrong because he commentators don't know what coverage we're in. They don't know how we're playing our defense. They don't know that I'm disguising, showing a Cover 2, but I'm really supposed to drop down and play a cover 3. They don't know.
After one play during the Cowboys game, Collinsworth said Rolle had been "barbecued" and called out the Giants for their "amateurish coverage."
"It drives me crazy," said Rolle. "When I speak about this, I'm not speaking about just on behalf of Antrel Rolle - I'm speaking on behalf of people across the league. I don't care what position it is. Commentators always want to point the finger as if they know what they're doing and they know what they're talking about. But in reality, they don't half of the time.
"I'm saying that if there's a coverage and I'm supposed to be in a certain area, best believe I'm going to be where I'm supposed to be. Like I was Sunday night. Like I was against San Francisco. Like I was against the Packers. And for them to come out and say ‘Oh, Antrel Rolle got burned.' No, Antrel Rolle didn't get burned. Antrel Rolle was exactly where he was supposed to be. So know what the hell you are talking about at the end of the day."
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