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Fox's Oliver sees big change in Giants' defense

Neil Best
January 18, 2008

It arguably was the low point of a season once seemingly headed nowhere.

Late in the Giants' Week 2 loss to the Packers, a Fox camera panned the bench, showing a demoralized, dispirited defense. But it was sideline reporter Pam Oliver's voiceover that really hit home.

She disgustedly noted the unit's lack of emotion and leadership, adding, "These guys have just been dead all day."

The Giants were unamused, notably Antonio Pierce and Michael Strahan, who later that week had this to say when asked about Oliver's observations:

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"That's crap."

Four months later ... all is forgiven. Oliver was at Giants Stadium yesterday interviewing some of her old pals, including Strahan, and even has become a lucky charm of sorts.

Some Giants wanted to be sure she would be on their sideline Sunday, as she was for the victory over the Cowboys. She will be. And probably would be again Feb. 3 if the Giants win.

Why the turnaround? Largely because Oliver has most players' respect after more than a decade on the job, and probably because, well, she was right that day.

"I didn't get any feedback from the standpoint that I was wrong about what I saw," she said by phone before traveling to New York.

"They eventually said it took players time to buy into what [defensive coordinator Steve] Spagnuolo needed them to do. Week 2 they were still trying to feel things out. Eventually something clicked and they all looked around and said, 'We're just not going to be this bad."'

Oliver worked the game at Washington the following Sunday, not sure what to expect. After the Giants' season-saving goal-line stand, she approached Strahan.

"I figured, 'I'll give it the old college try,"' she said. "Michael's a pro. We've known each other for a very long time."

Strahan good-naturedly referred on the air to Oliver's comments, then added, "We love you, we respect you," and that was that. Now Oliver sees a radically different team.

"Emotionally, it's completely different; they're talking to each other, firing each other up," she said. "In the Dallas game, to see that kind of camaraderie, I was like, 'These boys are going to win."'

Oliver's other moment in the spotlight this season has not been resolved as amicably. Last month, after she spoke to the Eagles' Donovan McNabb before a game, she reported he "seems to believe his days in Philadelphia are numbered" and "sees an organization distancing itself from him."

McNabb denied making those comments, and Oliver was incensed. She still is.

"I think some mutual friends have tried to broker a peace agreement between us; I don't know if it was on his behalf," she said. "I said I'm not interested in talking to him anytime soon, because I'm still kind of stung by it. I was upset for a long time."

Why is she so much more upset at what McNabb said than she was at the Giants in September?

Said Oliver, "No one called me a liar on that one."

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