Getty Giants vice president of communications Pat Hanlon took a king sized shot at ex-scout Steve Verderosa on Twitter.
As if things couldn’t get any more embarrassing for the Giants, one of their longtime executives got into a public Twitter war with an ex-Scout on December 28.
The victim, Steven Verderosa, who spent 33-years as an NFL scout, joining the Giants in 1988 before getting let go in April of 2020, has been very vocal about his former team’s missteps as of late. Since getting fired by the Giants, Verderosa became an analyst for the Pro Football Network, so he now tweets about the NFL regularly, which is the norm for his job.
However, things got a bit personal when he shared his thoughts about assistant general manager Kevin Abram’s candidacy, or lack thereof, to replace Dave Gettleman. And he also ridiculed some of the mistakes that Gettleman has made such as whiffing on draft picks and letting go of a number of his predecessor Jerry Reese’s picks that are now starting for other teams.
This led Giants vice president of communications, Pat Hanlon, to jump in last night and call out Verderosa for everyone to see.
“Steve, @SteveV_PFN for somebody who has a track record that only we know about, you sure have a lot of thoughts about our operation,” tweeted Hanlon. “There is a reason you’re no longer here, and every one of your tweets to revise your/our history confirms why. Keep talking.
“Anonymity works wonders except when everybody knows you have an axe to grind and you’ve been waiting for this moment to piss on the guy who rightfully fired you,” wrote Hanlon in a second tweet. “Happy New Year!”
Whether Verderosa’s comments stem from bitterness or not, Hanlon’s response was unprofessional and makes the Giants organization look even more dysfunctional on top of their abysmal record for the past five-years (22-57).
The fans are fed up, and Hanlon’s defense of the Giants’ inner operations was not the best way to fan the flames. In fact, it just added more kerosene to the fire.
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Unjustified Shot
To be fair, Verderosa’s tweets were not all that harsh.
First, the ex-scout made a case as to why Abrams doesn’t deserve to be the next Giants GM with supporting evidence from his time with the organization.
@lt4kicks Kevin has been the one negotiating the bad signings ( Solder, Golladay,etc.) He is not a football guy,never played,coached or scouted. NEED A FOOTBALL GUY!
“Kevin has been the one negotiating the bad signings ( Solder, Golladay, etc.),” tweeted Verderosa. “He is not a football guy, never played, coached or scouted. NEED A FOOTBALL GUY!”
And he went onto promote an external candidate, who he deems worthy of the job as well.
A great outside candidate to become Giant GM would be former Carolina Panther MLB Dan Morgan. Dan worked his way up after his playing days through Buffalo Personnel dept. now ass’t GM @ Carolina. A FOOTBALL MAN
However, instead of engaging with Hanlon’s bazooka blast, Verderosa opted to take the high road by sharing his positive experience working for the Giants.
There is no vendetta vs the Giants, I love that place. It afforded my family & me a great living with great memories. No place is perfect & right now they are in dire need of more than a couple of wins. Its just tough love I say.
In the end, Verderosa admittedly enjoyed his time spent with the Giants, and called his criticism nothing more than “tough love.”
Verderosa on QB1
Before the Giants let him go, Verderosa was one of the scouts who did extensive work on quarterback Daniel Jones prior to the front office’s selection of him at No. 6 overall in the 2019 NFL Draft.
And beyond his critique of the Giants’ dysfunction, Verderosa still gives Jones the benefit of the doubt due to a lack of supporting cast around him.
I had scouted Daniel Jones for 3 seasons. No doubt in my mind he has top physical skills to play at a high level.
Smart & very competitive, if there is a negative its the turn overs. When your playing from behind all the time you will force things. Even the best QB needs help.
While Jones’ season-ending neck injury puts his career in jeopardy moving forward, the current belief is that it will not affect him down the road. Despite this aspect, Verderosa believes that a new GM could still want his own signal caller in there over Jones.
Unfortunately for Daniel Jones, the specter of a neck injury clouds his future. By some reports it is not career threatening but your value is based on your availability. A new GM might want his own guy so 2022 could be a short audition
On Sunday December 26, ESPN Insider Adam Schefter reported that both head coach Joe Judge and Jones will be back for the 2022 season. But depending on who co-owner John Mara chooses to take over the reigns as the next GM, this could potentially change before Week 1 of next season.