Over the weekend, a video of a few Giants players hazing second-year cornerback Prince Amukamara at the Giants facility went viral after it was posted on Pro Football Talk. The clip showed defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul carrying Amukamara over his shoulder and throwing him into a cold tub. Several players looked on and cheered, trying to rally Prince to stand up for himself. When Amukamara emerged from the tub he appeared visibly upset.
The video was originally posted by punter Steve Weatherford on Twitter, but he later apologized for sharing it as it contained strong language and seemingly infuriated Tom Coughlin. Here is the video, which contains some very strong language:
Perhaps the most confusing aspect of the prank is that Amukamara is no longer a rookie. We’ve seen rookies across the NFL who have to deal with horrible haircuts, clothes thrown in a hotel lobby and carrying shoulder pads and helmets in addition to the cold tub treatment, but why a second-year player? Prince said that part puzzles him as well.
“Yeah, um, well, I mean, I just don’t get it. I don’t understand the rules,” Amukamara told The Star-Ledger. “I mean, I’m not a rookie anymore, so I don’t know why I’m getting thrown in the tub. I know it’s all love. No one ever likes it, especially when it’s you vs. eight and no one’s helping you. But it doesn’t mess up our team morale or anything.
“Sometimes I think they take it overboard just because they’re vets they get to be mean about it and tell you what to do. I just kind of flipped the whole script and kind of had fun with it with being insubordinate a little bit just so it can be more playful and I think that that whole vibe just creates a great locker room atmosphere.”
In other words, it annoyed him but he’s not going to make a big deal out of it publicly. In response to some of the backlash, Osi Umenyiora tweeted that prince is “like a younger brother” and is one of the most well-liked players on the team. Maybe Amukamara is simply nice to a fault. Sometimes those guys are the easiest to pick on.
