New York Giants rookie sensation Malik Nabers knows very little of the history between his new team and their opponent this Thursday night, the Dallas Cowboys.
As a kid growing up in Louisiana who played both his high school and college ball there, the recently turned 21-year-old can’t be expected to know the last 64 years of history between the Giants and Cowboys. Heck, most seasoned Giant fans don’t even know it.
“It’s a regular game,” Nabers told reporters on Tuesday. “It’s football. A game is a game. Every time I go out there, a game is a game. No matter what day it is, a game is a game.”
But, it’s Dallas. National television. It’s always been more than a game.
For years, the Giants would wear white at home just to force the Cowboys to wear their blue jerseys in an attempt to knock them from their comfort zone.
And that comfort zone has been pretty comfortable for the Cowboys this decade. They own a six-game winning streak over the Giants and have been victorious in 13 of the last 14 meetings with Big Blue.
Nabers is likely being told by the team that this game against Dallas is of the utmost importance to both the organization and the fans. Given the recent skein against them, the Giants really need to win this game for many a reason.
“It’s a conference game, so it’s going always feel good to go against your conference, try to get a win out there,” said Nabers.
The Giants and the Cowboys are both 1-2 entering this game with each team’s only win coming against the Cleveland Browns. The Giants squandered their Week 2 game against Washington and were completely outclassed by the Minnesota Vikings in Week 1.
After Dallas disposed of the Browns in the opener, they got boat-raced by the New Orleans Saints and then steamrolled by the Baltimore Ravens last week.
Nabers, who is setting records three weeks into his young career, told reporters that he’s “just excited to go out and play” and was having a lot of fun so far.
As for his offseason back-and-forth with Cowboys cornerback Tevon Diggs? That was all fun and games, too.
“It is what it is,” Nabers said, via the New York Post. “I don’t really want to talk about it. It’s game time now.”
The Giants hope the fun continues on Thursday against an opponent in which they’ve had anything but fun against the last seven years.
