When a player is drafted by or signs with the New York Giants or Jets, their minds immediately race to visions of grandeur and the bright lights of Times Square.
The reality is, they're going to New Jersey. The Giants are in East Rutherford, which offers a view of the Manhattan skyline, but is almost 10 miles west of the famous landmark. The Jets are further away, 32 miles to be exact, in Florham Park.
Instead of thinking of Friends and Sex and the City, they should be thinking of The Sopranos and Jersey Shore.
Living in New Jersey, not Manhattan, is worlds apart. You need a car. It's not such a stretch for some players, such as Giants rookie cornerback Colton Hodd, who grew up in rural Georgia.
From Jordan Raanan of ESPN:
Hood was drafted in the
second round of this past year's NFL draft out of Tennessee. Hood, born and raised in the Conyers and McDonough area in Georgia, also didn't know the Giants did everything in New Jersey. He had never been to New Jersey before being drafted.
"It's a lot busier than where I'm from, the suburbs, South Georgia. It's super-fast. Way busier. People are a bit ruder, I would say. (laugh) Other than that, it's been good. I've enjoyed it."
Perhaps the biggest surprise came when he went to pump gas. New Jersey is the only remaining state where it is illegal to pump your own gas. That's generally an eye-opener for those who have never been to the Garden State.
"I was surprised. The dude came out and I don't think he spoke English. He was just talking to me and I honestly couldn't understand what he was saying. I'm just like, 'Bro, I can pump my own gas. OK, bro!' He was like, 'No.' I told him I can do it. I got it myself. And he kind of walked away."
Back in the 1980s, when the Giants were ruling the NFL, head coach Bill Parcells, after seeing his offensive line pull up in soccer-mom-style vehicles outfitted with baby seats, nicknamed them the Suburbanites.
It illustrated that the players were just normal dads, not glamorous stars and idols the fans made them out to be.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: Giants rookie Colton Hood got hilarious lesson on pumping gas in New Jersey
