Despite the Giants' losing season, Long Island's Greg Van Roten is enjoying things on a personal level
Giants head coach Brian Daboll and guard Greg Van Roten talk during training camp at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center in East Rutherford, N.J., on Aug. 4. Credit: Ed Murray
Greg Van Roten had plenty of reasons for joining the Giants early in training camp this summer.
He wanted to play, obviously, and the team gave him an opportunity to be a starting lineman. He also wanted to be close to home; he and his wife Trish both grew up on Long Island and live here during the offseason with their daughter, Nora. He had a familiarity, too, with the coaching staff and the Giants’ offensive system.
But this? Losing 10 straight games for a two-win team that hasn’t won any of its eight games at MetLife Stadium this season?
“Nobody is signing up for that,” the left guard said.
He sure as heck didn’t.
Yet here he is, a 34-year-old enjoying one of the best seasons of his life on a personal level because of the proximity of his family, having one of the healthiest seasons of his career as the only remaining Giant to have been on the field for every snap on offense or defense… and not being able to match any of it with wins or production.
“That’s just kind of the reality of the situation,” he said of the losing. “For me this is one season in many seasons. You just have to take it as it comes, one week at a time, learn, try to get better, and be a light for other people.
“But I love being a Giant,” he continued. “I love being home. It’s truly been an honor to be a part of this organization.”
How much longer that lasts probably isn’t up to him. He came here on a one-year deal and will be a free agent this offseason. There’s no telling who’ll be making the decisions regarding the 2025 roster with coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen both on hot seats that get exponentially hotter with each passing defeat. And while his availability has been impressive his performance hasn’t been stellar.
According to Pro Football Focus Van Roten has allowed seven sacks and 33 pressures this season — both among the most in the league — but still ranks 39th out of 129 guards graded by the analytical service.
“I definitely have more football in me,” he said … while also acknowledging there is “less ahead than there is behind me at this point in my career” and that the sport may be through with him before he decides he’s through with it. He came into the league as an undrafted free agent out of Penn, had to spend two early seasons playing in Canada, and has now been part of seven different organizations (including a two-year stint with the Jets) while none of them lasted more than three years.
“There are a lot of things that I don’t control in this business,” he added. “I’d like to think that I played at a consistent high level this year and we’ll see what the market is like in the offseason.”
The Giants do like his intangibles.
“This guy's a true pro,” Daboll said. “Does everything the right way … He's been a good veteran presence for our football team.”
Van Roten knew that was going to be as much a part of the job as blocking.
“When I came here they told me they needed a guy like me in the room to help the offensive line grow,” he said. “Just try to show people how to work on a daily basis, how to approach a game week, and when [expletive] goes sideways, how to respond. Hopefully, I’ve done a good job of that this year. You never know until the next season how you impacted the room, but you are just trying to leave things better than you found it.”
None of that, though, is what he’ll remember this season for. That will come down to two very different things which have unexpectedly become intertwined for him.
The first is what everyone will forever associate with the 2024 Giants: Losing. A lot of losing.
“That’s not the side of history you want to be on, especially for an organization as storied as this,” he said after Sunday’s lopsided result against the Falcons increased the current streak to a franchise-record 10 games. “Personally, it just hurts to have a hand in that. We’re trying to pull ourselves out of this tailspin we’re in and finish this season strong and hopefully have something to build on going into the offseason and next year.”
The second: His first full NFL season as a dad. Nora was born in late December 2023 while he was still playing for the Raiders.
“Becoming a father has really just been a huge help for me professionally to keep things in perspective,” he said. “Sometimes you don’t even remember what the record is because you come home to your daughter at the end of the day and she has no idea if we’re winning, if we’re losing, if we’re playing well, if we’re playing poorly. So that’s been helpful in tough times.”
Van Roten said being able to spend time with Nora on the field before games this year has given him some of the best memories of his career.
“To have those moments together has been really special and it’s something that I will cherish down the road,” he said. “The results of the games and the season will not matter when I am gray and retired and all that stuff.”
It helps, too, he joked, that Nora isn’t yet old enough to understand just how bad this season actually is in terms of the football.
“That’s probably a good thing this year,” he said, “but hopefully there are good years ahead that we can share and have memories of.”
Van Roten would definitely sign up for that. Anyone would.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.