Giants' Devin Singletary now in role of mentor after learning from Frank Gore
Devin Singletary, left, and Frank Gore of the Buffalo Bills before the start of a game against the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium on Nov. 17, 2019, in Miami, Fla. Credit: Getty Images/Eric Espada
When Devin Singletary was a rookie in Buffalo, he had the opportunity to spend the 2019 season with Frank Gore.
Gore was on the downside by then. His career started in 2005 in San Francisco and ended with the Jets in 2020. He left the game having rushed for exactly 16,000 yards while playing for five teams.
It was in western New York that Singletary found a willing mentor in Gore. The two often were together and had a ritual of walking laps around the stadium on game days. Singletary, whose nickname is Motor, said he will always consider Gore a pivotal person in his career. They spent time together in their meeting rooms, young Devin soaking in every moment with Gore.
“I think he was just so chill, so down to earth, that it felt like I’d known him for a long time,” Singletary said. “That’s how he made it feel. I could talk to him about anything, on the field, off the field, family stuff, whatever the situation.” BOCA RATON, FLORIDA - NOVEMBER 30: Frank Gore and Devin Singletary of the Buffalo Bills attend the game between the Florida Atlantic Owls and the Southern Miss Golden Eagles at FAU Stadium on November 30, 2019 in Boca Raton, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) Credit: Getty Images/Mark Brown
As the Giants officially begin a new season, they also will be celebrating the team’s 100th. On Sunday, they’ll wear the uniforms to prove it.
The Vikings are the Week 1 opponent at MetLife Stadium. In the teams’ last meeting, the Giants won at Minnesota in the wild-card round in January 2023.
For Singletary, the script has been flipped. The 27-year-old now mentors rookie Tyrone Tracy and Eric Gray, who is in his second year.
Now it is Singletary showing the way.
“I’ve been thinking about that a lot,” he told Newsday. “It hit me because this is the first time, going into my sixth year, that I’m the oldest in the [running backs] room. In the past, there was always someone older than me. This is actually the first time there isn’t. I feel like I was just in [Tracy’s] shoes. When I thought about that, I was like, ‘Wow. That’s gone by quick.’ It’s a blessing to be in this position. I want to be [for the younger backs] what Frank was to me. Anything they want to know, I want to be able to answer.”
Singletary and Tracy locker next to each other. They talk about football and life, including Tracy’s ankle injury during training camp. He was carted from the field and it looked far worse than it turned out to be.
“In that moment, I thought [my season] was over,” Tracy said. “But thank God, I was able to come back and get back on the football field, which is where I want to be. I feel good, I feel blessed, happy to be out on the field making plays.”
He credits Singletary for helping him find his way.
“That’s my dawg, man,” Tracy said. “He’s been good. He’s really good. He’s giving me tips all the time. If I need some advice, I go to him. Any kind of mentoring, on the field, taking care of your body, he gives all of that [advice]. He’s a good vet. I hear that some players can be kind of selfish, but he’s a good vet, somebody you always want in your corner.”
Are they a game-day tandem?
“We’ll see,” Singletary said. “We haven’t played a game yet. We got to see the flow of the game and how they’re going to use us. As the season goes on, we’ll know more. But I’m definitely excited. I still have the same [jersey] number [26], and I’m glad to be back with [coach Brian Daboll, his former offensive coordinator in Buffalo]” after one season in Houston.
None of this, the mentoring or the enthusiasm, surprises Daboll. He told Newsday on Friday that he considers Gore “one of the best guys I’ve been around as a coach. I have a really good relationship with him. Even now, he’s a football junkie. And he was in the building as long as the coaches were in Buffalo, and you can see why he had the success that he had, the film work, the vision, the communication that he and I had. I love him.
“I know Motor did as well. I think just his work ethic, his preparation, how he went about his business, his film study. He had instincts and vision, and I’d say Motor has instincts and vision. You can’t really teach that, but you can [see it].”
Kimberly Jones covers the Giants for Newsday, a beat she first worked in the early 2000s before joining the YES Network to cover the Yankees. She worked for the NFL Network for more than a decade and has been heard semi-regularly on WFAN.
