Newly-acquired Giants end Boogie Basham happy to be reunited with Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll
Bills defensive end Boogie Basham laughs on the sideline during the second half an NFL preseason game against the Colts in Orchard Park, N.Y., on Aug. 12. Credit: AP
Boogie Basham had such a close relationship with Joe Schoen when they were together in Buffalo that he always assumed once Schoen left to become general manager of the Giants their paths would cross again. Basham figured that would be in free agency a year and a half from now when his rookie contract expired with the Bills.
It came a lot sooner than that.
Schoen traded for Basham on Tuesday, swapping sixth-and seventh-round picks with Buffalo as well, and that afternoon the one-time second-round pick Schoen was so instrumental in selecting at his old job flew to New Jersey to become a Giant as well.
They greeted each other with hugs and fist bumps when Basham walked into his new home.
“He’s the reason I got drafted in Buffalo in the first place,” Basham said on Wednesday after his first practice with his new team. “He wanted me here, so that’s like a little bond we have for sure. He would tell me ‘I really want you in Buffalo’ [during the predraft process]. I knew it was going to happen eventually.”
Eventually came in a whirlwind. Basham was just finishing his breakfast at the stadium in Buffalo when he was tapped on the shoulder and told he was being shipped to the Giants. Shortly after that he was on a plane to Newark and going through his physical.
Yes, he said, he was able to finish his bacon, eggs and toast. “Barely.”
Schoen isn’t the only familiar face for Basham. He was teammates with Giants wide receiver Isaiah Hodgins in Buffalo and has known safety Nick McCloud since they played as collegians on Tobacco Road at Wake Forest and N.C. State. They, too, were teammates in Buffalo. Now their lockers are next to each other.
And yes, he knows his new head coach, Brian Daboll, who was the offensive coordinator in Buffalo his rookie season.
“I’m thankful I get the opportunity to play for him,” Basham said. “He’s crazy, he’s got his little sayings here and there. But I’m already used to it. It’s a great outfit.”
There will be some adjusting, though. Basham will be asked to play a more traditional outside linebacker with the Giants after lining up mostly as a hand-in-the-dirt defensive end in Buffalo’s 4-3 scheme.
“We’ve got to get him out here and see what he can do,” Daboll said. “He’s 275 pounds. He’s a thick body. We’ll ask him to do the same stuff that all of our outside ‘backers do.”
As for his nickname – his given first name is Carlos – he said it has been with him almost all his life. When he was just a few months old he was being held by his mom’s friend and began squirming to the point where it looked like he was dancing. “Boogie Boogie” she called him.
“I started playing sports and it kind of just stuck,” he said.
Is he still a good dancer?
“Not anymore,” he said. “I don’t really do it as much now.”
Basham went from being someone in Schoen’s memory banks to a needed depth player after outside linebackers Oshane Ximines and Tomon Fox failed to impress during training camp. Both were released as the team trimmed its roster to 53 on Tuesday and both came back on the practice squad Wednesday, but Basham will likely see any of the game reps that come while spelling starters Kayvon Thibodeaux and Azeez Ojulari along with veteran Jihad Ward.
While Basham knows a few folks in his new organization, there are plenty for whom he is going to have to make first impressions in the coming days before the Giants open up against the Cowboys next Sunday night.
“This is a new opportunity, a new beginning for me, that’s how I look at it,” Basham said. “It’s been crazy. But it’s also a blessing to keep playing football no matter where it’s at. They don’t really know me here yet, but I am definitely a team player and I’ll give it all I’ve got.”
NOTES & QUOTES: The Giants signed 12 players to their practice squad on Wednesday, most notable among them veteran WR Cole Beasley, who is recovering from a preseason injury, and rookie third-string quarterback Tommy DeVito. They also reportedly will sign TE Tyree Jackson to the practice squad after he was cut by the Eagles this week … The Giants will practice on Thursday then have the weekend off and return to work on Monday to begin earnest preparations for the Cowboys.
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.
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