Tom Coughlin bans Giants from dunking players in cold tubs

Several Giants noted that dunking young players in a cold tub is a tradition and part of the locker room culture. Not anymore it isn't. At least not with this team.

Tom Coughlin has banned the practice after seeing the video of Jason Pierre-Paul tossing Prince Amukamara into a tub in Albany. While he is not upset by the sentiment of the action or the idea of hazing, he is concerned that someone could get injured if the practice continues.

"I told the players that because of the idea, the nature, of what took place and the potential for injury, we can't have that anymore," Coughlin said.

Coughlin called the actions caught on video "inappropriate on a couple of levels." He singled out the language used by Pierre-Paul, and was disturbed by the risk of injury. "Those are the things," he said.

The other thing that irked Coughlin was that the video was posted to begin with. In fact, that was the first part of the situation Coughlin mentioned.

"First of all, it was wrong of Steve [Weatherford] to do that because there is trust in the locker room and people have to be able to rely on one another," he said of the punter who posted the video through Twitter.

The Giants tried to pour as much cold water on this cold tub issue as they could Monday, insisting that what was seen in a video clip posted online was merely "horseplay" and typical locker room high jinks, not bullying or harassment.

"Training camp is full of a lot of fun and a lot of pranks and that is where you build a lot of team chemistry and that is how we get along as a team and it kind of got out of hand," Amukamara said. "That's just how we get along as a team. We consider ourselves a family and brothers and I guess that is how we show our love for each other, we mess around like that."

"I feel like me and Prince, we're cool," said an unapologetic Pierre-Paul. "All the guys around here are cool. We are all like family to each other. It is something that we were having fun and games and the media took out of proportion."

Weatherford isn't the only one to post images of a dunking. Corey Webster posted a picture on his Twitter account last week that showed rookie wide receiver Reuben Randle in an ice tub bound by what appears to be an elastic band.

Amukamara said he's come to expect the treatment from teammates as a way of being initiated with the team. He said he's been told that he will be considered a rookie until the third game of his second year.

"I just know that it's out of love," he said. "It's how we communicate with each other."

Amukamara also said he does not take it personally because he sees other players getting dunked -- although he said he does not participate in such activities himself.

"I'm not a fan of pranking anymore," he said. "I can take it . . . [but] it can get out of hand, so I'd rather not do it at all."