From afar, I judged Giants safety Antrel Rolle before getting to know him, boxed him into a category, stereotyped him.
Rolle looked to be one of those players who sought the TV cameras so he could draw attention to himself. He had a weekly radio spot. He was the most quoted player in the newspapers. Sometimes, with players like that who weigh in on all team topics, the message becomes blurred and it becomes difficult to them take seriously.
This is who I thought Rolle was.
Then I got to know him a little bit through locker-room interviews, and realized how wrong I was.
Rolle, who is in his fourth season with the Giants after spending his first five NFL seasons with the Cardinals, was a named as a team captain before this season and rarely will you see a captain carry himself with more class and honesty (often brutal) than he has — particularly while enduring a season that has been as disappointing as this one has been for the Giants.
Rolle might be — probably should be — voted to the Pro Bowl when the results are announced Friday, because he has had an outstanding season with six interceptions, a forced fumble and recovery, 90 tackles and 11 passes defensed while being asked to play several positions in the secondary.
For all of the positive game-changing things Rolle has done on the field, his most impressive moment of the season came after the Giants lost to the Cowboys at home on Nov. 24 in what turned out to be the game that ended any realistic chance of them making the playoffs.
When cornerback Trumaine McBride was injured, Rolle was asked to play out of position at nickel cornerback on what turned out to be the Cowboys' late game-winning drive, and he was beaten several times as the Cowboys marched down the field for the win. After the game, Rolle stood tall and did not make a single excuse.
It's what captains do.
That moment was light years from the way Rolle might have handled it when he first arrived on the Giants in 2010 as a wild, unbridled colt with little interest in being corralled. Rolle banged heads with Giants coach Tom Coughlin then, not understanding Coughlin's old-school disciplined ways.
"Him and coach Coughlin clashed a little bit at first and because he was the new guy some guys got the wrong impression,'' said defensive end Justin Tuck, who has known Rolle since he was in high school. "But over the last [few] years, man, 'Trel has been the consummate pro, a true leader for this football team — not only for what he says, but because what he's done on the football field has backed up every ounce of what he says.''
Asked how much he has changed since he came to the Giants, Rolle laughed.
"Oh [bleep], man, night and day,'' Rolle told The Post. "I didn't understand a whole lot, didn't see things clearly. Looking at it now, I understand what coach Coughlin was trying to instill in this team — everyone doing the same thing the right way, just being one. My first year here, I didn't respond to it too well.''
Now look at him. Coughlin, who is no softie, beams with pride seeing what Rolle has become. So, too, do Rolle's teammates.
"He has really transformed into a leader,'' cornerback Terrell Thomas said. "His actions have backed up everything you want in a captain. In games where we didn't show up as a team he was always playing his butt off, bringing it every week. He really took the captain role personally, like he was honored to be a captain for the New York Giants and he wanted to represent it right.''
Asked if making the Pro Bowl this season would help heal any wounds from this season, Rolle said: "No, absolutely not. The Pro Bowl, that's a self accomplishment. I ride with my team. That's the way I've always been. That's the way I'm made. That's my thought process. I would give my left arm to be playing in the postseason around here. I'd give up 100 Pro Bowls to play in one postseason.''
From afar a few years ago, I might have heard or read those words and not taken them as genuine. Now I know how wrong I was for judging and stereotyping before I had any first-hand knowledge of the man. Shame on me for succumbing to perception before uncovering reality. But hopefully, a lesson learned.
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