Chatelain: Prince hasn't backed down in roller coaster season

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• Video Below: Bo Pelini discusses Prince Amukamara's Super Bowl appearance

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INDIANAPOLIS — Most rookies in the New York Giants' locker room have learned to avoid the playful rituals known as hazing. Then again, most rookies aren't Prince Amukamara.

"Prince is a guy that talks a lot of smack," veteran Giants running back Brandon Jacobs said. "He just don't listen. He don't shut up. That's the main reason he gets a hard time."

Take, for example, Saturday mornings before road trips. Prince is assigned to pick up Popeye's chicken for the plane.

"He don't do it," Jacobs said. "So we do things to him."

Like cutting his necktie with a scissors. Cutting a sleeve off his dress shirt. And, of course, the cold tubs.

In August, after Prince broke his foot, he navigated the Giants' complex on a scooter. Easy target. One afternoon, he was en route to the training room when Jacobs spotted him.

Prince pedaled as fast as he could go with one healthy foot. Not fast enough. Jacobs, 6-foot-4, 265 pounds, knocked him off the scooter, rounded up a few friends and tossed him into the ice bath.

That wasn't as bad as the time the veterans tied Amukamara to the scooter and threw both man and machine into the tub.

Weren't they worried about your foot, Prince?

"Nope."

'Welcome to New York!'

In the past six months, Amukamara became a millionaire. He suffered his first serious injury. He shined on national TV. He failed on national TV.

Now he's in Indianapolis, where during Super Bowl media day, he conducted interviews with Mexican and German TV reporters. (They liked his high-top fade, inspired by the Fresh Prince of Bel Air).

Even for someone who runs like Prince, it's been hard to keep up with all of the activity.

Last August, he was the last first-round pick to sign a contract. He showed up six days late to training camp.

On the second snap of his second practice, he planted his left foot and felt a pop. He fractured the fifth metatarsal. The injury was bad enough. The fact that it happened after a holdout didn't endear him to Giants fans.

He expected to return in Week 4. He didn't come back until Week 11.

"Honestly, it just sucked," Amukamara said. "Sometimes you question if you're ever going to run as fast as you did before."

The Eagles came to New York on Nov. 20 for Sunday Night Football.

Six minutes into the game, Antrel Rolle came out of the game. A coach shouted, "Prince, Prince, get in."

He matched up with DeSean Jackson.

Amukamara, left, intercepts a pass intended for Philadelphia's DeSean Jackson. (Associated Press)

As Prince remembers it: "DeSean looked at Vince (Young) and was like, 'Hey, hey, there's a rookie out here. Let's go deep on him.' "

Al Michaels was still introducing the rookie from Nebraska when Jackson took off down the sideline.

Prince was beaten by a step or two. Oh my gosh, he thought. I'm gonna give up an 89-yard touchdown on my first NFL play.

But Young underthrew Jackson and Prince picked it off.

"Welcome to New York!" Michaels said.

Criticism from all sides

Unfortunately, NFL quarterbacks don't underthrow the ball very often.

The Giants lost to the Eagles that night, then dropped two more to fall to 6-6. Amukamara was playing a lot because of an injury to Kenny Phillips. And he wasn't playing well.

The injury had put him way behind, said Giants secondary coach Peter Giunta.

"When he did come back, it was a like a preseason game," Giunta said. "He hadn't had the chance to experience anything. He had to jump into the fire."

Giunta loves Amukamara's work ethic and personality. He loves his physical stature and speed. But Prince needs to learn to use his feet more, his hands less. Many officials have told him that he's too physical — "2-0, watch the hands," they yell during a play.

Prince also needs to learn how to play the ball in the air. The biggest challenge, he says, is defending the back shoulder fade.

"In college, I never repped it, never really had to face it. Here, where the quarterbacks are accurate, you might think you have a guy covered, but the back shoulder fade always gets you if you don't play it right."

In his fourth game, the Giants were back on Sunday Night Football, this time at Dallas. Their season was on the line in the fourth quarter when Prince got beat for a 74-yard touchdown.

"That play was basically a miscommunication issue. But to an outsider, since I'm the one chasing him, it looks like I'm the one getting beat," he said.

Teammates chewed him out on the sideline, but their words were nothing compared to the comments on his Twitter page: "Why did we pick him?" "You're a bust."

Not exactly like college, Prince says. "Nebraska fans are a lot nicer."

The next week — the low point of the Giants' season — Prince had another bad game against Washington. It was clear that offensive coordinators and quarterbacks were picking on him, he says, partly because of the bad foot.

Since that day, the Giants haven't lost. Prince's playing time decreased when Phillips returned to the lineup. In the Super Bowl, Amukamara is most likely to play in the Giants' dime package — or if a starting corner goes down.

"He's ready to go all the time," Giunta says.

Prince has adapted well to New York. He wouldn't want to raise a family there, he says, but "I could play here the rest of my life."

When the season's over, he looks forward to coming back to Lincoln and working out at Nebraska — he'll stay at an apartment owned by Ndamukong Suh. The wallpaper on his phone is a photo from 2009, just after his interception against Oklahoma.

He stays in touch with old teammates. Guys like Suh, Eric Hagg and Marcus Mendoza. And, of course, the Redskins crew.

Amukamara and Niles Paul used to argue about who was faster. On Sunday, Niles will be watching his old teammate in the Super Bowl.

Prince won that race.

Not over, yet

The toughest part of rookie hazing is its unpredictability.

Sometimes the vets punish you immediately for a transgression. Sometimes they make a mental note, wait a few days.

"And then, boom," Prince says.

Thank goodness it's almost over. He looks forward to year two, when he can crack jokes and freestyle dance and not worry about the vets cutting his Burberry tie in half.

However ...

According to the Giants' hazing bylaws, you're still a rookie until the third game of your second year.

Usually, Brandon Jacobs wouldn't take advantage of that clause. Then again, usually the Giants don't have a second-year player like Prince Amukamara.

Chances are, Prince hasn't taken his last ice bath.

Contact the writer:

402-649-1461, dirk.chatelain@owh.com

twitter.com/dirkchatelain

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• Video: NU coach Bo Pelini discusses Prince Amukamara's Super Bowl appearance:

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