In 2008 they improved to fifth in the league, allowing 18.4 points per game. And one fourth of the way into the 2009 regular season schedule, they’re second in the league, giving up only 16 points per game. 
 
Add to this the wrinkle of the Giants “road warrior” mystique. Despite being banged up and testing the depth along the defensive line, in the linebacker corps and in the secondary; early season defensive highlights include a stellar 24 – 0 road shutout of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on September 27th and stifling road defense on October 4th in Kansas City, where the Giants held the Chiefs to four first downs and ninety-one total yards through three quarters.
 
Stingy indeed. But at home and off the gridiron - it’s a completely different story.
 
Thanks to a partnership with Long Island’s Rock and Wrap It Up! The Giants have become pillars of generosity in the community, helping to feed hundreds of thousands of people in need since 2004.
 
That was the year when Rock and Wrap it Up! CEO Syd Mandelbaum first teamed up with the Tisch Family and concession distributors Aramark Foods to establish, execute, maintain and grow a food recovery program that allows Mandelbaum and his team of volunteers to recover food from concession stands at Giants Stadium immediately after the final gun and swiftly re-locate that food to soup kitchens and food banks within hours, making it available to people who need it the most. 
 
Rock and Wrap It Up! is a poverty prevention and greening solutions think tank that has, in the last several years, expanded its reach beyond the music and entertainment world where they started to establish the Sports Wrap! arm of their growing operation and legacy.
 
“It just makes sense,” says Giants Public Relations representative Alison Strangeby, who has taken the reigns in the Giants relationship with Mandelbaum’s organization. “It’s just too easy, and an obvious win-win situation.  There is absolutely no reason not to do this.”
 
Apparently, countless other sports franchises and entertainment entities agree. Rock and Wrap It Up! is also currently partnered with the New York Jets, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies and Minnesota Vikings in executing similar food recovery missions on a regular and on-going basis.
 
“Once we saw how responsive certain organizations were to our efforts, we knew we could expand our reach rapidly and effectively,” says Mandelbaum.
 
“And the effect is two-fold.” Mandelbaum explains. “Not only are we recovering food for those who need it, but we’re also preventing that food from going to landfill, where it takes up space, time and energy to dispose of properly. So it becomes a ‘green’ solution as well.”
 
While there is no current Giant player attached to the project and the partnership between the Giants and Rock and Wrap It Up!, past spokesmen for the effort have included none other than former Giants stars Jeremy Shockey and Tiki Barber.
 
“We intend to involve some of our players in this as soon as possible, “explains Stangeby.  As if at a loss for words for something so incredibly simple and positive, “It just makes sense!” she exclaimed once again.
 
It’s clear that Big Blue has established a winning formula that reconciles perfectly with their tradition as one of the nation’s finest sports franchises. Give nothing away on the field, and give away as much as you can off the field.