Surviving Tom: Covering Coughlin long, strange trip

During his break, Coughlin visited with other teams and coaches. Packers coach Mike McCarthy was the offensive coordinator in New Orleans when Coughlin spent time there as a guest of coach Jim Haslett.

"I really liked the guy," McCarthy said.

When Coughlin got the Giants job in 2004, some said he had no chance to succeed. New York, they said, would eat him up. For a while, it did. The tabloids killed him and really hurt his wife and family. Now that he's winning, they love him. I can tell you this, he won't forget the guys who lit him up.

Through the six-plus years covering the man every day, I came to respect and like him more and more. He was a tyrant, but he was a likeable tyrant. There was a good man inside, and he would let it show on occasion. Maybe it was at a barbecue at the league meetings or during an offseason interview, but he would sometimes let the soft side show through. Many times it was when he was with his wife.

His players came to respect him more and more, too, appreciated him more when he was gone. Many of the same guys who complained about him when he was their coach insist now that they would play for him again. His family told me about the picture they got after the Washington Redskins upset the Giants late this season. It was Redskins receiver Keenan McCardell hugging Coughlin. Despite the loss, they say Coughlin was smiling.

Most of his ex-players all have pretty much the same refrain: He's an ass, but he's a consistent ass.

When I told Coughlin that, he smiled. It was a badge of honor for him.

Now that he's one step away from winning a Super Bowl, all the old stories in my memory bank are coming back to the forefront. That was a fun time, as different a coach-writer relationship as you'll ever see.

When I left to come to this job, I remember telling him it was over. Coughlin extended his hand to me.

"I respected you," he said.

"I respected you, too," I told him.

The obsession was over, sadly for me. I still miss those days sometimes. I still miss those nights trying to get to sleep in anticipation of his waiting to tear me apart for the story I knew would appear in the next day's paper.

Yes, he was a control freak, a maniac, a militaristic lunatic at times, but like the rest of the country is learning now he was also a heck of a football coach. Let's just say obsessing over Tom Coughlin was a heck of a good ride, a great training ground for an NFL beat guy.