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Pastimes : Football Forum (NFL) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Thomas M. who wrote (5971)	7/28/2001 5:28:36 PM
From: MythMan	Respond to of 45639

Dayne Weight Off Giant Minds Carrying fewer pounds By JOHN HARPER Daily News Sports Writer He looked light on his feet, practically lean at 245 pounds. Beyond the usual new names and numbers on the Giants' first day of practice, nothing was more striking than the sight of a streamlined Ron Dayne. "You mean 'Slimmy?'" said Michael Strahan when asked if he noticed Dayne's appearance. "He looks great. He looks like an advertisement for Slim-Fast." Jim Fassel was more succinct. "He looks different," said Fassel. "He cut the caboose loose." Not that anyone is going to mistake Dayne for a marathon runner. On his 5-10 frame, 245 pounds is still a load. The sleek-looking Ron Dayne, or 'Slimmy,' as Michael Strahan dubbed him, takes a handoff from Jason Garrett during a training camp drill yesterday. But he is down 13 pounds from the 258 at which he reported last year, and dramatically reshaped his body with help of weight training. Of course, to fully appreciate just how light 245 is for Dayne, consider how long it has been since he weighed in at that number. "It had to be seventh or maybe eighth grade," Dayne said yesterday. "When I came out of high school I was 275 pounds. When I started high school I was in the 260s. And in college, 255-260 was my lowest weight." The Giants, not surprisingly, are delighted. They see Dayne's weight loss as a commitment to improving on his underwhelming rookie season, and believe it will translate to more quickness and explosiveness. "It's a faster game in the pros," Tiki Barber said, "and Ron is adapting. You can just see it running through his drills. He's quicker. He's not winded. And he's got that little extra burst when he gets the ball." Dayne's new physique was the talk of camp on Day 1 of two-a-days, but for all the raves he received from coaches and teammates, Dayne insisted it was no big deal. "It's not like I starved myself," he said. "I just decided to eat right and stop the late-night snacks. If I was hungry I'd grab some fruit, drink some water." Dayne says there was no life-changing moment when he decided he had to get lighter in order to become an impact runner in the NFL. He does admit that not getting a carry in the Super Bowl was "frustrating," but if it motivated him, well, Dayne doesn't say so. "It wasn't like I felt like I had to lose the weight," he said. "And the coaches weren't saying, 'You better lose it or you won't play.' "I'm not even sure how I feel about it. I've always played big and I've always felt I play better big. I just wanted to try something different." That's as close as Dayne will go to saying he expected more from his rookie season, during which he gained 770 yards and became mostly a spectator during the Giants' playoff drive. The Giants insist that Dayne's disappearing act had more to do with the defenses they played against, as well as Barber's superb season, but there isn't much doubt that Dayne needed to improve his conditioning and his explosiveness at the line of scrimmage. If he's a little quicker now, too, that won't hurt either. As offensive coordinator Sean Payton said, "I'm thrilled with the way he's come into camp. He's more of a threat to defenses now. He can threaten them outside and keep them from packing it in against him inside." Dayne acted yesterday as if he didn't understand all the fuss. "If I'm faster, I can't feel it," he said. "But everybody keeps telling me I look faster, and that makes me feel good. So I'm going to give this a try."<< Real Story..Giants told him to slim his fat ass down or he'd never get another carry. -ng-