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| PHOTO: BRANDON MYERS GALLERY |
"I became great friends with Kevin and his wife," Myers said. "You couldn't ask for a better guy to be in the tight end room. He's been talking to me about New York. I'm blessed to know a guy like that who's been here and can tell me where to go. He told me what a great organization this is from top to bottom – the facilities to everything. He said it's a great place to be and told me if I have an opportunity to come here I should definitely think about it. He's helped me out a lot and I'm appreciative of that.
"I'm definitely excited. When you join an organization like the Giants it's a great opportunity and I'm excited to be here and to get started."
Myers, who is 6-3 and 256 pounds, is expected to be the Giants' fourth different starting tight end in as many seasons. Boss was the first in line, followed by Jake Ballard, Martellus Bennett (who last week joined the Chicago Bears) and now Myers, who played his first four seasons with the Raiders.
Myers has played in 58 career games with 28 starts. He had his finest season in 2012, when he started all 16 games for the first time and had career-high totals of 79 receptions for 806 yards and four touchdowns. His 79 catches were 27 more than any of his Raiders teammates had, led all AFC tight ends and tied him with Buffalo's Stevie Johnson for seventh in the conference.
In a game against Cleveland on Dec. 2, Myers tied the Oakland franchise record with 14 receptions (for 130 yards a touchdown).
In his first three seasons combined, Myers had 32 catches for 250 yards and no scores.
"I was given an opportunity to play last season," Myers said. "The first three years there was always a guy ahead of me. That's the way it is sometimes. Last year, I was given an opportunity to make some plays and I did that. Obviously, we didn't win enough ballgames. That's over with and I'm excited for this year."
Myers is looking forward to working with tight ends coach Michael Pope and playing with Eli Manning. Pope, who is preparing for his 31st consecutive season as an NFL assistant coach and his 23rd with the Giants, is widely acknowledged as the NFL's finest tight ends coach. Boss delivered that message to Myers.
"I'm definitely looking forward to (working with Pope)," Myers said. "I've heard from numerous people in the Giants organization and players around the league about coach and I'm definitely excited for this opportunity and we'll run with it. I'm excited for the year to start."
Asked about playing with Manning, the two-time Super Bowl MVP quarterback, Myers said, "I'm definitely excited for that. Hopefully, once things get rolling we can get good chemistry like Carson (Palmer) and I had last year and get the ball rolling."
Myers grew up on a farm five miles outside Prairie City, Iowa, a town of about a 1,000 residents. He signed his contract today at the Trump Soho hotel in Manhattan.
"There are more people staying in this hotel than there are in Prairie City," said Myers, who was a teammate of Giants safety Tyler Sash at the University of Iowa.
Despite his small town background, Myers is looking forward to playing in the nation's largest city.
"I'm starting to like (big cities), guess you can say," he said. "I went out to Oakland with two suitcases and I got the feel of a big city in San Francisco. I'm actually living in L.A. now. L.A. to New York - I'm enjoying it."
He also likes joining a team that has won two Super Bowls in the previous six seasons and has been .500 or better every year since 2005. The Raiders were 4-12 last year, 25-39 and never had a winning record in his four seasons in Oakland.
"The opportunity to play in New York, to play on a big stage and to win ballgames, that's what you strive for as a player – to be in contention to make the playoffs," Myers said. "I had a pretty good feeling this was going to work out. I'm excited and I'm ready to get to work."
