Chris Snee, Veteran guard for Giants, retires
EAST RUTHERFORD — The pain got to be too much for Chris Snee.
So the veteran guard told the Giants on Monday that he is retiring.
Snee met with coach Tom Coughlin, who also is his father-in-law, then said he was ending his NFL career after 10 seasons. He has had two hip surgeries and now is most troubled by right elbow and wrist problems. He sat out minicamp last month but indicated he expected to play this season.
"I take tremendous pride in the effort that I put in the weight room and being the strongest player on the field," the 32-year-old Snee said. "I'm nowhere near that, so I knew that even if I came here today, I wouldn't be able to practice. You're trying to catch up and I've been trying to get my strength back, but I think it's time to just let the arm cool down."
Snee was a second-round pick in 2004 out of Boston College and has made four Pro Bowls. He was to be the anchor of a revamped offensive line this season — a unit that underperformed in 2013 with Snee sidelined for all but three games.
Snee started every game in which he played over the last decade, 141 in all. He made the Pro Bowl in 2008, '09, '10 and '12, a versatile blocker as efficient in pass protection as he was in the running game. He won two Super Bowls as New York's starting right guard.
"To me, he was the best guard in all of football," Coughlin said. "No doubt. No matter who you put him against, all of the great defensive tackles in the game, the 350 (pound) guys, the 340 guys, he blocked them. When he first came here, he was so, so committed and so driven to excel at the professional level as he had excelled at the collegiate level."
Snee's retirement leaves three players on the roster who won the NFL title after the 2007 and 2011 seasons: quarterback Eli Manning, long snapper Zak DeOssie and linebacker-defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka, who was on injured reserve for the first of those games.
Snee joined the team the same year as Manning, who now is the longest-tenured Giant.
"He called me yesterday and told me the news," Manning said. "I kind of knew there was a possibility with everything going on with his health. I'm obviously disappointed just because we've had a long run together. We came in the same year, were roommates for home games and away games that first year. We've won a lot of games and been through a lot together and been great pals, so I told him I'd miss him."
Coughlin, of course, has another reason for missing Snee.
"It's different," Coughlin said, "because not only is it a great football player retiring from the game, who has contributed so much to our team and our franchise and has two world championships to show for it, he is a highly respected and loved member of our family."