
DATE: Thursday, August 14, 1997             TAG: 9708130185

SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN             PAGE: 12   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY BILL PENNINGTON 

        N.Y. TIMES NEWS SERVICE 
DATELINE: ALBANY, N.Y.                      LENGTH:   80 lines

ELLSWORTH BATTLING BEST FRIEND FOR JOB WITH GIANTS THE NEW YORK GIANTS PLAYER IS A SOUTHAMPTON HIGH GRADUATE.

When Tito Wooten broke his leg last season, Percy Ellsworth took his job. When Wooten was healthy, he took it back. By the end of the season, they were trading starting assignments back and forth. Now the New York Giants players are going head-to-head every day to see who will start this season at free safety.

And they are the best of friends.

``If I mess up, Tito is the first guy I go to, and we talk about what I should have done different,'' said Ellsworth, a Southampton High graduate who played at the University of Virginia. ``He does the same thing to me. Now that I think of it, it's kind of weird. But that's just us.

``Our jobs are important but our friendship means a lot to both of us. You can't sacrifice your friends.''

``I'm hoping to hold Percy at arm's length,'' said Wooten, who is currently listed as the starter. ``Even if his arms are longer than mine. But if he ends up starting, I know the position goes to someone who is equal to or better than me.''

Ellsworth said: ``Either we're both good actors. Or there's no tension between us.''

So much for the familiar, traditional image of a National Football League training camp, where players are fighting for their survival.

``Well, safeties are different,'' Giants defensive coordinator John Fox said. ``They're like the quarterbacks of the defense back there. And they stick together.''

Wooten and Ellsworth make their living with well-timed, educated reads of an opponent's passing attack. To that end, theirs is a position of high risk and reward.

``The essence of the safety position is that you can go unnoticed for two quarters,'' defensive backs coach Johnnie Lynn said. ``But you must make the play when your number is called. When the play's success or failure comes down to you, you've got to come through.''

Ellsworth, who was the surprise of last year's training camp when he made the team as a rookie free agent, is known for his big play capabilities. He had three interceptions last year, and had eight tackles in the Giants first exhibition game this season.

Both Ellsworth and Wooten are valued in a variety of defenses, and Ellsworth could end up playing strong safety if Maurice Douglass does not work out at that position. It's all something the Giants coaches have to evaluate in the next few weeks. And in Ellsworth's case, he believes the coaches have to learn to trust him because he made an unfavorable first impression.

In May, at one of the Giants voluntary two-week minicamps that are actually viewed by the coaches as mandatory, Ellsworth did not show up. And he did not call.

``It was a situation I handled completely wrong,'' Ellsworth said. ``It was personal business, but something like that, I should have kept in contact. I should have told them about some of the problems I was going through. Sometimes, in hindsight, you see so much better what you did wrong.''

So while just about every player in Giants camp welcomes the Jim Fassel coaching staff as a chance to start over, Ellsworth worries that he is starting behind.

``I'm fighting from the bottom up,'' he said. ``I didn't help myself. First impressions go a long way and my first impression wasn't good. I think it's still in the back of their minds. I didn't give them anything that would make them think they could count on me.''

``No, that isn't a factor,'' Fox said. ``I don't even give it a second thought.''

``They judge you on the field,'' Wooten said. ``I believe that.''

``We do a lot to support each other,'' Ellsworth said. ``Tito has always been looking out for me.''

But they both want to start.

``Once you hear your name introduced as you stand in that stadium tunnel, you're hooked,'' Ellsworth said. ``You want to start every game.''

``It's only natural,'' Wooten said. ``Everybody wants to be the starter,''

Even if it means beating out your best friend?

``One of us will understand,'' Wooten answered. ILLUSTRATION: File Photo

If Percy Ellsworth does not get the safety position, he could end up

playing strong safety if Maurice Douglass does not work out at that

spot.