Buried deep in this New York Times story about the Giants not coming to Albany for training camp this summer is a great tidbit about Justin Pugh.
Justin Pugh thought he was on the hook a dinner bill for around $10,000, but it turned out to be a prank.
The rookie out of Syracuse was part of a group of 20 offensive players who went out for dinner together Saturday night. From the Times:
Pugh was informed that it was a team ritual that he, as the highest draft pick, would pay for the meal.
The bill came to several hundred dollars, but the veterans at the dinner arranged to have the waiter present Pugh with a fake bill of about $10,000.
"It was rigged to have all these extra items — $5,000 for a private room, extra professional team services and a big phony bar bill," Manning said. "Justin got all worried about whether he had enough room under his credit-card limit. We just sat there and watched him for a while. He was sweating it out pretty good."
It wasn't the first prank pulled on Pugh in recent months. His friend called him on draft day and pretended to be a representative from the Browns.
Pugh hasn't practiced since suffering a concussion on Thursday.