Inside the Giants' House
HOW NEW is the East Rutherford, N.J., town house shared by Giants cornerbacks R.W. McQuarters and Kevin Dockery? "Some things still aren't done," says McQuarters, who has seven tackles and five passes defensed this year. "Like the fireplace isn't hooked up yet. But you know how these guys are: Once the check clears, they're like, See ya."
McQuarters, who lives in Tulsa in the off-season, and Dockery, who has a home in Hernando, Miss., pay $4,000 a month for their four-story, four-bedroom digs—which is fitted with rented furniture. ("Even the dishes and plants are rented," says McQuarters.) The bachelors' two-month-old arrangement is working as smoothly as the Giants' 6--2 season. Both rise early (6 a.m.) and adore kids' cereal. ("I'll always stick by the Captain," says Dockery.) And the 30-year-old McQuarters, a 10-year veteran, mentors Dockery, 23, who has made 14 tackles in this, his second season.
"I give him advice on how to handle himself in this business," says McQuarters (number 25, top). "Don't be late because you really will be fined $3,000; make sure your eyes are wide open and your words aren't muffled in front of the camera; speak to people who approach you because you never know who they might be and try and learn names. It sounds like basic manners, but you're under a microscope. You need to protect yourself."
FAMILY ROOM
On the first floor, off the two-car garage, this large room with hardwood floors is where they spend most of their waking time. "After practice you just want to stay grounded," says McQuarters. The room's 32-inch flat screen is perfect for wrist-wrenching games of Madden—and for analyzing game film. "We go over film at the complex [two miles away]," says McQuarters. "Then we get a copy and look at it again later."
DOCKERY'S ROOM
He doesn't have any blinds—"I'm up with the sun anyway"—and has a 37-inch flat screen at the foot of his bed to watch favorite movies like 300 and All About the Benjamins. Dockery (number 35, below) is a "shades and sneakers guy" with Versace and Gucci sunglasses on his dresser and 15 pairs of kicks in his closet, including the newest Air Jordans and his Kashi Gators Indian Tiger and African Panther pimp sneakers. "I go to the mall," says Dockery, "and get a new pair every week."
McQUARTERS'S ROOM
Two walk-in closets hold stylish garments like his Live mechanics leather jacket (far right) and silk-lined hoodie sweatshirt. His five pairs of Timberland boots reflect his off-season work for Roblan Construction, the company he founded five years ago in Tulsa. Roblan has five employees who build single-family homes and is named after McQuarters's sons, Robert, 10, and Rylan, 7. Both play Tulsa Boys Club football, and their mother, McQuarters's girlfriend, Monique, sends tapes of their games to McQuarters every week. "They might be young, but it's serious stuff," says McQuarters, who calls the kids after watching the tapes. "They travel to sites hours away."
KITCHEN
Dockery has turned on the stove exactly once—to boil eggs. McQuarters is only slightly more advanced as a chef, favoring frozen packaged dinners like chicken Florentine and farfalle. "You throw it in a pan, stir for 10 minutes and you're done," says McQuarters. "That's what I call cooking."
DINING ROOM
They've never actually eaten on it, but the table for four works well for marathon domino and card games (mostly spades) that go on until, says Dockery, "everyone is sick of getting beat by me."
GUEST ROOM
It's bigger than Dockery's room, but he wanted to avoid the extra stairs to the fourth floor. "We're going to start inviting guys over on Thursday nights for Madden and get a barber here to do our hair," says Dockery. "If guys stay over, they'll have to pay," he adds, laughing. "They'll wake up in the guest room with a bill attached to them. I figure it's $60 for a car service home, so they'll have to pay at least that."
OFFICE
The cornerbacks turned the fourth bedroom, also on the fourth floor, into an office with Dockery's Toshiba laptop set up for e-mailing and with enough space for McQuarters to spread out construction plans for his company. "I love looking at plans," says McQuarters, whose father works in construction. "It still amazes me to see a raw piece of land and a few months later have a home on it."
FOUR PHOTOS
DIANA ELIAZOV
KITCHEN DEBATE Dockery (left) and McQuarters differ on their sugar fix—and their favorite footwear.
PHOTO
RALPH WACLAWICZ/WIREIMAGE.COM (DOCKERY ACTION)
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DAVID DRAPKIN/GETTY IMAGES (MCQUARTERS ACTION)