Originally a 1st round (29th pick overall) draft choice by the Giants in 2009.
GIANTS NOTES:
In 2 seasons, Nicks has established himself as 1 of the Giants’ most dynamic players and one of the NFL’s finest receivers.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS:
Has played in 27 games with 18 starts…Career totals of 126 catches for 1,842 yards and 17 touchdowns are all Giants records for a player in his first 2 seasons.
In 2010, played in 13 games with 12 starts and was inactive for 3 games (vs. Jacksonville 11/28 and vs. Washington 12/5 with a leg injury and the season finale at Washington with a broken toe)…Had team-high totals of 79 receptions for 1,052 yards and 11 touchdowns.
The 79 receptions left Nicks 7th in the NFC and tied for 12th in the NFL. They also tied for the 3rd-highest total in Giants history (Amani Toomer caught 79 passes in 1999).
Nicks was the 10th player (and 9th wide receiver) in Giants history with 1,000 receiving yards in a season.
Nicks’ 11 touchdown receptions tied Del Shofner (1962) for the 3rd-highest total in Giants history. Mario Manningham added 9 touchdown catches as he and Nicks became the 1st pair of Giants with at least 9 touchdown catches since 1967, when Homer Jones had a franchise-record 13 and Aaron Thomas had 9. Nicks was the 1st Giants receiver to hit double digits since Plaxico Burress had 12 touchdown catches in 2007.
Nicks had 12 receptions at Houston (10/10), which tied the Giants’ record for catches in a game by a wide receiver and was 1 shy of the overall mark. Amani Toomer caught 12 passes at Philadelphia on Sept. 17, 2006. Tight ends Mark Bavaro (Oct. 13, 1985 at Cincinnati) and Jeremy Shockey (Nov. 11, 2007 vs. Dallas) also had 12 receptions in a game. The franchise record is 13, set by running back Tiki Barber at Dallas on Jan. 2, 2000.
Nicks joined Toomer as the only players in franchise history to record at least 12 catches , 130 yards and 2 touchdowns in a game.
Nicks, who had 110 yards the previous week vs. Chicago, was the first Giant with more than 100 receiving yards in consecutive games since Burress in 2005. Burress had 113 receiving yards vs. Philadelphia on Nov. 20 and 109 at Seattle on Nov. 27.
In addition to the Chicago and Houston games, Nicks had 108 yards on 9 catches at Dallas (10/25) and 128 yards on 6 receptions at Seattle (11/7).
Nicks scored 3 touchdowns in the Giants’ season-opening victory over Carolina (on receptions of 26, 19 and 5 yards). He was the first Giants player to score 3 touchdowns in a game since Brandon Jacobs ran in from 2, 1 and 2 yards out on Dec. 21, 2008 – also against Carolina. Nicks was the first Giant to catch 3 touchdown passes in a game since Burress on Sept. 9, 2007 at Dallas. Burress caught Manning passes of 60, 4 and 10 yards that night.
As a rookie in 2009, played in 14 games with 6 starts…Inactive at Dallas (9/20) and at Tampa Bay (9/27) with a foot injury…Started for the 1st time at Philadelphia (11/1)…Finished the season with 47 receptions for 790 yards, which were 3rd on the team in both categories…Led the team with a 16.8-yard average…His 6 receiving touchdowns were 2nd on the team to Steve Smith (7)…His 68-yard touchdown reception vs. Philadelphia (12/13) was the longest by a Giants wide receiver in 2009.
The 47 catches and 790 yards were both the 3rd-highest total in history by a Giants rookie. Jeremy Shockey had 74 catches for 894 yards in 2002 and Bobby Johnson had 48 for 795 in 1984…Nicks’ 6 touchdown receptions were the most by a Giants rookie since Johnson had 7. Bill Swiacki holds the Giants rookie record with 10 in 1948….Nicks’ 790 yards tied for 1st among all NFL rookies with Minnesota’s Percy Harvin…From Oct. 18 through Dec. 21, Nicks had a catch longer than 20 yards in 9 straight games to become the 1st rookie to accomplish that feat since Miami’s Nat Moore in 1974…Nicks had two 100-yards games: 114 at New Orleans (10/18) and 110 vs. Philadelphia (12/13). Against the Saints, he became the first Giants rookie receiver with at least 100 yards in a game since Jamaar Taylor had 102 yards (on just 2 catches) on Nov. 28, 2004 vs. Philadelphia.
Nicks caught a touchdown pass in 4 consecutive games from Oct. 4 through Oct. 25, the first Giant to do so since Burress scored in each of the first 6 games of the 2007 season. He was the 1st Giants rookie to score touchdowns in 4 consecutive games since Bob Gaiters scored in 5 straight games in 1961. Nicks was the 1st Giants rookie with a touchdown reception in 4 consecutive games since Swiacki in ‘48. In addition, Nicks was the 1st NFL rookie with a touchdown catch in 4 straight games since Buffalo’s Lee Evans in 2004.
Nicks was named the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Month for October. In 4 games, he caught 14 passes for 297 yards (a 21.2-yard average) and 4 touchdowns, 1 in each game. He was the 1st Giant to win a Rookie of the Month award since October 2004, when safety Gibril Wilson received the defensive honor. The last Giant to be named Offensive Rookie of the Month was Jeremy Shockey in November 2002.
Returned 1 kickoff for 16 yards vs. Washington (9/13).
COLLEGE
Nicks started all 36 games he played for North Carolina and led the team in receptions in each of his 3 seasons…Was the 1st UNC underclassman to declare for the NFL Draft since defensive end Julius Peppers in 2001…Set 14 school records, including catches, receiving yards and touchdown catches…His 181 receptions topped the old record of 177 by Jarwarski Pollock (2001-05) and rank 13th in Atlantic Coast Conference history…Nicks’ 2,840 yards receiving broke the previous UNC mark of 2,447 yards by Corey Holliday (1989-93) and placed Nicks 11th on the ACC career-record chart…His 21 touchdown receptions bettered the former record of 19 by Octavus Barnes (1994-97)…Nicks set another school record with 74 receptions in 2007, topping the previous record of 71 by Pollock in 2003…In 2008, he became the 1st player in school history to gain over 1,000 yards receiving in a season with 1,222 yards (on 68 catches), topping the former record of 990 yards by Sam Aiken in 2003…His 12 touchdown catches in 2008 broke the old record of 9 by Marcus Wall in 1994…Had 10 games with at least 100 receiving yards…Nicks’ 217 yards vs. West Virginia in the 2009 Meineke Car Care Bowl were the 2nd most by a Tar Heel, and he became just the 3rd player in school history to post a 200-yard receiving game. Nicks joined Randy Marriott (247 vs. Georgia Tech in 1987) and Octavus Barnes (211 vs. Ohio in 1995).
OFF-THE-FIELD ACTIVITY
Helped unload turkeys at the Community Food Bank of N.J. with the help of Stop & Shop in preparation for the Thanksgiving Holiday. Hakeem served as spokesman for the Giants’ Annual Game Day Food Drive, encouraging fans to bring donations of non-perishable foods to help stock the shelves of local food pantries.
Attended Giants Kickoff Luncheon benefitting Hackensack University Medical Center.
PERSONAL
Nicks was a Super Prep and EA Sports 1st-team All-America at Independence High School in Charlotte, where he was ranked the 8th-best player in North Carolina and the 22nd-best wide receiver in the country by Super Prep as a senior. He was named MVP of the Class 4-AA state championship game after leading Independence (15-0) to a 38-19 win over New Bern with 8 catches for 205 yards and touchdowns of 11 and 80 yards in Independence's 92nd-straight victory. He never lost a game in his high school career… North Carolina AP All-State and Charlotte Observer Offensive Player of the Year choice. Rivals.com rated him the state’s 4th-best prospect…Played on North Carolina's Shrine Bowl team, where a 37-yard touchdown was among his 3 catches for 42 yards. In his final season, he led the state with 93 receptions for 1,819 yards and 20 touchdowns, including 10 in the playoffs. That year, he had 3 straight games with 10 or more catches…General studies major…Son of Lisa Mason and Robert Nicks…Stepmother is Vernice Simpson…Born Jan. 14, 1988.
