New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll announced Monday that offensive coordinator Mike Kafka will be the play-caller when the team opens the 2022 NFL season this weekend.
The news didn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone who followed the team during the preseason. Kafka handled play scripts during OTAs and minicamps and then called plays during New York’s 23-21 win over New England, which may have sealed the deal for him.
The decision is interesting because Daboll was hired in large part because of his play-calling skills with the Buffalo Bills, where he was able to build the offense around Josh Allen into the powerhouse it has become in recent seasons. Daboll has said that while he won’t call plays, he’ll be taking on something of a managerial role with the offense, delegating to his OC while also overseeing major decisions and the direction of the game.
Of course, all of that aside, the man’s last name is Kafka, and that means the NFL world had to break out its best references and quotes to the work of Franz Kafka, the German writer who is best known for The Metamorphosis, the story of a salesman who wakes up to realize he’s become an insect. Everyone’s literature lessons were on display in response to the Giants’ announcement.
As New York's previously conservative play-caller awoke one morning he found himself transformed in his bed into a monstrous Verts man https://t.co/B6U4vNZKze
— Jerry Hinnen (@JerryHinnen) September 5, 2022
That's quite a Kafka-esque metamorphosis. https://t.co/AphQ7BG5RZ
— Martin Frank (@Mfranknfl) September 5, 2022
If the Giants don't do well on offense there will be many "Kafkaesque" jokes made with the Leo DiCaprio laughing meme https://t.co/iUwIFOFgmx
— Al Smizzle (@AlZeidenfeld) September 5, 2022
https://twitter.com/lukezim/status/1566812110428020736
Giants offense will be [Jesse Pinkman voice] Kafkaesque https://t.co/lslPdtgotw
— Nick Parco (@nick_parco) September 5, 2022
will we see a Metamorphosis of that anemic offense? https://t.co/gCkiiDAV7k
— James Tyler (still) (@JamesTylerESPN) September 5, 2022
Daboll hopes this will lead to a Metamorphosis for the Giants offense. https://t.co/se6O19pfZG
— Ivan Bologna (@PV_GIA) September 5, 2022
[NFL.com]
