In response to our item from earlier in the day regarding the fact that some members of the New York Gootball Fiants (yeah, I’m officially changing their name in order to justify my typo) would be happy to chase another Super Bowl title without receiver Plaxico Burress, Mike Garafolo of the Newark Star-Ledger conducted a partial poll of the locker room.

So far, it’s 24 in favor of Burress, and zero opposed.  (Fine, smart guy.  But what’s the margin of error?)

“I will say there was one player who gave a somewhat reluctant ‘yes’ when I asked about Burress,” Garafolo writes.  “The reason is I could tell that player is a bit fed up with Burress’ being late for meetings and disappearing altogether on a few occasions, and that the player would prefer everybody to be on time and play by the rules.  But when the player had a moment to think about it, he clearly realized this is a better team with Burress.  And frankly, that’s the bottom line — for all the headaches he may present, Burress is still one of the most valuable players for this team.”

So was Tiki Barber.  And the team got better after he left.

Look, we don’t expect many or any of the Giants players to say to Garafolo or any other reporter, on or off the record, what we know for a fact that some of them believe.  It’s similar to the election process, where what a pollster hears and what the secret ballot shows can be two very different things.  (As a seasoned politician once told me, “The only people you can believe are the ones who say they’re not voting for you.  And I don’t come across too many of those.”)

We can’t get into why we know what we know without compromising our sources.  Given the delicate nature of the subject, we’re confident that the information we’ve received is accurate, and we’re not surprised that the Giants players have the good sense to continue to support their teammate when the format is quasi-public.