Jonathan Casillas spent the first 12 years of his life in Jersey City, just 10 miles from MetLife Stadium, where Casillas is now the starting weakside linebacker and defensive captain for the Giants. Had he been so inclined as a youngster, Casillas could have hopped onto a bicycle at his home and arrived at the Meadowlands in an hour or so (though the traffic in Hudson and Bergen counties would have made that a treacherous proposition).
But truth be told, such a straight-line journey would have seemed out of character for this quintessential Jersey boy. Although he works a short ride down Routes 1 and 9 from his boyhood haunts, Casillas took a long, circuitous route to get there.