ALBANY — Amani Toomer launched his professional football career at the same time the New York Giants opened their first training camp at the University at Albany 13 years ago.

He’s come a long way since.

The first day of camp went smoothly Friday, and Toomer made several outstanding catches, including one over-the-shoulder grab on the far sidelines, to steal the show.

“I wanted to show them that I can still do it,” said the Giants’ all-time leader in receptions (620), receiving yards (8,917), receiving touchdowns (50) and 100-yard receiving games (22).

He was asked how he feels to have so many newcomers on the roster.

“I’ve got a lot of old friends, but I like to meet some new friends, too,” he said. “I’ve seen players come and go in this league. The challenge every year is not only to have success, but also to meet new people.”

And what about the challenge of meeting expectations after winning Super Bowl XLII?

“I want to know can we harness what we did in the playoffs and extend it through the regular season,” he said. “We’ve got to find a way to get our mojo back, so to speak.”

Thirteen training camps is a lot of hard work and sweat, but Toomer said he loves coming back to Albany every season.

“It’s necessary. It’s something I feel we’ve got to do. I don’t feel like it’s a burden at all,” he said. “The people here are great. I love the atmosphere here. It’s a lot more

relaxing. You don’t realize how much stress you have until you come to a place like this in the offseason. This place is like a sanctuary for me.”

Toomer bounced back from an injury in 2006 to have another solid season for the Giants a year ago with 59 catches for 760 yards and three touchdowns. He’s caught at least 50 passes eight times.

“I feel being consistent allows you to be successful,” he said. “That’s the way I go about my

career. I’m not a kid any more, but I still feel like a teen-ager.”

Toomer also wants to be known as more than an athlete. He founded his own not-for-profit organiz­ation in New York City to provide

resources for after-school rec­reation programs, and he’s also a member of the United Nations’ World Food Program. He has visited wounded soldiers at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and he was voted the Giants’ recipient of the 203 NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year award for displaying excellence on the field and in the community.

“If you are just a football player, you can be forgotten,” he said. “When you give back to others, you can make an impact locally or around the world. Then, you will never be forgotten.”

CARTER IN THE HOUSE

Former Minnesota Vikings standout receiver Cris Carter was at camp working for ESPN’s NFL Live.

He thinks the Giants have a difficult road ahead of them.

“The Giants’ division is very tough,” Carter said. “I don’t know about them being third or fourth, but it will probably be between them and the Dallas Cowboys. I think the Cowboys are the better team on paper. They have more talent, they have a settled quarterback in Tony Romo and they have the disappointment from last year.

“But the Giants are a good football team, and they should be a playoff team.”

Carter also said the Giants are definitely not a better team without Jeremy Shockey.

“They weren’t a better team when Tiki Barber retired or when Michael Stranah retired,” he said. “How can they be a better team without Shockey?”

NOTES

u The first day of practice was moved from the Dutch Quad practice field to University Field, the home field of the UAlbany Great Danes, because of the wet cond­itions. Grounds manager Shaun Lynch said that five inches of rain fell on the fields in the last week, and that there was too much

water on the practice field. A six-man crew worked early Friday morning to clear water off the sidelines. It is likely that practice will be held there again today.

u Wide receiver Plaxico Burress, who battled an ankle injury all of last season, didn’t practice Friday morning because of a sore ankle. He rode a bike on the sidelines. During the afternoon session, he still didn’t participate in practice, but was dressed and on the sidelines. Burress was the Giants’

primary deep threat a year ago, scoring 12 touchdowns. He also caught 70 passes for 1,025 yards. Burress was supposed to be one of the Giants who was expected to practice just one session per day.

u Giants head coach Tom Coughlin was happy with the team’s first practice session, especially in the passing department. “We had a couple of nice deep balls. I like to see that, because it’s good to see the ball go downfield,” he said. “The effort was very good all the way around.”

u A total of 1,470 fans attended the morning practice session. Almost 1,500 more attended the

afternoon session, making the total first-day attendance mark 2,900, a

Giants training camp first-day record. The record was 2,455 in 2005.

u The highlight of the afternoon practice session was tight end Kevin Boss, who caught several passes and ignited the crowd.

u Coughlin continued to stress team during his on-field press conference. “We’re trying to take the lessons we learned last year and use them this year,” he said. “I’m not surprised that the first practice session went so smoothly, because we worked on a lot of that stuff in mini-camp.”

u Coughlin was also happy that all the Giants, including rookie safety Kenny Phillips of Miami, are in camp. “It’s good to have everybody in camp. Every rookie needs to be in camp,” he said.

u Giants training camp continues with two more practices today, at 8:40 a.m. and 3:20 p.m. Monday’s practice session will be at 6 p.m., and will feature an autograph session after practice.