Both Giants head coach Tom Coughlin and linebacker Mark Herzlich remained busy enough during the past two months that they haven’t spent much time discussing the bond that connects the two more than 40 years apart.

GIANTS LINEBACKER Mark Herzlich never met Jay McGillis, the late Boston College safety who died of leukemia and inspired Tom Coughlin’s Jay Fund Foundation. But he heard his inspiring story, long before he was forced to begin his own cancer fight.

Brumos Motor Cars and Mercedes-Benz of Orange Park’s recent sponsorship of the 16^th Annual Tom Coughlin Jay Fund Celebrity Golf Classic really paid off for one participant. Robert Baker of Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, made a hole-in-one shot on lucky #13 at the TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course winning a two year lease on a 2011 GLK valued at more than $18,000.

Executive Director Tom Coughlin Jay Fund Foundation Mission To provide financial and emotional support for families who have a child with cancer in order to improve their quality of life. Serving Jacksonville Jacksonville-based, created in 1996. Those served Families who have a child with cancer in Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia. Biggest challenge Finding the time to do follow through …

New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin made a surprise visit to the Valerie Fund Children’s Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders at Children’s Hospital of New Jersey to take pictures with the children and make their hospital stay more pleasant.

Sports talk radio station WJXL 1010 AM pushed aside a majority of its sports talk Wednesday and paid tribute to Tom Coughlin’s Jay Fund and the children who have been helped and continue to benefit from the charity. Coughlin started the fund in tribute to one of his players, Jay McGillis, who died from leukemia while a member of the Boston College football team.

I had the pleasure of attending Tom Coughlin’s TC Jay Fund charity dinner on Friday night at Cipriani in Manhattan and I just wanted to share the experience and encourage the Giants faithful to support a great cause.

Justin Strada, wearing a No. 10 Eli Manning jersey, had a question for the Giants quarterback:

“Are you guys going to play the Jets this year?” little Justin asked, then listened intently as Manning explained not in the regular season, but in the preseason, like always.

“He’s already made a bet with a friend that the Giants will beat the Jets if they play against each other,” explained Justin’s mother, Terry Strada, of New Vernon, N.J.