These Forever Giants

Jumbo, Burt, Martin, Bavaro, Banks….

The names are engraved on the minds of every Giants fan, whispered across the years of this Super Bowl era.

Morris, Anderson, Oates, Carthon, Manuel…..

There have been many others who have played for the team during these 42 seasons.  Some served much longer tenures as Giants.  Others were much more talented or even statistically dominant at their given position.

Marshall, McConkey, Pepper, Hoss, Meggett…..

Their names that would become synonymous with Giants pride.  Mere mention of them brought a wistful smile to any Giants fan’s face, for they had brought home football’s ultimate prize, a Super Bowl Championship.  A good number of them had brought home two, the first in a rout, the second in a glorious upset.

Landeta, Banks, Carson, Simms, Taylor……

The list is not complete, simply some of the most notable.  There are others who share their glory who go unmentioned here; these gridiron warriors, these champions, these forever Giants.  For seventeen years they have stood alone much as the last set of champions before them had, a team that predated the Super Bowl era.

They are alone no longer.

O’Hara, Snee, McKenzie, Seubert, Diehl…..

They came came to Super Bowl XLII as decided underdogs.  Disrespected Davids to the ultimate football Goliaths, the undefeated 18-0 Patriots.  A scant few took notice of their road through the playoffs.  It wasn’t supposed to matter.  Cinderella’s story was to end that night.

Bradshaw, Hedgecock, Jacobs, Tynes, Feagles….

The Patriots were destiny’s darlings, ready to lay claim to the title “Greatest of All Time”.  A Super Bowl win would cement their legacy as a modern football dynasty as great as anything that came before, controversy about filming practices and talk of poor sportsmanship be damned.

The Patriots would soon find destiny to be a fickle lover and karma to truly be a bitch.

Smith, Robbins, Webster, Madison, McQuarters…..

It became apparent not long after the game began that the Giants would not roll over.  The quarterback, so often maligned during the regular season but so thoroughly proficient in the postseason, was composed.  The blocking was steady.  The running backs fought for every yard and then some.  The image of Ahmad Bradshaw dragging several Patriot defenders with him, refusing to go down, helped set the tone.  They would get only 3 points in that first drive.  However, in doing so they would set a Super Bowl record in terms of number of plays and time of possession for one drive.  It was a good start indeed.

Alford, Wilson, Butler, Ross, Mitchell…..

The Patriots would answer though.  In the type of response expected of a champion-to-be, they marched down the field.  Aided by a penalty they found themselves on the goal line.  And just as the 2nd quarter began, they would reach the end zone taking the lead.  This was very much to be expected.  What no one could see was what would happen next.  And what happened next was…….nothing.

Blackburn, Ruegamer, Wilkinson, DeOssie, Torbor…..

Defying all expectations, nothing would happen for more than 30 minutes in game time, at least where the scoreboard was concerned.  The minutes would pass by. The quarters would elapse.  Yet the score would not change.  This is not to say there was a lack of action to be had.  The hitting would come fast and furious.  The Giants would have drives that would sputter due to missed opportunities and a Patriots defense that had seemingly stiffened.  The Patriots would have drives that sputtered due to a running game that went nowhere and a Giants pass rush that drove their multiple MVP quarterback into the ground again, and again, and again, and again.

Umenyiora, Pierce, Tuck, Strahan…..

With every moment that passed by, with every play that elapsed, what once seemed impossible changed to merely improbable.  Thanks to a defense that would not yield, steadfast, stubborn, and defiant, offering only the promise of pain for every inch the Patriots would attempt to gain, the stage was set for the Giants offense to shock the sensibilities of all who predicted a blowout.  And so they made their way downfield with plays being made by the unlikeliest of Giants.  A long catch and run by a rookie tight end named Boss.  An end zone grab by a player known better for his special teams play than his receiving acumen…..a player who would become known for something else altogether……but that would come later.

They were on top for now 10-7, but it would not last long.  The Patriots were too good, too proud to go quietly into the night.  Tom Brady, battered, beaten, and bruised, would do his level best to add to his Super Bowl MVP trophy case.  Despite the unrelenting Giants pass rush, he would lead his team down the field.  And like so many times this season, he would cap it off with a touchdown pass to Randy Moss.  The tides of destiny appeared to flow once more with them instead of against them.  That appearance proved to be merely an illusion.

Toomer, Tyree, Burress, Manning……

The clock read 2:39 when the Giants offense took over down 14-10.  Two minutes and thirty nine seconds in which they could succumb to a legendary team, to an already legendary quarterback.  Or two minutes and thirty nine seconds in which they could write a legend of their own.

2:39 to destiny.
2:39 to glory.
2:39 to forever.

For those who watched I ask you, when did you know?  Was it when Jacobs plowed ahead on 4-1, picking up a do-or-die first down that had eluded him too many times?  Was it the missed interception right through the hands of Ashante Samuel that would have ended the uprising?  Or was it simply “The Play”?

The Play

Moments like “The Play” are the reason we watch sports.  To see a moment so spectacular that it seems to defy our ability to process it.  Football history is replete with such moments.  Mention “The Drive”, “The Catch”, or “The Immaculate Reception” to most football fans and they can instantly recall the substance if not the intimate details behind the name.  Because of the timing of it (closing minutes of the Super Bowl), the unlikelihood of the players involved (the little used receiver and the much maligned quarterback), and the absurdity of it on both ends, it’s not a stretch to say this one moment will forever stand as the best of them all.

The Giants faced a third and five.  They had survived a fourth down once already.  They would sorely be tempting fate were they to face another.  Yet when the play started, it seemed sure to arrive.  Two players had Eli Manning in their grasp.  Surely he would be brought down for a loss.  Surely the situation would end up being beyond desperate.  Surely he would…….escape?

It is the height of irony that the Giants would have faced three quarterbacks best known for their mobility and ability to make things happen on the run while on their way to the Super Bowl.  Yet, it would be Eli Manning who would top them all with his Houdini act, eluding the rush that threatened to consume him and hope with him, who would see a glimpse of white jersey downfield and fling a prayer.

That prayer would be rewarded.  David Tyree, special teams ace (and Pro Bowl level at that), little used as wide receiver, had been dropping one pass after another in the practices leading up to that night we are told.  David Tyree, playing with a heavy heart having lost his mother in late December, had already caught an unlikely touchdown pass earlier in the game.  Yet here he was again, seeing his quarterback in trouble, making himself an available target, leaping as high as inspiration could take him, and impossibly cradling the ball against his helmet against those who would strip it from him, and finally bringing it down for the catch.

I don’t even think it would be hyperbole to say that I may live to be 120 and never see another play top it.

It was unfathomable that the Giants would fail now.   And after a hard third down conversion, followed by a blown coverage on an all out blitz, the ball would flutter from Eli Manning into the waiting arms of Plaxico Burress for the touchdown.  A quarterback came of age right before our eyes.

The defense would brutalize Brady one more time on the ensuing drive.  Two passes after the sack would fall incomplete and destiny’s darlings had been kicked to the curb by the unlikeliest of champions.

These Stalwart Defenders.
This Clutch Offense.
These Forever Giants.