Super Bowl XLII: An Unmatched Story
One minute and fifteen seconds left in the game. 3rd and 5. New England leads, 14–10. New York has the ball. Crowds at the Arizona State Farm Stadium as well as across the country are watching at the edge of their feet. Some fans, die-hard fans, in fact, have their faces painted red and blue, wearing their lucky jerseys and perhaps even flaunting their autographed foam fingers. Some special fans hold an expensive shot of vodka in one hand and a partially cold chicken wing in the other. Others tightly hold their loved ones’ hands, resting their arms over each others’ shoulders amid frustrated and yet anxious screams surrounding them.
In that moment, no one could have predicted the series of events that would transpire. No one could have anticipated how the 10–6 Giants valiantly fighting against the undefeated Patriots would create a lasting mark in sports history; it would come to mean more than just any win or loss. To me, it meant everything, because we were the underdogs that persistently sought after the ring. Still, in that moment, all we could do was watch — watch with every ounce of hope that we believed we had in us. And so the time came.
The Giants snapped the ball. It wasn’t pretty. Four mammoth-sized Patriot linemen came rushing to ransack Giants quarterback Eli Manning. But somehow, in some unthinkable way, he elusively escaped, and he looked.
“Eli Manning stays on his feet. Airs it out. Down the Field! It is Caught!?”
Right then, the famous catch that we’ve come to know and love was born — The Helmet Catch. Millions of fans jumped out of their seats and hugged one another, screaming with pure joy, all except those cheering for the Patriots. When Eli Manning threw that Hail Mary to David Tyree, it wasn’t just a prayer, albeit it was answered. It was an act of validation, serving for the purpose of proving everyone wrong. And they succeeded.
The Helmet Catch would go on to put the Giants in great field position in the last minute of the game, inevitably resulting in a touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress. The final score was 17–14 Giants. I was only seven years old then, but I knew that I had just witnessed something special — the ending to a true underdog story. It was as if The Waterboy, Rudy, and The Replacements all came together to create Super Bowl XLII.
And that was when I became a true lifetime Giant.
The fact of the matter is that this is the greatest NFL storyline, perhaps ever. I know. I know. The haters will always hate. But consider the following:
1. The New England Patriots were Undefeated
By February 2008, the Patriots led the NFL at 18–0, hoping for 19–0 against the Giants. Only one other team in NFL history, the 1972 Miami Dolphins, has upheld a perfect season AND won the Super Bowl. By any means, it’s no easy feat to accomplish. However, neither was the Giants’ journey to just make it to the championship. While second in the NFC East, the Giants finished the season with a 10–6 record. They clinched a 24–14 win in the Wild Card Playoff away-game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They went on to win 21–17 in the Divisional Playoff away-matchup against the rivaled Dallas Cowboys. The last daunting challenge before the grand stage was the NFC Championship. Yet again, it was another away game, but this time, they were tasked to defeat the Green Bay Packers. And they did; they held on to win 23–20 in overtime. The rest is history.
2. Eli Manning vs. Tom Brady
Coming into the game, Eli Manning had everything to prove. While Tom Brady was already a three-time Super Bowl Champion, it was Eli Manning’s first-ever appearance on the grand stage. Not to mention, Manning also led the league in interceptions alongside Detroit Lions’ Jon Kitna and Cincinnati Bengals’ Carson Palmer. More importantly, however, it was Manning’s opportunity to break away from his brother Peyton Manning’s shadow; it was time for the world to recognize Eli as Eli, not Peyton’s younger brother.
3. Tom Coughlin vs. Bill Belichick
Before they went head-to-head in Super Bowl XLII, both Coughlin and Belichick worked as Giants assistants to former coach Bill Parcells. Belichick joined in 1979, and Coughlin later joined in 1988. Despite being colleagues, their sense of competition, especially toward one another, was always apparent as they would coach scout teams against one another in practice. Their ‘friendly’ competition manifested itself into not one but two historic Super Bowls in 2008 and 2012.
4. It came down to the Wire
One major catch, actually. When people generally reminisce about that game, nearly everyone (even non-football fans) initially thinks about the Helmet Catch by Tyree, setting up the touchdown pass to Burress.
Despite the Patriots being the strong favorites coming into the game, the score remained surprisingly close. The patriots led 7–3 at the half. Both teams were scoreless in the third quarter. The Patriots later scored 7 in the fourth, and the Giants scored 14.
Had it not been for the miraculous Helmet Catch, the Giants may not have had the opportunity to score in the remaining minutes of the crucial game. The final score could have easily been 14–10 Patriots, not 17–14 Giants. I guess Patriot fans will have to keep dreaming.
My point is this: You never know what the future holds. One day you could be sitting in the corner of a Starbucks with your friends, slurping Double Chocolate Chip Frappuccinos, and the next day you could be paragliding near certain death over the Grand Canyon. The future holds secrets for all of us, but the best of us know how to utilize our mental arsenal to combat the unknown.
Eli Manning and the New York Giants accomplished this feat with sheer optimism and hope in the 2007–2008 NFL playoffs and Super Bowl XLII, where they were tasked with upsetting the undefeated New England Patriots in the final minutes of the fourth quarter. In similar fashion, they would also go on to win the rematch at Super Bowl XLVI.
As an avid Giants fan, I value this sense of underdog-like optimism, even when hope seems unrealistic. Even though we finished the season just one game away from clinching the playoffs at a 6–10 record, we remarkably resurrected our fanbase as we competitively fought for the NFC East’s top spot. No, I’m not lying. We actually led the division with a negative record for some time this past season. You can even look it up.
Despite our season’s undesirable end, I’m optimistic about what we will be able to accomplish next season and beyond. I remain incredibly excited and thrilled about the opportunity this constraint affords.
Because when the Giants win, it’s never just a win.
