I think Peter learned a very hard lesson over the course of this season.
The AP voters are casting their ballots for COY today. Peter said before the game he was leaning towards BB. I'm pretty confident he made the right decision, the one that truly is in the best interest of the game. Not sure enough of his peers will. Curren was talking last week about either having a vote or if he had one. His decision would be different. Of course he also scoffed at the idea that this meaningless to most game would come close to topping the ratings for Colts-Pats.
Peter can turn a phrase. This really got to me. Wish it did to more here.
"As the Patriots moved through the paparazzi scrum on the field toward the locker room, Welker bumped into owner Bob Kraft and said, "How's your heart?''
The hearts of both coaches, and both teams, were large on this night. The night was so noble, so exhilarating. Players who didn't have to play, megastars like Strahan and Brady and Moss, wanted to play. The Patriots for perfection and the Giants for the pride of the game. "There's nothing but positives about tonight,'' said Coughlin, who is not a moral-victory kind of guy but recognized the momentousness of the night. "No negatives come out of this game.''
Usually, a crowd at Giants Stadium is something like a Dodger Stadium crowd. In L.A., fans start leaving in the top of the seventh -- and that might be generous. At Giants Stadium, fans often leave at the first sign of a rout, but they stayed in their seats, largely, when the Patriots went up 38-28. And the TV fans stayed too. The combined 34.5 TV rating was the largest of the season for a football game. Next-highest: Colts-Pats game of the year, with a 33.8 rating
As Saturday turned into Sunday, player-turned-telecaster Cris Collinsworth said the game made him proud to be associated with the game. John Madden thought so much of it that he called Coughlin on Sunday to congratulate him on playing his guys and them playing so well. I heard a few Giants fans harp on the injured players, and I thought: Sad. Just sad. Here's art on a sporting canvas, and some people can't appreciate it.
I did. So did a stiff-upper-lipped losing coach and a quarterback we'll one day acknowledge as one of the five best quarterbacks ever to take a snap. Yes, a night like this doesn't happen often in sports. Cherish it.