A Giant 'Shock'

Many are saying that the New York Giants improbable victory over the destined-for-perfection New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXLII does not make them a great team. They are saying that it doesn’t even make them a better team. Some are even saying that the best team didn’t even win.

The answer? Herb Brooks said it best (at least in the movie), “One game. If we played 'em ten times, they might win nine. But not this game. Not tonight. Tonight, we are the greatest hockey [insert football] team in the world”.

And that’s just it. It doesn’t matter what the Patriots did over their first 18 games and it doesn’t matter what the Giants did over their first 18 games. This was one game with two teams and the better team on that particular night, during that particular game, and during this entire post-season, won. They shut them down and won a game that only they believed they could win. And in classic fashion, needing heroic efforts from the Defensive Line, a slew of Wide Receiver corps and a little kid named Eli Manning, who quite possibly treated everyone to one of the greatest Championship saving scrambles and passes you will ever see.

They’re already calling it the Escape, the Catch, and, oh yeah, the Drive. This was the stuff little kids dream about. An 0-2 start to the season. Six wins in a row followed by losses that put you in a position to have to fight for your playoff life. Then a surprisingly competitive game with the National Football League’s unbeatable team to gear up for the playoff berth you clinched less than a week earlier. And then a nice little win during Wild Card Weekend in Tampa Bay, followed by an ousting of the number one seed on the road – a team you’d been beaten fairly handily by twice already this year. But you only needed an overtime field-goal to beat an even better Green Bay team in the frozen Tundra, after they got the ball first in overtime because your kicker missed two opportunities to put the game away in regulation. Just getting to “Disneyland” was magical enough. But how could a team that was so up and down, so behind the curve when it comes to their young talent’s development, even be in the game against the powerhouse that was the Patriots?

Because these weren’t the same Giants. This was a team that found itself merely 6 weeks earlier, just in time for the run of their lifetimes. It all ultimately turned when Jeremy Shockey broke his leg in a play that was supposed to end the Giants hope of any post-season success, if they were even able to still make the January games. It was a loss that was supposed to devastate the hopes and dreams, but it ended up doing something completely unforeseen. It made the Giants better. You see, while the Giants lost a Pro-Bowl tight end, they also lost a player that showcased only about one touchdown dance for every five games he took the field. Think 57 receptions, 619 yards, 3 touchdowns in 14 games.

However, one thing that everyone knows Shockey does bring to the table is his fiery, competitive edge and the attention he draws from a defense. Everyone has seen his trash-talking, momentum-building theatrics. He has knack for making plays, but has he ever had the reputation of being a big-game, big-play maker? What he has done over the past few seasons, during those aforementioned moments, is hold back the development of one Eli Manning.
Instead of his passion taking over and pushing his team and his quarterback towards victories, his ego and disruptive manner was more of an inhibitor.

Look back. Look back to that demoralizing loss against Washington – a loss that made the following week’s Buffalo game a virtual must-win if the Giants were to make the playoffs. Then look at the 14-0 first quarter deficit in the howling wind and rain. Forget the comeback win in week 3 that prevented an 0-3 start. Forget the Week 17 moral loss against the New England Patriots. That Week 15 game was the turning point of the Giants improbable Super Bowl run. And it was largely because there wasn’t a Jeremy Shockey sized ego standing in the way. Or a smaller, Tiki Barber sized one either. This was now Eli’s team. He was the one that everyone turned to for guidance. He was the one that could speak without having to be fearful of second guessing from two guys whose head could barely fit through the tunnel as they felt that they were what the Giants were all about.

Step back and watch Eli Manning from the second half of the Buffalo game through 59:25 of Super Bowl XXLII. Something changed. He didn’t spontaneously develop into the leader, the poised passer, the confident play caller, the smart decision maker. Instead, he spontaneously became the guy who had a team that was his. It was what sports analysts call “addition by subtraction”. Chemistry has been one of the most talked about factors in numerous championships in the past 10 years, in all sports. Take a Barber - who everyone can see now for the egomaniac he somewhat hid when he donned the Giants flag - or a Shockey - whose mere presence just commanded the spotlight - out of the equation and you have a Giants team that had to work for everything they gained. The youth, the young veterans, and the fundamentally sound replacements had to play up their best ability to keep the Giants afloat. Now think about the last time you remember that passion and that commitment from those “irreplaceable” superstars.

Teams win Championships. Chemistry fuels those teams. Believing in each other feeds that chemistry. Believing in each other begins with being selfless. Selfless is hardly the word you could use to describe Jeremy Shockey and Tiki Barber. Take those two undeniably impactful players out of the equation and try to see what unfolded. One of the greatest Super Bowl runs ever. What a Shock.