For more than a decade, for three different head coaches, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has been a not-so-magnificent obsession for the Giants’ little brothers who wear green. But for the franchise that refuses to wait 43 years between championships, the pretty boy with the pretty model wife has become a Super Obsession.
Because for the second time in four years, Brady is standing between the Giants and the Lombardi Trophy.
The Giants respect him as a quarterback, because after all, he has proven that he is in Eli Manning’s class. But they do not fear him, because, of course, Antrel Rolle won’t let them.
And four years later, they have not forgotten the day their Super Obsession exploded in a rage.
It happened inside their sprawling hotel headquarters two days prior to Super Bowl XLII when a group of defenders that included Osi Umenyiora and Justin Tuck finally got around to watching a clip of Brady from Media Day openly scoffing at Plaxico Burress’ prediction: Giants 23, Patriots 17.
“I remember the arrogance of the whole way he scoffed … I remember that making us particularly angry,” Umenyiora told The Post yesterday.
“We just knew then that we were gonna take his head off. We just knew that right then.
“I mean, come on, man. There’s levels of arrogance, you understand what I mean? In the interview, like psssshhh, ‘We’re only gonna score 17 points?’ ”
Tuck told The Post, “Brady, in almost a disrespectful chuckle, said, ‘Hah, we’re only gonna score 17 points on ’em.’ I’m in a room with Michael Strahan, A.P. [Antonio Pierce], Osi, Corey Webster, I think it was R.W McQuarters, Sam Madison and some more guys, but it’s mostly defense. And we kinda see this pretty boy chuckle — like ‘We’re only gonna score 17 points!’ — and it just seems like the whole room turned red. Like everybody was quiet. Literally fist-clenching, teeth …
“If we could have went and played right then, we would have went and played that second.”
Brady, still haunted by Giants 17, Patriots 14, vows to play his best game of the year on Super Sunday.
“We’re expecting his very, very best,” Chris Canty said.
Umenyiora is expecting Bill Belichick to build a wall around Brady.
“Honestly knowing what I know about Belichick, they’re gonna make it very difficult,” Umenyiora said. “I’m not saying we can’t do it, but it’s not gonna be like a free-for-all like it was then. It was almost as if they were like, ‘Our guys, our offensive line, is better than your front.’ That’s what it seemed like they were saying back then. So it wasn’t like the line slides, the chips and all that stuff that you see now, it was just one-on-one rushes. I don’t think that’s gonna be the situation at all this week, I think they’re gonna do some things to really help that offensive line. He’s gonna throw the ball a lot quicker.
“I think we’re gonna get to him, but it’s not gonna be like it was in ’07.”
So how do you beat him?
“He’s gonna be throwing quickly, the coverage has to be tight, and the rush has to match up with the coverage at all times, but we have to be relentless,” Umenyiora said.
Tuck noticed Brady “fussing” at his offensive line in Super Bowl XLII, but knows it is difficult to rattle him.
“Some guys don’t get rattled,” Tuck said. “Even in that Super Bowl at the end of the game, he’s getting lit up and he’s still throwing passes for 70 yards down field. He still led their team down the drive before that to what seemed like a game-winning touchdown at that point.
“I dare say we hit him almost 30 times in that game, so if that didn’t rattle him, I’m not sure if we can rattle him. But more than anything, it’s about just not giving him the time to complete passes like that.”
Tuck pointed out that the Giants sacked Brady only twice, and beat the Pats in Foxborough at midseason anyway.
“So it’s a lot of things that you can do to be effective against him — making sure you keep guys in his face and not give him an opportunity to step up with open lanes,” Tuck said. “But rattling him? It’s gonna be pretty tough to do that.”
The game plan this time, against Brady’s hurry-up offense, will call for both brawn and brains.
“He’s an exceptional quarterback, especially when he scans the field,” Rolle said. “He’s very, very good at reading defenses, so we can’t take away what he’s good at, but we can try and disrupt his targets and take those guys away.”
Brady would be wise to let sleeping Giants lie.
“He might say some other things,” Umenyiora said, “but he won’t say that again.”