INDIANAPOLIS — After emerging as an emotional leader for the Giants down the stretch of the season, safety Antrel Rolle seemed almost drained and overwhelmed immediately following their dramatic Super Bowl XLVI victory over the Patriots.
“This is the only reason I came to New York,’’ said Rolle, a former Cardinal. “My mother will tell you, I care less about money, I care less about a ring, I care less about a parade, the only think I care about is us going out there and giving 120 percent and let’s see what the outcome will be. No one can take this away from us, no matter what. They can say what they want to say, they can put us down, they can say we got lucky, they can say we won because [Rob] Gronkowski was hurt. We’re going to hear it all, but at the end of the day we are champions.’’
Rolle promised a few days before Super Bowl XLVI if the Giants won, he would unveil a brand-new T-shirt from his collection of designer shirts available on his website, rollegear.com. He planned on the shirt saying, “At the end of the day,’’ in honor of the phrase he used during the season to punctuate almost every sentence he uttered.
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There was no crowing by Rolle after the Giants defense again got quarterback Tom Brady out of his rhythm and held the Patriots far below their usual offensive output. The player who stated during the season the Giants would beat the Redskins 95 out of 100 times, the player who tried to rally the troops after the terrible second loss to the Redskins by insisting every player get out on the practice field, the player who days before the Super Bowl boldly declared, “We will not be denied,’’ was introspective after slaying the Patriots, 21-17.
“I can’t tell you I had this vision,’’ Rolle said. “I can tell you I had this vision of us going out there and being the best that we can be, making sure we’re the most prepared team possible. If outcome with us giving 100 percent wasn’t this, I think we’d all be satisfied with that. We could take that on our shoulders. We knew we had a lot more to give than we had been previously giving.’’
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