INDIANAPOLIS — Just before the kickoff to Super Bowl XLVI, Giants tight ends coach Mike Pope went up to those playing in their first Super Bowl and looked them square in the eye.
He told each of them this: “A bunch of guys here before did this for you to start this tradition. You owe it to them and each other to keep this going.”
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Pope retold that story yesterday morning amid the afterglow of the Giants’ latest Super Bowl win, a 21-17 triumph over the Patriots on Sunday night at Lucas Oil Stadium. Pope told the story to Giants Hall of Fame linebacker Harry Carson, who helped start the tradition of excellence.
Twenty-five years ago, Carson’s Giants went to Pasadena, Calif., and beat the Broncos in Super Bowl XXI. A quarter century later, after Sunday’s 21-17 victory over the Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI, the Giants have won four Vince Lombardi Trophies and counting.
“We were so proud that we won a championship 25 years ago,” Carson said. “Here we are 25 years later and they won again.”
Carson, who watched the game from the stands, flashed back to Pasadena when the Patriots led the Giants 10-9 at halftime. That was the same halftime deficit Big Blue faced against the Broncos 25 years ago.
“When they went in at halftime I thought ‘Wow, same score,’ and then there was a safety in that game, too,” said Carson, whose teammate, George Martin, sacked Denver quarterback John Elway in the end zone in the second quarter to forge that 10-9 halftime score. The Giants went on to outscore the Broncos 30-10 in the second half to win their first Super Bowl title.
“I was expecting the team to come out and dominate [in the second half] like we did 25 years ago,” Carson said. “But it was a battle.”
That battle gave the Giants a Super Bowl title in each of the past four decades: 1987, 1991, 2008 and 2012.
“We just kept the tradition alive that you started,” Pope told Carson.
In his role as the most respected Giant ever, Carson had been critical during the season when the team struggled on defense and found themselves with a 7-7 record.
“Everybody came around,” Carson said. “It’s interesting how they had to deal with all this adversity and they still hung in there and continued to play hard.”