INDIANAPOLIS — The next time Giants general manager Jerry Reese says he thinks his football team can win a championship, maybe he’ll be taken a little more seriously.
Remember all those many months ago when Reese said the team was capable of winning the Super Bowl, and everyone thought he was delusional?
Well, Reese got the last laugh last night watching the Giants beat the Patriots 21-17 to win their second Super Bowl in his five seasons as GM.
COMPLETE GIANTS SUPER BOWL COVERAGE
In the aftermath of the victory, Reese credited just about everyone but himself.
First, the Giants defense: “They just hung in there,” he said. “They are playing against a Hall of Fame quarterback [Tom Brady], and the guy is a sniper. But they just kept working at it. You are not going to shut the guy down. It’s impossible. He’s too good. But we did enough to get the win.”
Coach Tom Coughlin: “All I can say about Tom Coughlin is put his record up against anybody and it will speak for itself. The guy just kept focus through the peaks and valleys of the season. He kept our players focused, and it is a testament to him.”
Quarterback Eli Manning: “I am out of words to say about Eli.”
At one point 7-7 and going nowhere, the Giants won six straight games to qualify for the playoffs and capture the fourth Lombardi Trophy in franchise history.
“The margin of error between winning and losing is really tiny, and the ball can bounce your way or the ball can go off somebody’s fingertips and it changes the whole outlook of careers, not just games, careers,” Reese said. “We had some balls go our way. We have to have a little luck in some games to get to the Super Bowl and win this game. You have to have some good players and good coaches. We had a little bit of all that. We made the plays when it counted.”
george.willis@nypost.com