One day, Eli Manning might be sitting in a VIP section in Canton, most likely in the very first row, as his first NFL head coach, Tom Coughlin, speaks passionately as he’s being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Several years later, perhaps, Coughlin will return the favor, sitting upright and proud as Manning, in his low-key manner, pays tribute to those who helped get him enshrined.
These are not the usual ruminations from coach or quarterback during the second week of training camp, and as the Giants yesterday worked under clear skies and a refreshingly cool breeze, legacies were not on the minds of Manning or Coughlin. But a day earlier, a true blue Giant in Bill Parcells looked back on the path that carried him into the Hall of Fame and his words resonated and crackled and found their way to the Jersey Meadowlands where Parcells once roamed and the Giants still live.
“It is a special bond and a special time in your life,’’ Manning, entering his 10th season, told The Post. “It is a short period of time and kind of once it’s gone, you never have anything quite like the locker room.’’
Parcells gained admission into Canton based largely on his two Super Bowl titles with the Giants, and in his speech he reiterated the bonds to 1986 and 1990 remain strong and everlasting.
“We’ve got that momentary time of exhilaration where you hoist that championship trophy over your head,’’ Parcells said, “and I don’t know what happens, but some mystical blood kinship is formed, and although it’s a fleeting moment, that kinship lasts for the rest of your life.’’
Only eight players have survived the tug of roster upheaval and remain from the Giants’ 2007 Super Bowl team: Manning, Kevin Boothe, Zak DeOssie, David Diehl, Mathias Kiwanuka, Chris Snee, Justin Tuck and Corey Webster. They are at various stages of their careers, but all share memories of so many battles won.
“I think it is still kind of fresh and we’re worried about getting more,’’ Manning said, “but down the line when you think of it, if you have reunions or you have different things, you have guys you will keep in touch with, you have that friendship and that bond that will never go away.’’
Victor Cruz said he made sure to hear the acceptance speech by newly-inducted Cris Carter — it’s a wide receiver thing — but he heard what Parcells had to say about a “mystical blood kinship’’ and, looking back to his one championship, immediately understood the sentiment.
“I think it is absolutely true,’’ Cruz said. “It even goes unsaid that when you pick that trophy up, the people or the teammates or the friends you’ve done it with and have gotten you to that position, it’s an everlasting bond forever.
“Once this is all said and done, 40 years later, I could see Tuck and I will instantly relive those moments and we’re instantly friends. Even if we don’t speak for 40 years, we’ll instantly be united at the hip again because we shared that moment together.’’
As the long-snapper on both Super Bowl teams, DeOssie is in an enviable position, able to reflect on the ties that bind his championship teams while also getting a first-hand look at his father, Steve, a long-snapper and linebacker on Parcells’ 1990 Super Bowl winner.
“My father, when he meets up with his team from 1990, I’ve seen it, I’ve seen him hang out with Matt Bahr, they’re reduced to the locker room banter,’’ Zak DeOssie said. “It’s a bond that will never be broken, just like Coach Parcells said.’’
Of all his achievements, Parcells said “the thing I’m most proud of with my teams’’ is the way his Super Bowl Giants, all these years later, are there for each other.
“When something goes wrong with one of them, all the others run to help,’’ Parcells said. “And I know because they’ve run to help me.’’
It will take the test of time to reveal if these Giants will be so caring for one another.
Of his teammates, Manning said, “A lot of ’em are friends I think I’ll talk to regularly,’’ but cautioned, “You never know what paths [they] take and how often you’ll get to see each other.’’
Manning then paused.
“Those reunions will be special,’’ Manning said. “To get everyone back together and to catch up and have some fun.’’