It was Dec. 13, 1998, the 13-0 Broncos invading Giants Stadium for a chance to move one step closer to history against the 5-8 Giants. The defending champion, John Elway Broncos were 12 1/2-point favorites over the Kent Graham Giants.
“Nobody gave us a chance,” Graham said yesterday. “They were really good. I remember going in early in the morning and trying to watch film before practice. I told my wife, Courtney, ‘I don’t know if we can beat them, they’re that good.’ ”
“It was our Super Bowl,” Amani Toomer said yesterday.
Let it serve as an example for the 2011 Giants Sunday against the Perfect Packers.
The Broncos were not at their best, but found a way to grab a 16-13 lead late in the fourth quarter. Graham, pinned deep in his end, moved the Giants to midfield. Toomer lined up wide right outside Chris Calloway with Ike Hilliard in the slot inside Joe Jurevicius on the other side.
“Overcast … it was cold … and we just really never got on track,” former Broncos tight end and CBS’ Shannon Sharpe recalled. “We didn’t take them lightly. They just played flawless football and we didn’t.”
Toomer ran a go route.
“I just remember running straight,” Toomer recalled. “There was a guy from Ohio State, Tito Paul, covering me.”
Michigan vs Ohio State.
“I remember going into the game thinking I wanted to pick on him,” Graham said. “I remember throwing it thinking, ‘OK, I think it’s got a chance.’ I knew Amani — if you threw it up to him, I had great confidence he was gonna come up with it if he had a chance.”
He had a chance in the right corner of the end zone.
“Kent just threw it up,” Toomer said. “I did not have him [Paul] beat. The ball was inside and behind. I slowed down. I jumped inside the defensive back.”
“I couldn’t tell whether he caught it or not,” Graham said.
He caught it.
Giants 20, Broncos 16.
“I had muffed a punt before the drive began, then I picked it up and ran backwards,” Toomer said. “I knew I had to do something to make people forget about that.”
And when he did, Giants Stadium erupted. So did the Giants. Graham recalls Howard Cross and Corey Widmer, among others, storming out to midfield to celebrate.
“I fell back almost in shock,” Graham said. “It was like I fell in a pool or something. I kinda just remember having my hand up in anticipation of whether or not it was good. I fell back thinking, ‘I can’t believe we did it!’
“My dad was on the sideline, which was pretty cool. I just remember saying to him, ‘Hey Dad, I don’t know if this is good enough’ because you got Elway over there.’”
Sharpe recalls thinking the same thing.
“The greatest come-from-behind quarterback who ever walked the sideline was on our side,” Sharpe said.
But no comeback this time for the Mike Shanahan Broncos.
“I just remember Mike coming in the locker room, he was disappointed,” Sharpe said. “He said, ‘This doesn’t change our long-term goal.’ ”
Which was repeating as Super Bowl champs. Which they did.
“It ruined our hat day,” Sharpe said. “We didn’t have to wear helmets. It [the loss] made us come in on Monday. Up until that point, we hadn’t been in on Monday and Tuesday for three months!”
So there you have it — nine seasons before the Super Bowl XLII Giants shocked the Perfect Patriots, the Jim Fassel Giants shocked the Perfect Broncos.
“It was probably the most emotional and probably the highest point in my career,” Graham said.
Does Graham have a message for the 2011 Giants?
“They probably don’t need a message from me,” Graham said. “[Manning’s] done this before. And he’s done it on a much bigger stage in the Super Bowl. They know what they’re doing. They’ve done this before. He can beat ’em. I think they got a chance.”