Super Bowl XLVI PostGame Quotes, Reactions
Tom Coughlin won his second Super Bowl as a head coach tonight, and no one has more reason to fire back at his critics than Tom. Of course, he didn’t. He remained as classy as ever…
On winning the Super Bowl...“The greatest feeling in professional sports is to win the Super Bowl.”
On the Giants’ final drive for the game-winning touchdown…“We moved the ball down the field, and Eli [Manning] made some great plays. [Mario] Manningham made a huge play to get us down there. We tried to take a little more time off the clock, but it didn’t work that way. Thank God it worked out.”
On how he felt when the Patriots had the ball in the final seconds…“What I was thankful for was that we had a lead of four points. That was the whole deal, to have at least a four-point lead. When we had that, I felt a little bit better. He [Tom Brady] is so dangerous with the ball, you don’t know what to expect.”
On Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning….“His performance, coming down the stretch, was outstanding. He is the guy who has done it for us all year. He is the guy who put us in position.”
On the defense…“Our defense has played so well. Coming from the Jets game on, it’s given everybody confidence.”
Eli Manning won his second Super Bowl MVP award tonight, but he had a lot of help and made sure he spread the praise around…
“I’m just happy for the guys,” Eli said. “I’m happy for everyone in this organization, Coach Coughlin, all of my coaches, all of the players getting a chance to win the Super Bowl. Some of these guys are getting their first one. I feel great for them. I feel great for everybody.”
Eli on the win: “It just feels great. It was a great game with two great teams. We played to the very end. It was just a great effort on both sides. There were some big plays being made.”
“I’m excited to win a championship. I’m excited for my teammates. There are a number of guys, this is their first one. There are some other ones who are getting their second and more, but I’m just excited for them. I’m excited for Coach (Tom) Coughlin, all of the coaches and the Giants organization. This isn’t about one person. This is about a team coming together, getting this win. I’m just proud of our guys, proud of the team and how we fought all year. (We) never got discouraged, kept their faith and kept their confidence and just fought to the very end.”
Eli had a special message for Giant fans:
“All the New York Giants fans, thank you. Thank you for your support all year long. Thank you to the people that came to Indianapolis, we appreciate that. We had a great crowd tonight. They were loud. The majority were Giants fans, it seemed like tonight. We have the greatest fans in the world. They will be celebrating for us back in New York and we’ll be celebrating on Tuesday with them.”
Manning began the game by completing his first nine passes for 76 yards and a two-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Victor Cruz that gave the Giants a 9-0 lead. The nine straight completions set a Super Bowl record for consecutive completions to begin a Super Bowl. In the first half of play, Manning completed 13 of 17 passes for 120 yards and a touchdown.
He is the fifth player in NFL history to win multiple Super Bowl MVP honors (Joe Montana, three; Tom Brady, Terry Bradshaw and Bart Starr, two).
Justin Tuck had a trying season, but tonight he was rewarded with the ultimate in team sports – a Super Bowl ring.
On the Giants’ defense dominating….“Another team effort. That’s how we’ve been built all year, and we don’t really care where the credit goes. It’s just another great team effort, through and through.”
On winning a Super Bowl championship in the state he went to college…“It’s great to win it back in Indiana, but it wouldn’t have mattered where we played – it still would have felt great. I, obviously, had a great four years at Notre Dame. Indiana and Notre Dame have been great to me. It’s definitely special.”
On if this win was a fitting finish…“I don’t know. I don’t think I could have wrote a better script than this one. Like you said, we’ve talked about it all year, and it’s just fitting that it came down to a final drive by Eli (Manning) and a closing out by our defense.”
On the pass rush getting to Tom Brady on the last drive…. “I think our coverage made him hold the ball a little bit longer, and we feel very confident up front that if we get a little extra time, we are going to be able to get to anybody. So, it was just an inside move where I was able to beat the guard, and I got to him.”
About John Fennelly
Managing Editor of SNY.tv's Giants Football Blog - the ultimate destination for New York Giants' news, opinion and entertainment. View all posts by John Fennelly →-
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