Giants Paint the Town Blue
The Giants had their day in the proverbial sun yesterday as blue skies mild weather sent hundreds of thousands of fans into the streets of NYC and the seats of MetLife Stadium to celebrate the team’s latest Super Bowl victory.
The Giants received keys to the city from Mayor Bloomberg in a ceremony at City Hall after a parade up the legendary Canyon of Heroes in Lower Manhattan.
“Thank you. Thank you very much. It’s wonderful to be a part of this great day. Only – only – could this happen in New York,” head coach Tom Coughlin told the throng of joyous fans. “Only in New York. That’s why it’s so important and so wonderful to be and to have the opportunity to be the head coach of the New York Giants and play for the New York Giants because this is the greatest city in the world and it’s wonderful that we’ve returned the Lombardi Trophy to exactly where it belongs – right here in New York.”
The owners were overwhelmed by the masses who came out to support their team in what was the most trying of seasons. John Mara, the Giants’ CEO and the man most credited for averting a lockout that would have damaged the NFL, spoke emotionally to the fans.
“When you pull into this place and see all you fans out there, you realize one thing, there’s no place like home,” Mara said in his speech at MetLife. “And we are very proud to call New Jersey our home. And we are even more proud of the fact that we have the greatest, most loyal fans in the world. Thank you so much for your support.”
Giants’ Chairman Steve Tisch was into in the mood as well…
“We do have the best fans in the world. There’s a group of guys down in Dallas that call themselves ‘America’s Team’ (boos). Looking out at all of you and the millions of people who are in the streets today, we’re ‘America’s Dream’.”
“Thank all of you. We had a circuitous road to get to the Super Bowl, and we made it very dramatic. But we’re the New York Giants, so why wouldn’t we…”
Defensive captain Justin Tuck had little to say in his address to fans but perhaps had the best line of the day..
“The last time we did this, we were in Giants Stadium. I’m sure you know where I’m gonna go with this. Now we’re in MetLife Stadium. No, no, no, no…It’s MetLife Stadium….But the one thing you can be sure of is whose house this is.”
SNY Insider Mike Garafolo was at the rally at MetLife and spoke with OL David Diehl
WATCH: Giants take over Manhattan
