Bad news for Ballard, who was already dealing with a partial PCL tear in his right knee that was going to need off-season attention. Now, both knees will.

Ballard was assisted off the field in last Sunday’s Super Bowl in the second half and tried to run on the sidelines, but crumpled to the ground in pain.

This came after another TE, Travis Beckum, tore his ACL earlier in the game. The Giants finished the game with only one TE – Bear Pascoe, who is used to taking on double duties having been the only healthy TE in camp in Albany two summers ago.

It’s a major setback for Ballard, who emerged as an offensive force for the Giants this season. He had 38 receptions for 604 yards and four TDs – including the winning TD grab in the Week 9 win in Foxborough over the Patriots.

“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.”

“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.”

“Mayor Bloomberg mentioned the word “finish“. The other themes that we talked about as we got going down the stretch was keep ‘keep the dream alive’. Keep the dream alive. This is part of the dream. We have a number of players that have never experienced this and they’ll never, ever forget this for the rest of their lives.”

“Thank you for coming out and making us feel so welcome.”

“I has the honor of speaking to President Obama as we traveled over here this morning. He was very gracious. He praised our football team. He praised our mental toughness, out resiliency, our leadership, the great ability that this team possessed to finish to win so many games in the fourth quarter.”

“But the key thing is to remember this: that all things are possible for those who believe. And we always believed, we always knew we could get here. We had to put it together and it’s a great, great credit to the coaches who did a magnificent job and to our players.”

“Thank you. “

Transcript: John Fennelly

Tom Coughlin: has a one-year contract extension through the 2012 season. He’s going nowhere. He will coach this team as long as he wants. He has become the Tommy Lasorda of the NFL. His players love him and he wins. He is a pillar of the community and true role model for anyone who wants to be successful in any walk of life.

Free agents on the Giants’ roster (as per Pro Football Talk): WR Mario Manningham, tackle Kareem McKenzie, CBs Terrell Thomas and Aaron Ross, DE Dave Tollefson, punter Steve Weatherford, DT Rocky Bernard, safety Deon Grant, LBs Jonathan Goff and Chase Blackburn, guard Stacy Andrews, QB David Carr, DT Jimmy Kennedy, OL Tony Ugoh, DBs Derrick Martin and Justin Tryon, WR/KR Devin Thomas, and PR/CB Will Blackmon.

Analysis: Manningham’s Super Bowl performance just upped his price. He may look for “greener” pastures elsewhere. McKenzie will be 33 this year, if he comes cheap the Giants may re-sign him. Terrell Thomas and Goff have to prove they’re healthy before anyone even takes a look at them. Both are in a similar situation to Steve Smith a year ago. Ross will get an offer, but the Giants won’t bend over backwards to keep him.

The others will have to be bowled over by an outside offer to leave. Weatherford loves it here. So do Tollefson and Devin Thomas. Blackburn received no tactile offers last season as a FA, and probably won’t this year, either. He was available when the Giants came calling. Same went for Grant and Bernard.

Who’s got it better than David Carr? Why would he leave at this point of his career?

Players under contract that may be traded, released or asked to take a cut in salary:

The players who are in this category all played integral parts to the team’s Super Bowl success this year (RB Brandon Jacobs, DE Osi Umenyiora, DT Chris Canty, LB Michael Boley, and CB Corey Webster) so, if anything, one or two may be asked to restructure their deals.

Will the Giants still try to move Osi? They still won’t get that first rounder they want. And who knows if he even wants to leave at this point? Jacobs could be looking at another pay cut…if he wants to stay, anyway.

Players in the plans…..the Giants drafted CB Prince Amukamara in the first round last year and he will take Ross’ place in the secondary should Ross leave. DT Marvin Austin is a beast and the Giants are looking for him to make a full recovery from a torn pec muscle.

OL Mitch Petrus will be a huge part of the Giants’ interior line for years to come. He has proven to be a nasty run blocker with the ability to pull.

WR Jerrel Jernigan will most likely step into Manningham’s role on the offense if Mario goes. The Giants see Jernigan as half Mario/half Steve Smith. He certainly is fast enough, but is he ready?

The Giants still have OT Will Beatty, who missed all of the fun this year after he had surgery to repair a detached retina, and are hopeful that 4th round pick James Brewer can develop as an NFL tackle.

S Chad Jones, the 2010 3rd round draft pick who badly injured his leg in a car wreck that year, may be brought back to camp if medically cleared.

Free agency: the Giants are always looking to upgrade but will do so only if the price is right. They don’t need to overpay for FAs a) because they just won the SB and b) they play in the media capital of the world.

I’m figuring they use the draft and UDFA market to sure up the O-line, plus the names on the FA list are nothing to jump up and down about.

Some interesting options to consider: There are few names that excite, but WRs Marques Colston, Wes Welker and Reggie Wayne are some. CB Cortland Finnegan of Tennessee is another. They could also look at a DE (say what?) such as Robert Mathis or Calais Campbell, but that would only be if Osi goes.

Colston is from Hofstra and is a great receiver. He has it all: size. speed and know-how. Wayne is 33 and may walk from Indy now that Peyton is gone. Why not go play catch with his little brother?

Welker is the most intriguing. His drop in the Super Bowl may have strained his relationship with the Pats and their fans. If the Giants lose Mario, they could shift Victor Cruz outside and put Welker in the slot. How does that sound? Unlikely, since NE will almost certainly use their franchise tag on him….but if they don’t…

Finnegan is a physical player who is just downright nasty – even dirty – sometimes. The Giants could really use a guy like him if he cleans up his act a bit. On this team, he’d be forced to.

The NFL Draft: here is where the Giants can really help themselves. Since they won the Super Bowl, they draft last.  Will they finally draft a LB high in the draft? Well, let’s see… My take is that they replenish/upgrade on the OL and perhaps at TE.

OT possibilities: Mike Adams (6’7″, 323) Ohio State; Zebrie Sanders (6’6″, 308) Florida St; Bobbie Massey (6’6″, 325) Ole Miss; Mitchell Schwartz (6’5″, 317) Cal

TE possibilities: Dwayne Allen, Clemson; Coby Fleener, Stanford

C possibility: Peter Konz, Wisconsin

Is SB XLVI the best work of Tom Coughlin’ coaching career? Is he the best coach in Giants’ history?

Eli talks to the folks at Walt Disney World

According to the New York Post, Eli was delayed in getting to the New York taping, so Letterman warmed up the audience a bit….

“Just minutes ago, he landed by helicopter on the West Side. He’s racing here,” Letterman said.

While waiting for his guest, Letterman poked fun at Manning’s two-time Super Bowl rival quarterback, the Patriots’ Tom Brady.

“How about that Tom Brady?” Letterman said in his monologue. “He was so inconsolable he could barely touch his Bundchen.”

When the interview began, Letterman asked him if he has a lot of contact with Brady:

“Not a whole lot,” Manning said. “I don’t know if he likes me.”

Letterman tried to goad the clean-cut quarterback — who was wearing a suit, tie and, of course, his Super Bowl ring— into spilling any dirt on coach Tom Coughlin.

“He was [once] quite a hot-head,” Letterman said. “He’s settled down a bit, has he?’’

“He has, he has.,” Manning replied delicately.
The “Late Show” host also had a bit of fun with Manning’s youthful appearance and aw shucks manner.

“Eli Manning, what a guy,” he said. “I asked him confidentially, ‘How old are you, really?’ He answered, ‘Don’t tell anyone: 14.’

“I started to shave, you know, this past year,’’ Manning said to big laughs….(Read more)

Letterman asks Eli about the Bradshaw TD play…..what happened?

Dave tells Eli he’s his favorite Manning; asks about Peyton

Video courtesy of CBS

Patriots’ players Rob Gronkowski and Matt Light were photographed living it up after the game. Gronk surely looks 100% here if you ask me.

So even though you can find countless videos of Pats fans bawling post game on the internet, it seems as though the players took the defeat in stride.

It’s hard to determine what is more baffling, Rob Gronkowski jumping around on stage with LMFAO or Matt Light deciding to go shirtless in the club?

These guys look like they learned their moves from Dallas Mavericks. The Mavs partied in LIV nightclub last season after winning their first NBA championship. There are definitely some obvious differences between those two situations. Obviously Mr. Kraft wasn’t popping 10 foot bottles of champagne, Mark Cuban style. The Super Bowl itself was in Indy, which doesn’t give off the same atmosphere as South Beach. But the most notable difference is that they didn’t win.

Try to imagine what Matt Light would’ve done if they would have hoisted the Lombardi trophy.

The moral of the story is no matter what happens on the field, the party must go on!

All photos courtesy of DeadSpin.com