01x04 - Goliaths

[bunniefuu]

You said earlier, you said,

"Man, like, this one's gonna be

like therapy."

♪♪

When I think of

my professional football career,

this is the year

that I saw us at our best.

Touchdown, Randy Moss.

In my mind, the greatest

football team that ever played.

Touchdown, Wes Welker.

We were doing something

that would be pretty impossible

to match forever.

Jaw-dropping performance

by the Patriot offense.

The highest scoring offense

in the history of the league.

589 points.

50 touchdown passes

from Tom Brady.

And if there was ever

a team to be remembered,

that would have been the one.

And Super Bowl XLII is underway

♪♪

With three Super Bowl rings,

he already has

Hall of Fame credentials,

even if he never played

another game.

But he's only 28

and just entering his prime.

What's your favorite ring?

My favorite ring.

We always said and I said

always the next one.

The next one's the best.

For me, I always felt

like I was an underdog.

Our team always felt like

we were underdogs.

By 2004, we were definitely the Goliaths,

but we didn't feel like it.

You know, we still felt like we were

14-point underdogs to the Rams.

And then I remember finally

getting beat by Denver,

and that was the first time

I'd lost a playoff game.

And the great Patriots run

of the last four years

has come to an end.

I realized, wow.

Like, everyone was really

rooting for us to lose.

Guys start to leave.

Deion Branch left in '06.

Some people wanted to maximize

their earning potential.

They went to different teams.

They took advantage of the opportunities

that were presented for them.

You have your arch-rival here,

the Colts and the Patriots.

You know, we lost an AFC

championship to the Colts.

Definitely struggled

in the passing game that year,

more so than what we had.

We're going to the Super Bowl!

We're going to the Super Bowl!

The Colts win Super Bowl XLI.

Peyton Manning has a ring.

- Is it over?

- I think it's over.

It's very much endangered.

I think they'll be an edge

in the playoffs-type team,

their dynastic sort of invincibility,

and I think they've lost a lot of faith

in that quarterback of theirs

because

Well, he doesn't

have the pieces, though,

- that he had back then.

- I don't know,

but I don't think

he's Tom Brady anymore.

And as it came to 2007,

you know,

we were on the hunt

for great talent.

The Minnesota Vikings

have selected

wide receiver Randy Moss.

Randy Moss,

Tom Brady's ultimate weapon.

Whoa, that's a highlight film catch

by number 84.

- Touchdown!

- I want the ball,

I don't care how you give it to me.

Give me the rock!

End zone for Randy Moss, who leaps.

Moss in the end zone. Caught!

Wow!

One-handed catch by Randy Moss.

He's the best wide receiver in football.

The Minnesota Vikings,

you know, gave me my start.

I'm frustrated 'cause

it should be a blowout.

That's what I'm frustrated about.

90 career touchdown catches

in just 109 games,

but as he proved again on Sunday,

it does not come without drama.

I don't give a

what they talk about.

They better talk about this W

that we put on Lambeau Field today.

I told you before the game

what they gonna give you.

You gotta win!

Worse than losing is

Randy Moss walking off the field

with two seconds to play.

I wanted everything done right.

I wanted perfection.

Acquisition of Randy Moss

in the offseason

by the silver and black

caused shockwaves.

And then being able to get traded

overnight to Oakland, man,

it really stunned me, it hurt me.

Thought it was gonna

affect my game a little bit

as far as me being mentally focused.

And I struggled a little bit in Oakland.

Then I got ran down.

First time in my NFL career

I've ever been ran down.

And it kinda got to me,

'cause I've never been

ran down in my life

and I was like,

"Did he just run me down?"

You realize Randy Moss

isn't capable of speeding anymore.

He just lost a step.

"He lost a step

and he doesn't

care about the game anymore."

Me not caring about

the game of football hurt me

and affected me more

than me losing my physical step.

You don't never

take your playmakers

off the damn field.

I got a teammate

that just got traded

to the New England Patriots.

Fires it toward the end zone,

Touchdown, Doug Gabriel.

So he calls me, tells me,

"Man, you would love it here."

I said, "Man, what is Tom Brady like?

Is he all that

that they're saying that he is?"

"Oh, man, you would love

his preparation, Moss.

You would love how he prepares,

how he comes to practice."

We played in Minnesota in 2006,

and he flew to Minneapolis.

That night I put a outfit on,

snuck in the Patriots' hotel.

True story.

Meet Tom Brady for five minutes.

He came up,

and that was my first

real interaction with Randy,

and he was like,

“Bro, like, I want to play with you."

He gave me five, gave him a hug,

and I said, "Look, man,

you got a big game tonight.

I don't wanna take up your time."

I said,

"But, dude, things are not going right,

and I wanna play with you."

That was it. I left.

And I'm sitting here

thinking where

"I'm not really sure

where he's coming from."

Hey, I'm not the general manager.

Like, I'm the quarterback.

And then I realized, like,

he flew all the way

out there to let me know

that he wanted to

come play together.

Tom Brady went off that night.

Some part of me from

that little hug that I gave Tom

felt that, I I felt a part

of those touchdowns

I felt a little bit of that.

So that offseason came,

and I got a phone call

from Coach Belichick,

and he said we're thinking

of trading for Randy.

"What do you think?"

And I was, like,

"What do I think?

I mean, abso lutely."

Oakland sending disgruntled

yet talented wide receiver

Randy Moss to New England

for a fourth-round draft pick.

Even if people were saying

Randy Moss is not the same

player that he once was,

you have to pay attention to him,

even if he doesn't get the football.

Everyone thought, you

know, he was way past his prime.

I get to Foxborough,

and the biggest thing

that I want is, like, "Man,

when is Tom getting here?"

When is Tom getting here

so we can get to work?

That's what I'm ready to do.

I'm in my 10th year,

and I'm still ready to play.

He came in with no agenda.

He wasn't even getting paid

that much money.

There was just a lot of incentives.

Just winning postseason games,

not New England's M.O.

Winning Super Bowls, that's the M.O.

So in come, kas the guys mentioned,

Randy Moss, Donté Stallworth,

Wes Welker. Watch him.

I mean, these were guys

that were incredible players,

and had been, and we somehow

got everyone on the same team

at the same time.

Bringing in all those players

does not guarantee that

you're going to be successful.

This is a great team.

There's no question about it.

They'll win 12, 14 games.

The ultimate goal: win it all.

If they don't win the Super Bowl,

it is a bad season

for the New England Patriots.

That is what they are all about.

♪♪

The Giants have selected Michael Strahan,

defensive end, Texas Southern.

There's just such

New York.

All day long.

Takes the snap and back to throw.

Steps in the pocket.

He's sacked by Michael Strahan!

Michael Strahan once again

getting into the backfield

and causing problems.

Welcome home, baby.

Yeah, I knew Michael,

You know, we I had always

kind of revered Michael.

And Michael is just

the most imposing guy, you know.

He's big. He's just

You know, his voice carries everywhere.

You know everybody

gonna watch the whupping

I'm putting on you, right?

Whoo!

He had a real

k*ller instinct on the field.

And Michael Strahan has become

the NFL's single season

all-time sack leader.

Offseason for the 2007 season,

that offseason leading up to it,

I flirted with retirement but I don't

I wasn't really serious about it.

I was coming off of injuries.

See, right at the end there,

he knows something's wrong

with that right foot.

I can't end my career like that.

I want to come back,

but I don't want to go to training camp.

I don't wanna do it.

And while I was at home,

in California at the time,

the guys would still call.

"Trust me, it's different now.

It's different this year."

And I had been there

for 14 years at that point.

I'm thinking,

how different can it be?

The Giants D last year

finishing in the bottom ten

in yards and points allowed

for the first time

in a quarter of a century.

27.3 over the last eight games.

They lost six of those eight games.

We had a young quarterback.

We had, you know,

some players here and there,

but I didn't know

if we had the right players

or even if we had the right coach.

Let's go!

So I came in expecting just to have fun.

It was my

This was my swan song.

I just wanted to end on a good note.

I didn't want to end

And not good note meaning

we're gonna win the Super Bowl,

because that was

the furthest thing from my mind.

If we were lucky,

we would make the playoffs.

And I mean if we were lucky.

Michael Strahan, late return for him.

Today, the Giants and Cowboys

match up at Texas Stadium

with possible thunderstorms

as part of that setting.

I said, I'm thinking about retiring,

and then before the first game,

the week before, I said I'm back.

Good morning, Sal.

Good morning, Boomer.

Today is the long-awaited debut finally

of wide receiver Randy Moss in

a New England Patriots uniform.

I'm told by people close to this team

that he had a spectacular week of practice

and he's ready to play today.

Tom looks at me.

"You ready?"

I said, “Tom, I don't know if I'm ready,

but I'm gonna give you everything I got."

I was so down on myself

because of my production in Oakland,

I didn't know if I had it anymore.

I come to New England

and I'm determined

to go out here and put on a show.

Brady back to throw.

It's over the middle.

It's complete to Moss at the 20.

When we went through

training camp,

it was like, damn,

we're gonna be really good.

Doesn't matter if you cover him.

He can go up and get the football.

And then literally from the first series

of the opening game

Brady fires to Welker.

He's got it inside the five, and he's in!

Touchdown!

And I remember that week, he told me,

he's, like, “Hey, when we call this play.

You can go anywhere on the field

that you want to go.

He had the play action.

Brady, the play action fake.

And instead of me running a post route,

I ran like a deep drag.

It was like a 20 yard,

and then I kept climbing,

kept climbing.

He threw me all the way

to the front pylon.

Airs it out downfield.

Randy Moss is there and he has it.

- Touchdown!

- Wow.

It was like.

Caught.

Touchdown to Benjamin Watson.

On his feet at the 25.

We made football look so easy.

You know, it was the start of

the Randy Moss show that year.

And the

Patriots are blowing the doors off

the New York Jets in this season opener.

Brady and Randy Moss

a huge part of the story here.

I wanted to get

Tom's stamp of approval

to come and help

win a championship.

That's all I cared about.

The Patriots

start the season of high anticipation

with a blowout victory over the Jets

here at Giants Stadium.

We went in there,

and we just put on a display.

And it was like we were gonna

take whoever came our way.

I have nothin' to say,

so get outta my face.

Let me play. It's my first game back.

You're making me nervous.

I didn't practice or come in

until the Monday of that week.

We're playing the Cowboys,

first game of the season, in Dallas.

They are whipping us.

Lots of time, throws it in the end zone.

Touchdown!

We are down by so much,

and I'm literally

sitting on the sideline

thinking to myself,

I was just on a beach in California

a few days ago.

What have you done?

Their defense is tired,

and they're not getting

any pass rush at all.

This is not gonna be a fun year.

This is no different.

I mean, this Giant defense

left a lot to be desired, I think.

And then the next week

really didn't help my argument either,

because we took another shellacking.

Took another beating.

Throws the middle of the end zone.

Back line. Touchdown, Driver.

We gave up 80 points on defense.

80 points in two games!

And the Green Bay Packers,

a 35-13 victory at the Meadowlands.

I just wanna scream

and run outta here,

but I come from that family

when you say you're

gonna do something,

you gotta stick it out

and you have to do it.

And not only that, you got to do

it to the best of your ability.

So I was stuck.

Coach of the New England Patriots,

Bill Belichick said today

he's focusing on

this weekend's football game.

Well, he may be,

but the rest of the sports world

is focusing on the news

that his team

illegally videotaped

its opponent's signals.

NFL officials are saying

that a Patriots employee

tried to steal signals from the Jets.

If they know before the snap of the ball

what your coverage basically is,

they can chew you up and spit you out.

When it came out, Belichick

called us in the next day

and he said, look,

none of you players

had anything to do with it.

Just shut your mouth,

focus on what your job is.

Like, none of you guys

know anything about it,

none of you guys have

information on it, you know.

I'll deal with it

how I need to deal with it,

and you guys focus on your job.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell

fining Bill Belichick $500,000,

the maximum penalty allowed.

So it was kind of crystal clear

what the game plan was for the players,

so there wasn't much for us

to elaborate on, you know.

Then we felt like we were

being attacked by everybody.

I've heard these whispers

for three or four years

that New England and Belichick

lead the National Football

League in high-tech espionage.

So this is the tip of that iceberg.

So we kept going,

"Where's the respect?"

I really didn't know what

the hell Spygate really was.

I wasn't there,

so, you know,

I'm listening to the vets.

Now, I'm a vet,

but the guys that I'm calling the vets,

these are the Super Bowl-winning vets.

Tom, Bruschi, Vrabel, Faulk, Wilfork.

These guys are affected by it,

like, for real for real.

It was just another attack

from the outside

that we felt people

were trying to take us apart.

We took it upon ourself

to, you know what,

let's ignore the noise

and let's knock everybody

out the box that comes this way.

And it seemed like they

knew everything we were doing.

Fires down the right side.

Touchdown! Randy Moss!

What a throw!

He makes catching the football look

Nobody said anything

about Spygate this

and Spygate that. Nobody.

The Spygate scandal,

or whatever you want to call it,

you're not gonna insult us.

We're gonna go out there

and we're gonna dominate.

We are not finished.

We are not finished, fellas.

Looks, fires, intercepted.

Looking, looking, looking.

Floats it to the right. Touchdown.

Benjamin Watson.

I mean,

what a statement this is.

I turn on the TV

to listen to how a so-called expert

thinks about some

that he has no clue

what he's talking about,

and all's it does is diminish

what we're accomplishing.

Once Bill said what he said

It's over, and we're moving on.

We're done with it.

Next thing you know,

we just start hanging up Ws.

Pump fake by Brady.

Shoots it down the right side.

Randy Moss is there.

He's got it! Touchdown!

We didn't take

a lot of for granted.

We felt like we had to put the work in

so that when people would attack us,

we'd be like, what the

you guys talking about?

You know, you weren't here for the work.

Cuts left. He's in! Touchdown!

Sammy Morris.

Fires end zone. Touchdown!

I remember Bill, when I first got there,

Belichick said "I want

a smart, tough football team"

that knows how to perform

under pressure.

With everything that's going on,

you know, off the field,

we still was able to perform

at a high level.

It was a good lesson in life

for us to just focus

on what our job was

and what our task was.

You know, we went to Dallas,

and they were a great team.

They were the first seed

in the playoffs that year,

and we beat them at home

by, like, 20 points.

The other teams

started to sense, like,

"Oh, you know,

we gotta play the Patriots."

Is there a team tougher than them

that you've seen through the years?

There might be. Might be.

There might be.

There's always a challenge out there.

London, England. Wembley Stadium.

The site of the Giants and the Dolphins

playing in front of the Brits.

The turning point

for our team wasn't a play.

It wasn't, you know,

something on the field.

It was our trip to London.

You have your team flights

when you'd go to games,

but that was different.

We're in a hotel, we're bonding,

we're around,

you're in a different country.

But this time we had to travel

a little bit further.

We had to do all that.

That ain't no reason for us

not to come out here

and perform the way

we're supposed to perform.

There's just such a level of excitement

and bonding that comes with that.

We are accountable

to each other.

♪♪

Turnover

recovered by Michael Strahan.

You can have all the talent

in the world on the field,

but if guys don't get along.

It doesn't matter.

If you don't care about the

other guy, it doesn't matter.

We traveled around the country.

It. We traveled around the world,

and we whip.

We were like road warriors.

That's what we called ourselves.

For some reason

we were not very good at home.

But on the road,

I think we were

David.

We are the New York Giants!

Giants looking good here at 7-3.

We were a group of players

that collectively you look at,

you don't expect much out of us.

But we realized that it's

like the world's against us.

All we had was each other.

When we saw we had a legitimate

shot of making the playoffs,

that added a different

type of focus for us,

and we went from hoping to win

We went into it expecting to win.

We're just as good as anybody.

I think in the NFL what you see

is there's a receiver speed,

There's a DB speed, and

there's a fast receiver speed.

And then there was Randy Moss.

Another spectacular catch.

Then you had his counterpart,

which was Wes.

Entirely different skill set,

but there was nothing that Wes

couldn't do on the football field.

He'd get open on anybody.

Quickness, run after catch,

that one-two combo,

they complement

each other so well.

And not only did we have a great offense,

but we had an incredible defense, too.

We signed Junior Seau.

Big stop by Junior Seau.

We still had Rodney. Mike Vrabel.

He's gonna be hit.

Fumbles the ball. It's on the ground.

Asante.

So, I mean, the list goes on.

Another jaw-dropping

performance by the Patriot offense.

We played so well that day,

and they were saying, "Well, dude,

did you guys run up the score?

You know, why didn't they take

you out in the third quarter?"

And I'm sitting here thinking, like,

"I'm in here to do a job, you know.

They put me on the field to score points."

The Patriots have the league's

leading passer in Tom Brady.

They've got the league's

leading receiver in Randy Moss,

But you wouldn't

want to know any of that

from listening to

Bill Belichick's film sessions.

We were a force in all phases of the game,

and we were coached incredibly hard, too.

You do your job!

That's what's the problem right here.

Bill Belichick made us feel

as if we're not the number one offense

or team in the National Football League.

He's so critical

that the players call it

their serving of humble pie.

Coming out of those meetings on Monday,

you were gonna get your humble pie.

You're gonna eat it.

You're gonna eat it.

You're gonna eat

that humble pie up there.

Adalius Thomas made these shirts,

and then everyone would wear

'em into the meetings on Monday.

Because they knew they were gonna get

some humble pie from Belichick.

Although even Belichick

is having some trouble these days

being critical of Brady.

He's completing

nearly 80% of his passes.

And then after every game,

probably about

I don't know which week it started,

but Tedy Bruschi would bring his speaker

into the locker room.

Boom.

Dum, dum, dum ♪

Another one bites the dust ♪

Duh, duh, duh ♪

Hey, another one bites ♪

Everybody started it became to

after we break the team down,

you go to your locker,

start getting undressed,

next thing you know

that song was playing.

Oh, yeah!

The whole year.

Belichick knew we were good,

but he didn't want us thinking

that we were better than we were.

You know, after

we beat San Diego in week two,

it was like, "Man,

they're going undefeated."

You know, and it was like

We heard it, you know.

We never really believed it,

but that was part of it,

was, you know,

we had this great success,

and it looked so easy that

everyone automatically said,

well, next stop's gonna be, you know,

Super Bowl

and undefeated season.

How do you think

I'm gonna get along ♪

Touchdown, Randy Moss.

Direct snap to Brady. The throw.

Fires, caught, touchdown!

We got 'em on the ropes.

Keep up what we doing now.

You know, and then

we went on the road to Indy.

They were undefeated at the time.

- You know, we beat them.

- sh**ter! ♪

How do y'all feel being 9-0

going into the bye week?

Oh, yeah!

Another one bites the dust ♪

We went to Buffalo

and scored, like, I don't know,

seven or eight touchdowns

on that many possessions.

Gonna get you, too,

Another one bites the dust ♪

How much celebrating

y'all want me to do?

And Dwayne Wright loses the ball,

and it is plucked

out of the air, and this

10-0 now, blasting away

just about everybody that they play.

411 points they've scored.

More than every team but five

scored less than that all last year.

You know it was just a year

that was every week

we tried to outdo the next.

The Patriots averaging more points

than Michael Jordan ever averaged

during one season of his career.

Spot pass right

to Randy Moss, who drops it.

Throws it back to Brady in the backfield.

Looking for a flea flicker.

Fires it long and deep.

Open! Touchdown!

What a play!

The New England Patriots,

there's no need to panic.

You're gonna go 16-0.

You're gonna go undefeated.

He gets rid of the ball,

it's picked off

and run in for a touchdown.

They're now 14-0.

I don't think anybody can stop 'em.

I really don't.

We faced the toughest competition,

the best coached teams,

the most talented teams,

on the road, at home, in the cold,

in the dome, in the heat,

Monday night, Sunday night, Sunday day,

and, you know,

we beat everybody's.

We had Buffalo

and then we had the Patriots.

We had to win one of these games

to make the playoffs.

We're looking at

an undefeated Patriot team

or we're looking at Buffalo,

who was kind of struggling.

For us, we chose Buffalo.

Edwards back to throw.

Zips one left, deflected and intercepted!

It was raining, snowing, sleeting,

from top, bottom, sideways, underneath.

And the weather was awful.

And we took control of the game

with Ahmad Bradshaw's

big touchdown run.

No one's gonna get

the rookie out of Marshall.

30, 20, 15, 10, 5,

touchdown, Ahmad Bradshaw!

And the rookie may have run

the Giants into the postseason.

It was lights out.

We know we're going to the playoffs,

and I'll just never forget

how horrible the weather was

but how proud we were,

because we actually made the playoffs

with a team that wasn't given

much chance of doing anything,

and we truly were the only

ones who believed in ourselves.

The New York Giants

have clinched a playoff spot

with a 38-21 win over the Buffalo Bills.

The Patriots do become

the first 15-0 team

in regular season history.

A host of records set in this day

and next week perhaps against the Giants.

The only time in 2007

where I can honestly say

that we kind of felt the pressure

of going undefeated, like, we were, like,

“Hey, guys, let's go.

Last game of the season

against the Giants."

It is the kickoff to the final week

of the National Football League season,

but, of course, it is

so much more than that.

Only four quarters remain

between the Patriots

and football immortality,

with one Giant obstacle in their way.

Leading up to the game,

the questions were,

"Patriots, are you guys

playing your starters?"

And of course, we were like,

“Oh, hell yeah, we're playing.”

And they were asking the Giants

With nothing to be gained

in the playoff standings,

do they sit their starters

or do they go for the big win

against the Patriots?

They're very talented.

I think definitely Strahan

should take the weekend off.

I'd rest him. I know that.

Coughlin was, like, you know,

“We're playing our guys,"

even though for them

it didn't mean anything.

- Ten seconds.

- Let's go, baby.

Let's go. Yeah.

You could feel

they were under pressure to be perfect.

I knew they were putting up

30, 40 points a game.

I mean, it was some astronomical number.

I also knew from experience

that if you look at it that way,

you can be intimidated

before you ever play the game

and you've already lost.

"The Giants are in the playoffs,

They ain't got nothin' to play for.

Rest their guys so they don't get hurt."

These are in the playoffs, too.

Why ain't their guys sitting on the bench?

I will tell you right now.

You know what we gonna do?

- We gonna

- Stomp 'em!

Is today a thrill?

- Isn't it always?

- Yeah

Well, no, not always.

I would say, Giants didn't have

a great season to that point.

We knew they were good.

Looking deep for Burress.

Caught inside the 20.

I didn't realize how good they were

until we got playing against them.

They're good, but not necessarily a team

that played in the style of which

I think we were used to playing,

which was, in my opinion,

a lot more physical.

Brady feels some pressure,

and he's going to get sacked

back at the 39-yard line.

Brady fires right. Caught!

It was a little bit back and forth,

and I remember that crowd

just being on fire that night,

and they were so loud.

Let's go now, fellas.

Just do your job!

Those guys

played really hard that night.

And then I remember finally

when they returned

the kickoff for the touchdown

Hixon. Touchdown, Giants.

I could see a sense on their sideline

that was like, "Holy.

This is our night. We're gonna be

the team that beats these guys."

Let's get physical with 'em.

Manning, Boss.

Touchdown, Giants!

Manning with time into the end zone.

Touchdown, Giants!

Eli and them was out there

throwing touchdowns.

We were losing. We would answer.

Maroney. Touchdown, Patriots.

They would answer.

They are trailing the Giants by 12

They were playing

some tough coverages.

They weren't giving us some of

the easy opportunities that we had had.

They were making us earn it.

We went against them

without a game plan

'cause we were in the playoffs.

We weren't gonna put

anything into our game plan

that Buccaneers

would see the next week.

I forget the actual play,

but I remember

it was a right formation,

and we didn't connect.

So I'm like,

“Oh, that was it, that was it.”

And before I could even

get back to the huddle,

all I hear is "Same play on one."

Brady with time.

Going back again to Moss.

Touchdown, Patriots.

And then finally I hit Randy

on the 50th touchdown

and his 23rd touchdown reception

to put us ahead.

They talked about

my skills were diminishing,

I don't care about the game

of football, how slow I am.

"He can't do it anymore."

But then I'm out here,

23 touchdowns

record-breaker later, man.

That that gave me, you know,

more of a confident that,

you know, I can still play

at a Pro Bowl type level, man,

and it was just a good feeling

to get back to playing football

the way I knew I could play.

Championship football.

At that point it was like,

“, man, we got this.”

So, of course, they went

down the field and scored again.

Now, this

undefeated season on the line

with an onside kick.

And then they were gonna

kick the onside kick,

and I was standing right

on the sideline watching it.

Vrabel recovered it,

and that's when we knew we had,

you know, sealed the season.

Congratulations

to the New England Patriots.

They did it.

16-0, and went to the locker room.

Tedy Bruschi's bumping.

Everyone's hugging.

I got pictures in the locker room,

you know, holding up, you know, 16-0,

and just in the belly

of the old Meadowlands Stadium,

16-0. Perfection personified.

What a season.

Celebrating a really historic night

in our franchise, in my career.

Tom Brady, of course,

this year's League MVP

and this year's

Offensive Player of the Year.

I ended up staying

in New York that night,

and just was really enjoying kind of

what we had accomplished.

And the final hurdle

may have been their toughest,

their 35 points allowed tonight.

The Giants brought

a lot of game into this one.

They played their guys

and they played it to win

and they just came up a little short.

For us, we were a vagabond

group of guys out there

just throwing our bodies around

playing football.

For them,

it really meant something.

Their best players were on

that field from start to finish,

and for us it was surprising

because we just athletically,

without stunts and games

and running around

and exotic coverages,

we just athletically took it to them.

We felt we should have beat 'em.

We see them again, we'll beat them.

That bye week is

an interesting week, you know,

'cause you can

kind of re-calibrate

a little bit about what we've done,

what we can do going forward.

So early in the year,

we had a bunch of blowouts.

Later in the year

we played some teams

that were challenging us

in different ways.

So I think we recognized that

it wasn't, you know, all perfect.

The Patriots obviously at 16-0

and now to win three playoff games,

unbelievable pressure.

Three games, three football games,

and you're in the history books.

I think that they are three games

away from immortality,

one loss away from infamy.

I think when you

look at that playoff game

against Jacksonville,

they were really committed

to not letting anything bad happen.

They kind of played

real soft and conservative,

and made us just, you know, earn it.

You know, they weren't going to give up

any right hooks or uppercuts.

They were just

going to make you throw jabs

and, you know,

we were getting a little impatient.

Stands in, fires, end zone.

Touchdown, Ben Watson.

We ended up completing

a lot of passes that day.

We didn't run it

as well as we were capable.

In the end, we came through

when we needed to.

But, you know,

we recognized that, okay,

it's gonna be a lot tougher

in the playoffs.

The Patriots have advanced

to the AFC championship game

with their 17th consecutive victory.

That was a really tough day.

I think the hard part for both teams,

it was like ten degrees out.

First and ten,

Brady goes play action, goes downfield.

Quentin Jammer with the pick!

Early in the game,

I threw an interception on the right side

with play action fake.

I wanted to throw it to the tight end

running up the seam,

and then looked up the sideline,

threw it.

Quentin Jammer just backpedaled.

Pass rush coming from Phillips.

The pass is bobbled. Picked off!

Second interception of the day

by the great Tom Brady.

I made a pretty play,

you know, throwing an interception

to Cromartie in the end zone.

Brady chucks it up in the air.

Picked off! Cromartie!

It wouldn't have been as close as it was,

but it really ended up being

a fourth quarter game

Brady back to throw, steps.

Looks, fires, end zone, touchdown!

And the Patriots are 18-0.

And for the fourth time

in seven years,

Super Bowl, here we come.

I think we ended up

winning the game 21-12,

but it was kind of unimpressive.

It was kind of an ugly game.

Our defense played really good,

but offensively,

there was a lot to be desired.

And, you know, we all thought

we'd be playing the Packers.

I remember getting home

to my apartment,

turning the game on,

and they got the interception there

in the fourth quarter,

and ended up kicking

the field goal in overtime,

and then they were going to be the team

that we were going to play.

So I just remember, "Wow, we got"

You know, no one really

expected the Giants.

We were the worst team possibly

to be in the Super Bowl

out of every team

that was in the NFC that year.

A lot of people probably felt that way.

- Thank you, man. Let's go get it.

- Playing fast. Thank you, man.

I love you. Thank you.

They went on the road

to beat Tampa, I think,

in the first round of the playoffs.

Then they went on the road

to beat Dallas,

and then they go to Green Bay

to win in the third round of the playoffs.

I mean, that tells you

all you need to know

about the Giants that year at the end.

And, you know, I would say

the playoff games that we won

weren't as impressive.

We played okay against Jacksonville.

We played really mediocre

against the Chargers.

But, you know, I was happy

we were playing the Giants.

I thought, great, we know 'em.

We know we can beat 'em.

That gave us a lot of confidence.

They got some good players,

but, you know, we should win this game.

We've played better teams than that.

But the better team doesn't always win.

They played it

on a computer 500,000 times,

a half a million times.

The winner in an amazing

79% of those games,

the New England Patriots.

When the sun rises

on Sunday morning,

Eli is gonna be shaking in his bed.

No one believed in us.

No one thought we had a shot.

But we didn't feel that way,

and that was all that mattered.

Yesterday, Giants

wide receiver Plaxico Burress

was asked for a prediction

by the New York Post,

and without hesitation,

he said, 23-17.

We're only gonna score 17 points?

I mean, I kinda laughed at it.

We all watched it and replayed it.

Tom, like, "Ha ha ha.

Oh, yeah, okay, yeah.

I guess we aren't

gonna score points"

or something to that effect,

and it just pissed us off.

Plaxico's a hell of a player.

And if he feels that way,

I mean, I think that's great.

I'd hate for him to think

that, you know,

he's gonna lose this game.

You know, I kind of felt like

if we played the way

we're capable, you know,

no one could really stop us.

Only we could really stop us.

I wish he'd said, like,

45-42 or something like that.

At least he gave us some more credit

for scoring a few points.

The audacity, the arrogance.

To think that you're just gonna come

and put up 35, 40 points

like it's nothing.

And "Ha ha."

It was almost a dismissive laugh.

But it tells you the kind

of confidence that they had.

I mean, I didn't necessarily

pick up on that at the time.

- All right.

- Let's get it.

Super Bowl. New York Giants.

I know defensively, he lit the match.

Dang it, you make me

wanna play again. Oh!

I always feel like when you

get to the Super Bowl at the end,

there's a calmness about you,

because either way, win or lose,

there's no tomorrow, you know.

The season's over.

In that one I felt very calm

and I felt very relaxed

and I felt like we were going

to go take care of business.

Remember

the old Johnny Cash line

when the company executives

said to him,

"Man, why do you wear black?

You look like you're

on the way to a funeral."

And he said, "Maybe I am."

We arrived in all black

because we looked at it as

we're going to someone's funeral.

It's gonna be theirs

or it's gonna be ours.

This is our last little climb

to try to reach the mountaintop.

But, man, we've done all the hard work,

and now it's just, let's go play ball.

Highest scoring offense

in the history of the league.

589 points.

50 touchdown passes from Tom Brady.

Nobody's caring

about no dadgum records.

We want that undefeated season.

The New England Patriots

trying to rewrite history.

18-0.

I don't care about history

and them having a perfect season.

If anything, my thought is

let's it up.

The New York football Giants

and the New England Patriots

in Super Bowl XLII.

First drive of the game,

they went down,

basically possessed the ball

the whole first quarter.

Took up a lot of time.

They kicked a field goal

on their opening drive.

The first play of the game,

we had a screen set up,

And I was gonna fake a reverse.

I was gonna turn and throw it to

the running back on the screen.

Well, as soon as I turned

They fake a reverse,

and Brady in trouble, throws low.

I was getting hit.

Well, had I completed that

to Laurence Maroney,

it probably would have been

a 50-yard touchdown.

Brady. Time was running out.

End zone and a flag.

Maroney right side.

Touchdown, New England.

We still went down,

we scored on that drive,

but, you know,

they were attacking the pocket

in a very aggressive style.

Not having a plan

during the regular season,

and then having a plan in the Super Bowl

was a big difference.

We got the jitterbugs out of our system.

Let's go. All right, let's go.

Get backed up on the next drive.

And they had some crazy, exotic blitzes.

Brady in trouble. Down he goes.

We knew the only way

to beat the Patriots

is you gotta beat Tom.

You gotta hit Tom.

We just couldn't quite

hone in on what they were doing.

Third down and 17.

Brady in trouble again. Justin Tuck.

And we know Tom has seen a lot,

but he hasn't seen us.

There was nothing easy out there.

Brady is hit as he let it go.

Has to step up.

Throws for Moss,

who has his first of the game.

And the 4th possession of the game

was the end of the first half

where we're driving,

and I'm about to throw

a touchdown to Randy Moss

up the right sideline.

Back, has time. Steps up.

- Gets hit, fumbles

- Fumbles the football.

It's loose on the ground.

They scramble for it.

I think Justin Tuck

was the one that strip-sacked me.

Was holding in the pocket.

He got an edge on one of our rushers,

and then, you know, slapped

the ball out of my hand, so

And in a rematch

of a game that ended 38-35,

it's 7-3 New England at the half.

7-3?

We were happy. 7-3?

This team scored 35,

40-something points a game.

Tom Brady just said

he was gonna do that,

and here they only have 7 points

going into the half.

It was just a pretty shitty half

in that there was not

a lot of points to show for it,

so we went into halftime

and we're, like, “, man,

we gotta slow these guys down.

We can't keep

giving them short edges.

They're just getting there too fast.

I mean, they got off the ball.

They were

They were just

They were dialed in.

Brady.

That pass is tipped by Strahan.

Third down and seven.

Good jump off the line by Strahan,

who gets the sack.

We were hitting Tom so fast

and so often

that there were times you felt

this must be a screen play,

'cause I'm getting in too fast.

They're just gonna dump it

over my head.

Once I saw him

slam the ball a few times,

starts yelling at his lineman

I see it in his face.

He don't know what to do.

I realized it's not a set-up.

Pressure on Brady,

and the ball is tipped.

Their D line that day

was impossible to stop.

I mean, we had

great players up front

trying to block 'em,

but they were just unblockable.

Manning over the middle.

Pass is caught. Kevin Boss.

Play fake.

Manning throws to the end zone.

Touchdown!

David Tyree on the post.

And the Giants have the lead

with 11:05 to go in the ball game.

Pretty tough all around day

up until we got the ball 10-7.

We had to go 90 yards,

and we put together

one of the best drives,

you know, you could put together

in that situation.

This defensive

pass rush has been relentless.

For New England,

here's Moss, third catch.

As Welker makes the catch

and has a first down inside the 30.

Over the middle, there's Faulk.

Had been working

on this play with Randy

where he was set up on the right,

and, you know, everyone thought

we were gonna run a fade

to the back pylon.

The view was to try to get the guy

to run into the back pylon,

and then right when he stuck

his foot on the goal line,

slip inside of him.

Direct snap to Brady.

Looks, fires, touchdown!

Randy Moss!

He ran such a good route,

Corey Webster fell on the ground.

Randy jumped up and

caught it about mid-stomach,

and we took the lead

with just over 2 minutes left

to go up 14-10.

I definitely knew

the game wasn't over,

but in a really tough,

hard-nosed game,

you know, that's those

were the types of plays

that we needed at the end.

I remember going, unh!

Like, all this? This team?

They only scored,

you know, 14 points,

and they're gonna win with 14 points?

Just doesn't seem right.

17-14 is the final, okay?

17-14, fellas.

One touchdown,

we are world champions.

Believe it and it will happen.

Hixon down at the 17-yard line,

and here comes Eli Manning

trying to answer Tom Brady.

Our defense had played really great

all year in those situations,

so I thought we'd make a play

to end the game.

They threw a ball right on our sideline.

Rodney was in on the play,

and when I saw

the ball was in the air,

I thought "We're gonna intercept this."

Then on their sideline, they throw it.

Asante's there to make the catch,

and he jumps up

I think he's worried

about having his feet inbounds,

and he kind of mistimes his jump,

and the ball is just

on the top of his fingertips

and bounced away.

I watched him do that,

and I go, okay.

We're gonna score now.

That was their chance to end it.

They didn't wanna end it.

It's not meant for them to end it.

It's meant for us to end it.

At that point I have

no control over the outcome.

Pressure

from Thomas off the edge.

Eli Manning

I'm standing right against the sideline,

far down so I have a unobstructed view,

and I see the pocket collapse on Eli.

He's in the pocket.

I think we're gonna sack him

to get to 4th down.

And I literally am, like,

yelling out, oh, no!

'Cause in my head, it was,

like, there goes the Super Bowl.

Avoids the rush,

and he's gonna fight out of it.

Still fights out of it.

And Eli, who is one of the

Literally one of

the clumsiest people I know

I've seen in practice

He gets out of it.

But I'm not even a quarterback.

One thing I do know, they do tell you

don't ever throw the ball up

in the middle of the field.

And so I went from,

"Oh, no, he's getting sacked,"

to "He got out, oh, my God,"

to, "Oh, no!

He's throwing it up

in the middle of the field."

He escapes, wheels out

of the pocket, throws it.

I'm watching the ball flutter

in the middle of the field.

Rodney Harrison,

who's right there on the play,

goes up, hits the ball, hits the helmet,

and the guy catches

the ball on his helmet.

Throws it deep downfield.

Wide open Tyree,

who makes the catch!

- At the 23 yard line.

- What a play.

What a play by Manning.

He eluded three sacks.

I don't know where I was.

I don't even know what I was doing.

I don't know. I know after the catch

when the stadium lit up.

To see David Tyree go up,

pin it on his helmet with

Rodney Harrison all over him

And what a catch by Tyree

with 58 seconds to go.

What a play.

This team won't quit, Bob.

We're gonna win the game.

We're gonna score.

And right then and there,

I was, like,

they're gonna score a touchdown.

Manning takes the snap.

Looks left, lobs it left.

Burress is wide open.

Touchdown, Giants!

And then the crowd went crazy.

And the crowd went crazy.

Their sideline went crazy.

The perfect season

is only 35 seconds away from ending.

Hey, I love you, man.

Love you, too, man.

What a play.

We gotta go down

and drive this thing and score.

Or kick a field goal

to put into overtime, all right?

You just you never

count out Tom Brady, though.

That's one thing I will tell you.

He won't stop.

Let's see if Tom Brady

can do it one more time.

We had about 28 seconds,

we had three timeouts,

so we had a shot to get the ball

down at field goal range.

I forgot how much time

we had on the clock,

but I remember Tom just saying,

"All right, guys, let's make a play."

Tom is someone you looked at

and you realize you have to respect him.

This was nothing out of the ordinary

to be in these situations

where he's not gonna finish

and follow through to the entire game.

We knew they gotta go deep to Moss.

You know, I just kind of

threw a ball up on first down,

which sucked.

Second down I got sacked,

trying to hold onto the ball

to throw it deep.

Called a timeout.

19 seconds remaining.

Third down and 20.

It was third down.

I ran over the sidelines

and I yelled to Josh,

you know, I want to roll me out

so I can buy some time

to get down the field.

And, of course, I did that.

I threw the ball as far as I ever could.

I think it was probably the

furthest I ever threw a ball.

♪♪

And, man, right where

this microphone is, man,

the ball, like

Randy was probably

one step behind him,

and if the ball would have

been maybe another yard further,

maybe he catches that ball,

which gets us in field position.

The ball did touch my hand.

And my philosophy as a wide receiver:

If the ball touches my hand,

that's my fault.

And on fourth down,

I threw it up the Giants sideline.

Long and deep, and

it is incomplete.

With one second to go,

the New York Giants

have broken the Patriots'

18-game winning streak,

and the New York Giants

will be Super Bowl champions.

We lost the Super Bowl.

We lost the Super Bowl.

They kneeled on the clock.

Kneeled on the ball,

the clock ran out.

I just walked off the field,

and I was just numb.

You know, I was just numb.

I thought, wait a minute.

That's not that's not how

the game played out in my mind.

It's not it's not

what was supposed to happen.

We weren't supposed to lose.

We were supposed to win.

And then we got to the locker room,

and everyone was really

obviously broken up.

Um

You know, I took my pads off

and showered.

Um

Did the media, and then I remember

getting on the bus

and it was just the rain came,

in Arizona, which is strange.

We're sitting on the bus

in the pitch black,

and everyone's just sitting there.

It's just dead quiet.

Our hearts were broken,

you know.

And, um

we got back to the hotel.

Um

I didn't sleep

but for 20 minutes that night.

And I laid in bed.

I'd wake up thinking,

that didn't happen.

That was a nightmare.

When is the Super Bowl? It's today.

Come on, get ready to play.

That game didn't happen.

We didn't lose.

It didn't end like that.

And, um

We lost.

Flew out the next morning

back to Boston, and, uh

Had to move on.

I don't remember nothin'.

Everything is a blur.

I mean, I'm being truthful.

I don't remember nothin'.

I don't. I remember

Walked off the field,

came in the locker room.

Changed. That was it.

Really honest,

I don't really remember

too much after that game.

It was like a blur.

- Probably for a reason.

- Yeah, I really don't.

When the ball hit the turf,

the clock ran out, we won the game.

I felt like I had

a 15-year gorilla off my back.

Because you play all those years

just to experience what it feels like

to be at the top.

It's better than ever

winning any individual award

that you could imagine.

You can have a lot

of big names on your team.

You can have all those things.

But we had a lot of heart.

That was it.

I had nothing else to prove.

And the only reason

I came back for the 15th season

was to have fun.

And the fun ended up being

the most incredible

experience of my career.

It could never be topped.

It was time to go,

and that was the perfect ending

to a very improbable career.

The major disappointment

when you think about that team

is that game would have defined

what that team in NFL history

meant to the league,

meant to what greatness was.

I still think it was the best team

that I've ever played on,

even though we didn't win the Super Bowl.

It wasn't the most accomplished team,

but it was probably the best team.

It was the best team.

It was probably

the best team in NFL history.

Had we reached perfection,

had we were reached 19-0,

that would have been

a celebration among all celebrations,

and you'd be celebrating it

for the rest of your life.

Do you think perfection is possible?

Do I think it's possible?

It's hard, man.

I mean, it it it oof.

For what we for us? 18?

I would really want to

I hope that I'm still on this Earth

to be able to see it.

So much of the success

in life is about that journey,

and it's not about whether

you win or lose always.

I think it's about how hard you tried

and what you put into it,

and the relationships you develop.

Then I think those shared experiences

are what make relationships.

Had we won that game, I don't know.

I'm not a big hypothetical guy, but

maybe the desire

is a little bit different.

You know, if you're

looking at silver lining,

maybe the desire to,

you know, reach that point,

you know, maybe

I would have been fulfilled

you know, not to stop

playing at that time,

but I don't know.

Maybe I'd play another

seven or eight years

and maybe I'm fulfilled.

Maybe not.

But there's not much

I could do about it now,

and maybe that's the lesson in life

is, you know, dealing with what

happens, positive, negative.

You can't change it.

You can learn from it.

And hopefully

it can make you a good person

and you deal with life

in a positive way.

And when things

don't go your way,

you know, appreciate the other

people who it goes good for,

and then try your hardest

to get back there again.

And I knew that if I ever

won a Super Bowl again,

I was gonna celebrate

the out of that one.

All righty.

Thanks, guys. The Giants.

On three..