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Super Bowl Capsules: Super matchups everywhere with Pats-Giants
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — MVP quarterbacks on marquee franchises. A rematch of a nail-biter from four years ago, featuring many of the same key characters. Madonna and plenty of Manning — Eli, and Peyton, too.
This Super Bowl certainly has all the makings of another thriller, the perfect finish to a season that began in turmoil and wound up the most successful in league history.
The NFL couldn't have planned it any better.
"It's actually been a very fun week here," said Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, seeking his fourth Super Bowl ring in 11 seasons, and doing it in the city where archrival Peyton Manning has worked for 13 years — if not for much longer, given his health issues and disagreements with Colts management. "It's a bit surreal to be playing in Indy's home stadium and to be practicing at their facility."
It's been even weirder for Eli Manning to have led the Giants here, only to find his superb season and chase for a second championship overshadowed by big brother.
The most popular storyline this week has been Peyton's pain in his neck. Or, rather, his status following three neck surgeries in 19 months; whether the Colts will keep him around, at the cost of a $28 million roster bonus due in March; and whether he's truly feuding with owner Jim Irsay's rebuilding organization.
Eli, who will surpass his brother for NFL titles with a victory Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium — yes, Peyton's Place — claims his sibling's issues are irrelevant to this game, in which New York (12-7) is a 3-point underdog.
"I'm proud of Peyton. I've talked to him this week. None of that comes up," Eli said. "When I talk to Peyton, he does a great job of trying to keep me relaxed. (We) talk a little football and talk about New England some. He's supported me this week. I know he's just working hard trying to get healthy and I'm going to support him on that."
While Eli would own two championships with a victory, to one for Peyton, Brady could tie his childhood quarterbacking hero, Joe Montana, and Terry Bradshaw with four. Coach Bill Belichick would equal Chuck Noll with the same number.
To get it, the Patriots (15-3) must protect their crown jewel. Four years ago, Brady was banged around so much by New York that it turned the Super Bowl in the Giants' favor.
Yes, they needed David Tyree's miracle pin-the-ball-against-the-helmet catch, then Plaxico Burress' touchdown reception to shatter New England's perfect season. But that victory was built on the relentless pressure applied to Brady.
The formula hasn't changed.
"We feel that we certainly have a very strong group of men in the front," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. "It's just the way we play and prefer to play. It's a pressure group, and we have played better in the back end as well, probably as a result of the ball having to come out faster than it has at certain times during the year."
Brady certainly remembers the pain, physically and emotionally, from the beating he took on the field and the scoreboard.
"Any time you lose, it's a tough thing," Brady said. "We've lost one Super Bowl. I remember waking up in Arizona the next morning after an hour of sleep thinking, 'That was a nightmare, that didn't happen.' After time, you learn to move on and get over it."
The Giants got all over Brady again during their regular season 24-20 win at Foxborough, the last time the Patriots lost. That victory preceded a four-game slide, and New York eventually slipped to 7-7 before turning it around.
Adding to the juicy potential of a down-to-the-wire reprise of 2008, both teams barely made it to Indy. The Patriots needed backup cornerback Sterling Moore stripping the ball from Baltimore receiver Lee Evans in the end zone in the final seconds, then for Billy Cundiff to miss a 32-yard field goal that would have forced overtime.
The Giants went into overtime in San Francisco, using two botched punt returns by the 49ers to advance.
"We feel very fortunate to be here, and I'm pretty sure they do, too," Patriots Pro Bowl nose tackle Vince Wilfork. "But we also know we deserve to be here, and they know they deserve it. We are two very good and very confident teams."
Teams owned by two of the key figures in solving the 4 ½-month lockout of the players last year. New England's Robert Kraft shuttled back and forth from the meetings to his dying wife's bedside late in the negotiating process. Myra Kraft passed away days before the lockout was resolved.
His players wore a patch with her initials MHK on the left side of their jerseys this season.
"The fact that she was so dear to me and all of our players are wearing her initials above their heart is an endearing thing," Kraft said. "What she represented is important and I hope that special sense of spirit comes through."
Giants owner John Mara played an equally important role in the labor negotiations, and when both teams reached the Super Bowl, Kraft mentioned "a certain karma" about the matchup.
"I'm not necessarily happy to be playing Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, I'll tell you that," Mara joked. "But yeah, I'm very happy for Bob because he put his heart and soul into those negotiations during a very difficult time for him and his family, so I think the success they've had is well-deserved."
When they finally kick off Sunday, the two biggest stars will be Brady and Manning — yes, Eli. Not halftime performer Madonna, but the quarterbacks on whose arms, wits and leadership this Super Bowl will turn.
"They are both leaders on the field," Wilfork said. "I think that position you have to be smart, you have to be intelligent. I think you have to understand what's going on around you. I think both those guys have that."
On Sunday, we'll see which one adds to his championship legacy with another Super Bowl ring.
Brady, Manning vie to prove who's 'elite' QB now
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — He was always being compared to someone. That's what happens when you're the youngest son of a great quarterback and the baby brother of an even better one. It wasn't until he compared himself to Tom Brady, though, that people began taking Eli Manning seriously.
That was in August, when Manning was asked whether he considered himself an "elite" quarterback like Brady. Manning said simply that he belonged "in that class." But in New York, where blowing things out of proportion is practically a civic duty, even most Giants fans regarded it as heresy at the time. By Sunday night, it could be fact.
So ready or not, it's time for the "other" Manning vs. Brady, Part II. Both are back in Sunday's Super Bowl, four years after they first clashed, each with plenty still to prove.
"It's not my job to list quarterbacks," Manning said this week. "He's obviously a future Hall of Famer."
Yet Brady has looked like anything but that in his last 11 postseason games, posting a 6-5 mark, including a 2008 Super Bowl loss to Manning and the Giants. For most of those, he's been knocked around a lot, picked off more than usual and tagged with a quarterback rating that wouldn't qualify as a low-grade fever. Measured against the nearly impossible standard that Brady set at the start of his career — 10 straight postseason wins and three Super Bowl titles — merely average would be a more accurate description.
Perception still lags behind that reality, in no small part because everything else about Brady still screams "winner." Now 34, he is still boyishly handsome, still as charming as ever, still the most sought-after endorser and the one athlete even his peers would kill to be. He returns home every night with two sons to look after — and a supermodel wife.
Yet those who know Brady have long marveled at how well he hides a competitive streak even Michael Jordan would admire. And despite outward appearances, they wonder how Brady is managing it now, coming up short of his ultimate goal every season since 2005, after winning three in four years. Patriots backup quarterback Brian Hoyer ticked off a laundry list of things he's been studying in the three seasons he's sat behind Brady: mechanics, poise, and attention to detail, even the tone of voice he uses to command respect in a huddle.
But the one thing Hoyer worries will never rub off is Brady's raw desire.
"At the end of just about every practice, I run out there and try to get the last few reps with the first team," Hoyer said. "And just about every practice, whether it's a steamy day in training camp or a short walk-through after watching film, he runs out there, grabs me and says something like, 'Get the hell out of here!' — only it's not always even that nice. ...
"Everybody outside this team looks at him and thinks 'pretty-boy QB.' But Tom doesn't try hiding it from us," Hoyer said. "He's a killer."
Manning, too, shares that trait and has been honing it for nearly as long. Like Brady, he was the baby of the family and quickly learned he could get his way by being demanding one moment and wheedling the next. Like his father, Archie, the longtime Saints quarterback, and older brother Peyton, who almost single-handedly vaulted the Colts to the top of the NFL heap, Eli burned to win all the time, too. But he wasn't above playing the trump card — his mother, Olivia.
"He would pin me down," Eli, now 31, recalled growing up with Peyton, "and take his knuckles and knock on my chest and make me name the 12 schools in the SEC. I didn't know them all at the time, but I quickly learned them. ... I don't suggest anyone else try it out, but it definitely made me learn the schools of the SEC. Once I figured those out, he moved on.
"There were 28 teams in the NFL at that point, so all teams in the NFL. I had to get my studying on for that. Then once I figured that out, the one I never got was the 10 brands of cigarettes. When he really wanted to torture me and knew I had no shot of ever getting it," he added, "that's when I just started screaming for my mom or dad to come save me."
Contrast that with the story Brady told about growing up with three older sisters.
"I didn't have to share clothes. I didn't have to fight over the bathroom. They were pretty easy on me. They dressed me up a few times in their clothes and painted my nails once, but it was nice," Brady said without a shred of embarrassment. "They'd bring all of their girlfriends over to the house. It was pretty cool."
Brady is as smooth on the field as away from it. He had success almost from the moment he slipped into the starting lineup in New England in the second game of the 2001, an opportunity that came after front-liner Drew Bledsoe suffered a sheared blood vessel in his chest following a hit from the Jets' Mo Lewis. In a sense, Brady was still seething about being platooned with Drew Henson during his final season at Michigan and falling all the way to the sixth round — No. 199 — in the 2000 NFL draft. Once he got the job, Brady wasn't going to let go.
Manning, on the other hand, was drafted No. 1 overall in 2004 by the Chargers. They promptly traded him to the Giants for quarterback Philip Rivers, the No. 4 pick, a swap that rumor had it was engineered by Archie. Either way, Manning arrived to much fanfare and not a little resentment.
Kurt Warner, a Super Bowl winner in St. Louis a few years earlier, was New York's starter at the time, but even he didn't envy Manning the situation he walked into.
"He's got the name to live up to, the way he wound up there, and he's in New York, where you can be the best thing since sliced bread the first quarter, and the worst thing to ever walk the earth by the second," said Warner, who started that season 5-4 before giving way to Manning. "He won maybe once the rest of the way, but you couldn't tell that by looking at him after any one game.
"What you did see was his resolve, his consistency and that didn't change," Warner said. "I can't say from a football standpoint I saw a whole lot else."
Asked this week why the Giants stuck with Manning through a rough start, owner John Mara explained the organization prided itself on taking the long view. Then someone asked Mara if he remembered the scouting report then-general manager Ernie Accorsi filed on Manning.
"Just that he has something that very few players have: the ability to put a team on his shoulders and carry them," he recalled. "The one line I remember from the report is, 'He can't really run with the football. It's just not in them unless it comes from Olivia and I never timed her.'"
That patience paid off with an improbable win in the 2008 Super Bowl. The signature play from that game serves as a kind of tableau. The Patriots came with yet another kitchen-sink blitz and linebacker Adalius Thomas got hold of Manning's shirt and tried to throw him to the ground. Instead, Manning ducked down, used the momentum to spin away, then set his feet and fired a high strike 32 yards down the field, where David Tyree made a spectacular grab by pinning the ball against his helmet as he fell to the ground.
Manning has been less spectacular, but more efficient, since. As the Giants de-emphasized the running game, he's picked up the slack and produced some of the finest fourth-quarter performances the league has seen — a record 15 touchdown passes in the regular season and six game-winning drives.
That kind of leadership gave him even more credibility in the locker room. A few days before the Giants traveled to Indy, Manning got up and spoke in front of the whole team.
"He talked about what he'd learned, both on his own and from Peyton," said David Carr, Manning's backup. "He didn't tell guys, 'Don't go out and party every night.' He just reminded them the best party they'd ever had was the one after winning the Super Bowl, not the ones before."
-- Jim Litke
Pats, Giants kickers wandered onto Super Bowl path
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Call them accidental Superheroes in the making. Or, if they miss, Super-something-elses.
Both Super Bowl kickers have taken uncommon paths to the title game, essentially stumbling into a job that often decides titles and legacies for better or worse. New York's Lawrence Tynes and New England's Stephen Gostkowski know one of them could be the first player celebrating — or bending over in angst — in the final seconds Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium.
It comes with a job that neither aspired to while growing up. Tynes joined his high school football team so he could hang around with his friends. Gostkowski went to college on a baseball scholarship, someone who could throw the fastball by 'em.
Win a Super Bowl? Wasn't in their plans. Now, they've got a chance for one of the ultimate thrills in sports — kick it through the uprights and go wild with more than 100 million people watching.
"They're like walk-off homers," Tynes said. "Those are fun, that's the only word to describe it. You get to turn around and see 52 grown men acting like kids again. That's the best part."
Miss it? Well, that's something entirely else. For the two kickers, there's no hiding in this game.
Fair or not, reputations are made or broken with one swing of the leg when everything's on the line. Scott Norwood's long miss brought Buffalo a heartbreak. On the other side, Adam Vinatieri became the Super Bowl standard for clutch kicking by making two game winners with the Patriots.
Like basketball players who dream of hitting the winning shot for the NBA title or baseball players who pretend they're at bat with two outs in the ninth and the bases loaded in Game 7 of the World Series, kickers grow up pretending they're lining up in the final seconds of the Super Bowl.
Those daydream moments become sort of otherworldly when they come true.
"You're never going to get it out of your mind completely," Vinatieri said this week, after making some kicks at an NFL fan event in town. "I'm sure when I was out there on the Super Bowl kicks, my heart was racing."
Tynes and Gostkowski didn't aspire to the heart-pounding role when they were growing up.
Tynes is the NFL's first Scottish-born player, his father a U.S. Navy officer who met his mother abroad. They moved to Florida when he was 11 years old. Football wasn't appealing, with all the bashing and bruising.
In the 11th grade, his team needed a kicker. A coach urged him to try out, knowing he was a good soccer player.
"So I went out to the baseball field, he throws his keys down in front of where I was going to kick and he said, 'Kick the ball and pick my keys up,' just to keep my head down," Tynes said. "Ironically enough, I went to spring football going into my senior year. I went to spring training, and I haven't stopped since. It's pretty weird how it worked out."
He became very good at it very quickly and went to Troy University as a kicker. He bounced between the Kansas City Chiefs and Ottawa Roughriders before the Giants got him from KC for a seventh-round pick in 2007.
Good deal. Tynes was on the team that upset the Patriots four years ago. His 31-yard field goal in overtime of the NFC championship game at San Francisco got them back to the big game.
All because his friends talked him into trying out in high school.
"I am glad I did, because the only reason I did it was to hang out with my buddies in practice," he said.
Gostkowski was a three-sport star in Mississippi, going 16-2 with a 1.00 ERA while leading Madison Central High to a state title in 2002. He also kicked a 55-yard field goal that is a school record. Baseball was more his style, though, and he went to Memphis on a partial baseball scholarship.
As a freshman, he tried out for the football team as a walk-on and earned a full scholarship that changed his career. The Patriots drafted him in the fourth round in 2006 to replace Vinatieri, who left as a free agent for Indianapolis. Gostkowski turned into a Pro Bowl kicker, but has yet to line up for a Super Bowl winner like the kicker he replaced.
He doesn't worry about living up to Vinatieri's legacy if he gets the chance.
"Kicking hasn't been the only sport in my life," he said. "I've dealt with difficult situations and I've struggled before in every sport I've played. I've had success in every sport. If you go into a game and think you're going to screw up, you're probably not going to be at a professional level. Stuff like that doesn't cross my mind."
Vinatieri has seen his kicks replayed all week leading up to the game.
"Whenever they throw a highlight on, I stop what I'm doing and watch it," Vinatieri said. "It's kind of a surreal feeling."
-- Joe Kay
Notebook: Edelman vs. Giants WRs: mismatch?
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Victor Cruz, Hakeem Nicks and the other Giants receivers can't wait to go against the Patriots' Julian Edelman in Sunday's Super Bowl. And why not? The wide receiver-return man also plays in the secondary, a position he's still learning.
Mario Manningham, for one, says it'll be a mismatch in New York's favor any time he or his fellow wideouts are covered by the former Kent State quarterback.
"He plays wide receiver," Manningham said. "He's not a real defensive back. Did he get drafted as a defensive back? We have a little bond going on knowing that we can beat somebody. We're confident. I hope he's out there."
Cruz, the Giants' leading receiver with 82 catches for 1,536 yards and nine TDs, said Edelman will be targeted.
"I see he's very raw at that position, obviously, because it's not his dominant position, but he's quick, he's fast, and he carries over a lot of the receiver stuff over to (cornerback), so we'll see how it goes," Cruz said. "Obviously, it's going to be a position and an area that we'll test out really early and see how it goes and how the game flows."
Edelman said he'll simply focus on the task at hand.
"It's ultimately a foreign thing for me," he said. "You're doing everything backwards, from covering a guy to terminology on the defensive side of the ball. You have different terms. It's like a different language from seeing things backwards on the track so it's definitely been a good experience for the coaches and the players surrounding me has helped me out a bunch."
New England coach Bill Belichick says Edelman is adjusting well.
"He has a knack for it, he picked it up quickly," he said. "Again, he's a smart, hardworking guy. If you ask him to do something, he'll work really hard to get it right and try to do it. He developed a little bit as a defensive player this year, especially when we had some injuries."
Edelman's versatility has earned the respect of his teammates.
"He's playing in all three phases of the game," linebacker Jerod Mayo said. "Not only does that take physical conditioning, but it also takes mental conditioning. He's always in his playbooks, his multiple playbooks, and gets the job done."
Cornerback Kyle Arrington said the Patriots are confident when Edelman moves to defense.
"He has that mentality, that beast mode in him," Arrington said. "He's tough, he's fast, he's physical. I have no worries about Julian. He's good."
ACTIVE BREES: Drew Brees wants all those couch potatoes to watch the Super Bowl, but also to get moving on Super Sunday.
The record-setting quarterback of the New Orleans Saints and MVP of the 2010 game has challenged fans and video gamers across the nation to help make it "the most active Super Bowl Sunday ever."
In conjunction with NFL PLAY 60, Brees is working with the "Kinect for Xbox 360 Super Sunday Challenge," which will encourage kids of all ages to get their daily 60 minutes of physical activity using the system where body movements control the game play.
"One in three children in America are considered overweight or obese. As a father of two, I appreciate the importance of making sure kids stay active," Brees said. "That's why I've embraced this challenge.
"I hope fans join the movement by posting photos and videos of them playing Kinect on the Xbox Facebook and Twitter pages."
JACOBS' SWAN SONG? Brandon Jacobs is down to his last chance to show the New York Giants he's worth keeping.
When asked if he expects the Super Bowl against the New England Patriots on Sunday to be his last game with the Giants, Jacobs was unsure.
"I hope not," he said. "I want to be here. I want to be around. I just want to come out here and be able to win this football game and whatever happens, happens."
The 6-foot-4, 264-pound running back is due a $500,000 roster bonus in March. That and his scheduled $4.4 million salary for next season could cause the team to cut him, especially given his lack of production in recent years. Jacobs ran for more than 1,000 yards in 2007 and 2008, but slipped in 2009, lost his starting job to Ahmad Bradshaw in 2010 because of fumbling problems, and ran for just 571 yards and a 3.8-yard average this season.
He plans to be more aggressive on Sunday.
"I've just got to run a little harder and try to get more yards out of the contact, because I think if there's a good defense then you're going to get hit, so you may as well get ready for it," he said. "I've just got to get going a little harder and try to get a couple extra yards."
PREP COACH HONORED: John McKissick of Summerville, S.C., has been chosen the Don Shula NFL High School Coach of the Year.
Shula, the winningest coach in NFL history, congratulated McKissick and presented him with the award at a news conference Friday in Indianapolis.
McKissick will receive $25,000, $15,000 of which will go to his high school's football program. The 60-year coaching veteran also is a guest of the NFL during Super Bowl week.
McKissick was one of 47 football coaches from across the country contending for the award, created to honor exemplary high school football coaches. The Carolina Panthers nominated McKissick.
All nominees are active or retired high school football coaches and were nominated by NFL teams and players for their character and integrity, inspirational leadership, commitment to the community and on-field success.
STRAHAN'S PICK: Former Giants defensive end Michael Strahan starred in the team's 2008 Super Bowl victory over New England. He's projecting another close win for New York on Sunday, calling it "deja blue."
After surprising customers by giving away foot-long Subway sandwiches at a restaurant near Lucas Oil Stadium, Strahan made his prediction: 28-24 in favor of the Giants.
Strahan believes New York's pass rush is the key to victory, needing to get pressure on Tom Brady just as it did four years ago.
Subway estimated it gave away 300 sandwiches.
-- Cliff Brunt
New England Patriots
Commentary: Belichick, Brady, give Pats best shot at NFL title
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Rarely is Bill Belichick outcoached. Tom Brady almost never gets outplayed.
The brilliant coach on the sideline and his cerebral leader on the field — winners of three Super Bowls together — are still a notch above their NFL championship game opponent. That's why come Sunday the New England Patriots will beat the New York Giants, a title to be earned with brains as much as brawn.
And as a result of the discipline and preparation that Belichick has stressed in his 12 years as coach of this team.
"Nobody works harder than he does," Brady said. "I don't think there's ever been a time that I've shown up at the stadium and he's not there. He sees everything. He evaluates everything. He watches every bit of film that he can get.
"Over the course of the season, our teams have always seemed to improve."
It's been nearly three months since the Patriots lost — 24-20 to the Giants, who scored a touchdown with 15 seconds left. Since then, Brady has guided his team to 10 straight wins.
"It starts with his heart. The way he reads defenses, the way he directs and takes protections," guard Logan Mankins said. "I think everyone gets enamored with the talent side sometimes, but Tom might not be one of the fastest guys, but he's definitely one of the smartest guys and he has a strong arm.
"He can make all the throws. He reads defenses so fast. It makes him a special player."
The ability of the two-time Super Bowl MVP to instantly analyze what a defense is likely to do is a huge asset against the Giants. They sometimes use four defensive ends at a time and all are aggressive pass rushers.
But the Patriots have a veteran group of offensive linemen who can quickly figure out who to block. Brady was sacked an average of only twice a game in the regular season. In two playoff games, he's been sacked once. Even guard Brian Waters, in his first season with New England after 11 in Kansas City, has blended in well.
"I think he does a good job of studying the opponent that he lines up against," New York defensive coordinator Perry Fewell said. "He has a plan in his head about how he's going to block the opponent and he sticks to his plan."
Give Brady time and he can pick apart the Giants mediocre secondary and pile up points at the Patriots' regular-season rate.
They led the AFC with 32.1 points per game and are averaging 34 in the playoffs. That offense, which has run half its plays this postseason without huddling, keeps defenses from getting a breather and having the right players on the field for a particular situation.
The Giants couldn't even get much of a break with Rob Gronkowski's high left ankle sprain.
The All-Pro tight end is making daily progress and Brady almost certainly will have his most important receiver back, even if he's not at full strength.
Brady definitely will have NFL receptions leader Wes Welker and the other dangerous tight end, versatile Aaron Hernandez, who lines up all over the place — as a split or slot receiver, a running back and in the traditional tight end's spot close to the linemen. He's sure to keep the Giants defense guessing.
The Patriots defense?
It's been burned by big plays all season, especially the secondary. Will coach Tom Coughlin and quarterback Eli Manning test it early to see if it wilts in the glare of football's brightest spotlight?
The Patriots allowed the second most yards in the NFL during the regular season, but only the 15th most points and they've been much improved in the playoffs. And the Giants had the league's least productive running game.
The Patriots defense is also as healthy as it's been all season so it may not have to use wide receiver Julian Edelman in the secondary as much as it did in the AFC championship game against the Baltimore Ravens.
"I don't really think we focus on rankings or any of that," Patriots safeties coach Matt Patricia said. "All we are worried about is going out and trying to do the best that we can."
Turnovers are one of the most important factors in the outcome of a game and the Patriots led the AFC with a plus-17 differential, compared to plus-7 for the Giants. Running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis has handled the ball 577 times in his four NFL seasons, all with New England, and never has fumbled.
"Early in the season, they wouldn't run the ball as consistent," Giants safety Kenny Phillips said, "but throughout the playoffs they are doing a lot better."
With a balanced offense, the Patriots can cool the aggression of the Giants pass rush. Devote too many players to charging Brady, and Green-Ellis can run free for big gains.
Finally, the Patriots, as much as they deny it, should gain motivation from their 17-14 loss to the Giants in the Super Bowl four years ago on a last-minute touchdown.
"Unfortunately, we know what it's like to not come out on top," tackle Matt Light said. "You want to make sure you don't put yourself in that position."
They won't, not with Belichick and Brady leading the way.
Final score: Patriots, 31, Giants 24.
-- Howard Ulman
Belichick shows relaxed side before Super Bowl
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — He fishes, goes to wine festivals, even kisses his girlfriend in full view at a Boston Celtics game. He's Bill Belichick. Really.
The New England Patriots coach, whose dour demeanor matches his gray hoodie and whose quotes make clichés seem original, actually has a colorful side rarely seen by football junkies. For some reason — and Belichick has a reason for everything — he's loosened up this Super Bowl week with a season's worth of smiles, jokes and fashionable attire.
"He's a good dude," tight end Aaron Hernandez said. "You just have to catch him on the right day."
There have been several of those this week, as the Pats prepare to play the New York Giants in Sunday's NFL title game, enough to show that Belichick is more than a one-dimensional gridiron "genius" but perhaps not enough to prove his public makeover will last until next season.
Matt Light, who has played left tackle for the Patriots since 2001, has watched Belichick coach about 1,000 practices. He's heard him rip players of all stature — from stars to practice squadders. And he's seen him offer encouragement with a pat on the back.
Light also noticed that Belichick has relaxed with age; he turns 60 in April, and has spent 37 of those years in various capacities on NFL coaching staffs.
"I think he's had a little more fun with some of the things that surround the game of football," Light said. "Whether it's just his old age softening him a little bit, he seems to be having a little bit more fun with it.
"But I think at the heart of everything he does, he just wants to win football games. Football is football and everything else is kind of secondary to that. His main focus is the game. I'm not sure you need to have a whole lot of humor when you're that focused on what you do, but it's kind of nice to see it every now and then."
For six straight days during Super Bowl week, Belichick regaled reporters with humor and historical reminiscences, careful all the while not to reveal any game plans or speak of the Giants with anything but admiration.
"Trust me, at times Bill can be difficult to deal with," nose tackle Vince Wilfork said, "but I think he sees a difference in this team. I think he knows that he has a pretty tough football team, a smart football team and a team that's never going to let him down. We have one more game to go. Hopefully, we won't let him down."
However it turns out, it will mark the start of Belichick's offseason. At some point, he's likely to return to Nantucket,, where he relaxes on his boat "V Rings" and fishes for "Nantucket Blues," drops by the island's summer wine festival and maybe strolls into Rocky Fox's "Chicken Box."
Belichick popped in there with some friends a few summers ago to hear a Bruce Springsteen cover band, said Fox, one of three owners of the nearly 50-year-old nightclub that he calls "a five-star dive bar."
"He was low-key, kept to himself with his friends, just enjoyed the music and was very hospitable," Fox said. "When they left he said, 'See you guys later.' He was the coolest guy in the building, just chilling out."
He chilled at a Celtics playoff game few years ago, too. Sitting beside girlfriend Linda Holliday, a former Mrs. Arkansas contestant, the two turned to each other in their courtside seats and kissed. He waved when he was introduced, getting a loud ovation from the crowd.
"I don't know if it's a lady in his life or what the deal is, but he definitely smiles a little more than he used to," wide receiver Wes Welker said.
Is he putting on a front for the national audience? Is he loosening up because he's confident he'll win his fourth Super Bowl with the Patriots? Or is he polishing his image for a post-football job, perhaps as a TV commentator?
"Bill may be wanting to market himself more and this may be a long-term change. Time will tell," said Bob Williams, chief executive officer of Burns Entertainment and Sports Marketing in Chicago, a company that matches celebrities with advertisers and endorsement opportunities.
Belichick, slipping into his old style of answering a question that wasn't asked, brushed aside one from a reporter who wanted to know if he might retire if the Patriots win on Sunday.
"Right now, I'm really thinking, 'What's the best thing I can do to help our football team on Sunday against the Giants?' I want to really try to do a good job in the job that I have," he said.
More important, he really likes the job and all that comes with it: drafting, trading, practicing, coaching games, teaching rookies and working with veterans.
"I enjoy the competition on a weekly basis," Belichick said, "not just on Sundays, but the preparation leading up into the game. I enjoy all of it. It beats working."
His players know him as a demanding taskmaster, wielding a sharp needle when he needs to get a point across.
Heath Evans spent four years as a running back with the Patriots until 2008. He was an articulate, honest, go-to guy for reporters seeking quotes in a locker room of players cautious not to upset Belichick by saying too much.
Not Evans.
"I remember one day at a meeting he said, 'Hey, Heath, no more state of the union addresses, OK?' " Evans recalled. "Light was behind me and started laughing and pounding on my shoulders."
But Evans also remembers Belichick coming up to him at practice, patting him on the back and saying quietly, "Nice play."
That kind of encouragement, Evans said, lifts a player's spirits just when he thinks Belichick may have lost confidence in him.
Of course, players have seen a lot more of Belichick's personality than the public.
On Thursday, he showed up for his media session wearing a lilac shirt. The hoodies have been out of sight all week.
Why, a reporter asked, was he finally showing a more relaxed side?
"That's different than the way it normally is?" Belichick asked as the room erupted in laughter.
Uh, yes.
"I'll leave that to you," he said, "to the experts."
-- Howard Ulman
Belichick says no setbacks for Gronkowski
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Another practice, another day of progress for Rob Gronkowski.
The All-Pro tight end was listed as questionable for the New England Patriots for the Super Bowl against the New York Giants on Sunday after moving without a limp on Friday as the Patriots walked through their offensive plays.
Gronkowski practiced on a limited basis Thursday after being hurt 11 days earlier in the Patriots 23-20 win over the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC championship game.
During the hour-long session Friday, players ran no faster than at a trot. Coach Bill Belichick said earlier Friday that Gronkowski had no setbacks after Thursday's practice, his first for the Super Bowl.
"He practiced yesterday. He didn't do anything today," Belichick said. "We'll see where he's at on Sunday, but hopefully (he'll play). I saw no setbacks. He's still making progress."
Belichick said Gronkowski has been getting treatment "morning, noon and night" and has improved every day.
The Patriots usually hold a walk through the day before a game but moved it up because they had extra time to practice earlier this week, Belichick said.
"I think we're ready to go," he said. "We've worked hard this week Monday, Wednesday and Thursday in practice, and we had good practices back (in Foxborough, Mass.) last week. We went through some mental-review things out there (Friday)."
The Patriots have no practice plans for Saturday when a team photograph will be taken at Lucas Oil Stadium, the site of Sunday's game.
"We'll have meetings and we'll do some reminders and things like that in our hotel but we're not going to actually practice," Belichick said.
The other 10 players listed as questionable were wide receiver Wes Welker, tackles Sebastian Vollmer and Marcus Cannon, guard Logan Mankins, tackle Kyle Love, linebackers Brandon Spikes, Rob Ninkovich, Dane Fletcher and Tracy White and safety Patrick Chung. All are expected to play.
The five players listed as probable were wide receivers Deion Branch and Matthew Slater, tackle Matt Light, center Dan Connolly and safety James Ihedigbo.
New York Giants
Commentary: Defense will carry Giants over Patriots again
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — In this new NFL age of throw first and throw again, it's easy to forget to first rule of football: Defense wins championships.
Sorry Eli. Sorry Tom. There's no doubt you're both among the league's elite quarterbacks.
The Super Bowl, however, is going to be decided by defense, and the Giants are better than the Patriots right now. The proof is in the performance.
Take a look at the five-game winning streak that's carried the Giants (12-7) from a .500 team to a second Super Bowl in four years. The defense has given up only 67 points during the streak, not allowed more than 251 yards passing in any game, recorded 20 sacks and forced 11 turnovers.
And that's against some very good offenses, including the high-powered one in Green Bay.
To say the defense is confident heading into the Super Bowl would be an understatement.
"I feel like we're going to play our best game, so whoever is facing us better play theirs," defensive captain Justin Tuck.
There is no secret to the Giants' game plan: Stop the run, put the Patriots in passing situations and knock Tom Brady on his you-know-what.
Then do it again.
It's the game plan the Giants used four years ago in Phoenix in embarrassing the Patriots' offensive line, and the same one they used with a little less effectiveness in Foxborough, Mass., early in November during a 24-20 win.
In that more recent game, the Giants sacked Brady twice and had two interceptions. One sack led to a fumble recovery that set up a score.
Get to Brady and good things happen.
"We did some things that disrupted his timing," defensive coordinator Perry Fewell said. "We caused him to stay jittery in the pocket. Hopefully we can do that again."
Brady and the Patriots will be facing an even better defense in the rematch. The Giants' front four is healthy and peaking.
Tuck has overcome the shoulder and groin injuries that bothered him in November. Osi Umenyiora is as healthy as he's been all season, and the defense has suddenly found itself after needing a rescue party for the first 14 games.
Not only is the front four playing well, the linebackers are stopping the run and the secondary is covering so well that quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers, Matt Ryan and Alex Smith rarely were able to hit their primary targets in the playoffs.
"To be honest, I think our confidence is very high," said second-year defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, who led the Giants with 16 1/2 sacks in the regular season. "We know what we have to do and what's at stake."
If Brady meets the same fate as those other recent quarterbacks and he's ducking the pass rush, the Patriots are going to have big problems.
"That's where our energy comes from," Fewell said of his front four. "That's where our confidence comes from. That's where our swagger comes from, because those guys — unlike most teams you are associated with — they set the tone for us. They are the catalyst for what we do and how we do it."
Umenyiora has no doubt the Giants will get to Brady and put their imprint on the game.
"They're going to definitely do some things to keep us off of him, max protections, short throws, quick throws, but they can only do that for so long," Umenyiora said. "Whenever we have opportunities where he does hold the ball, we're going to have to get to the quarterback."
The Giants also have gotten a little lucky heading into this one. Patriots All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski suffered a high sprain to his left ankle in the AFC title game against Baltimore. It probably will reduce his effectiveness.
Offensively, Eli Manning has had a career year, and the Giants can match the Patriots point for point. With New York's running game struggling much of the season, the key will be keeping Manning upright. San Francisco sacked him six times and hit him 20 times overall in the NFC title game.
However, the Patriots D isn't in the same category as 49ers. The Patriots allowed the second-most yards in the NFL during the regular season, and their secondary repeatedly got burned for big plays.
Vince Wilfolk will stuff the middle but Manning should have a field day against a shaky New England secondary. There's no way Devin McCourty, Kyle Arrington and nickel back-receiver Julian Edelman stop Hakeem Nicks, Victor Cruz and Mario Manningham and tight end Jake Ballard.
Championships often are decided by a big play, and Cruz and Nicks have been turning little plays into touchdowns all season. There likely will be chances for more of those.
With both offenses so formidable, former Buffalo Bills coach Marv Levy felt the game was going to be decided by a special teams play, a blocked punt or field goal, or some other play.
"Both teams are here because of special teams plays," Levy said. "When you get two very closely matched teams, which I think they are, look for the kicking game to determine the outcome."
Not likely. Not with the Giants' defense.
Final score: Giants 31, Patriots 17.
-- Tom Canavan
Coughlin: More to Giants coach than football
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Tom Coughlin's pinched face, ever present on the New York Giants' sideline during his eight seasons, gives way to a smile more often now. He'll even crack a one-liner or two.
Funny how a second trip to the Super Bowl in four years can mellow a guy.
In reality, though, the 65-year-old Coughlin is still basically the same coach on the field and definitely the same man off the field.
Discipline, preparedness and execution are his trademarks at the office; family, church and charity work have his attention at home.
,"He is who is he is," Keli Coughlin, the coach's daughter, said in a telephone interview Friday, two days before the Giants faced the New England Patriots for the NFL title. "I don't know if that has ever changed. You know exactly what to expect from him and what he expects from you in return. Everybody can appreciate that or being comfortable because you know where you stand."
"Have I changed?" Coughlin asked rhetorically. "Probably, but I think it's important as the process of learning. You learn, develop, and change every year. You have to bring a fresh approach each year to your team, especially when you've been doing it a few years in the same place. If I've changed, it's been an attempt to motivate and put us in the best possible chance that we can be."
A history buff, especially military history, Coughlin acknowledges he's more patient now than earlier in his career. When a player did something wrong, the coach would be all over him immediately. Now, he picks his spots.
The one thing that hasn't changed is his open-door policy.
Have a problem? He wants to know about it and talk about it.
That's what he did when safety Antrel Rolle was unhappy with the defense earlier this season and when defensive captain Justin Tuck struggled with shoulder, toe and groin injuries.
Coughlin simply told Tuck to stop focusing on them.
"I think it was, more or less, him seeing that I wasn't mentally where I needed to be as a football player," Tuck recalled. "He knew what I'd been going through the whole year as far as the injuries, family issues off the field and things like that. It was more of one of those father-figure things where he called me in his office and just had the conversation like a man-to-man type thing. It wasn't necessarily about football, but just about how he wanted me to be perceived in the locker room."
The outspoken Rolle questioned much of what the Giants did in 2010, and felt Coughlin was trying to turn players into men when they were already men. And he resented it.
"Once I matured enough ... I took a step back: He is not trying to turn us into men, he is trying to help us become better men," Rolle said.
Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride has worked with Coughlin 10 years, in Jacksonville and New York, and laughs when asked about the "new" Tom Coughlin..
"I think the thing that is his greatest strength is his consistency of his message," Gilbride said. "He does some things a little differently, there is no question, but he has always been about what is best for the team. How do we go about our business preparing to win? When you've got the right kind of guys they respond to it. When you've got guys that are not the right kind of guys, they are resentful and they feel like their personal liberties are being taken away or something. But we've got a group of players, and they are responding very well."
Salsa sensation Victor Cruz knows exactly what Gilbride is talking about. A few months ago, the second-team All Pro wide receiver was attending a birthday party at a New York City supper club when shots were fired and a man was killed.
Coughlin brought Cruz into his office and spoke to him as a father would to a son.
"I don't know what good happens at 2:30 or 3 in the morning," Coughlin said. "I've never been able to figure that one out. Beyond that is between he and I."
Typical Coughlin: What happens in the family, stays in the family.
"He is still very disciplined. He wants his players disciplined," quarterback Eli Manning said. "Everything is still five minutes early. He wants guys to be on time and to take great pride in their work, be totally committed to the preparation side of football also. You're out there on that practice field giving 100 percent, being totally focused on what you have to do to get prepared for Sunday. When he sees a team that does that, when he sees a team that has players that expect that from each other, he can relax a little bit."
That's what is happening now. The Giants (12-7) are playing their best football heading into the Super Bowl, having won five in a row, including the last two on the road.
"Warmer? Fuzzier? I don't know if I'd use those adjectives, but he's lightened up a lot and we made reference to that four years ago when we were here," said guard Chris Snee, the coach's son-in-law. "How he kind of changed in that regard, getting to know players more, getting players to know the softer side of him, the side that family members see. He shows that, but then again he still has his beliefs that he sticks to. That's what makes him more successful."
A strong devotion to his family does that, too.
"There is nothing that makes him more happy than to have his family around. I know he is thrilled to be here this week with all 10 of his grandchildren," daughter Keli said. "They all won't be necessarily at the game, but they will be sharing in the experience, so that is special."
Aside from the Giants and the Coughlin Clan, there's also another group near and dear to the coach: members of the military.
He traveled to Iraq in 2009 to visit the troops and he has had a close relationship with Lt. Col. Greg Gadson, an Army officer who lost his legs in combat.
Whenever Coughlin notices military personnel in the stadium or on the road, he never hesitates to stop and say hello; his players usually follow his lead and do the same.
In the offseason, Coughlin devotes to his Jay Fund Foundation, a charity that helps families deal with childhood cancer. He founded it to honor one of his first Boston College players, Jay McGillis, who died of leukemia, and serves as president of the board.
Visiting sick children is part of the job.
"He relates to them, whether it's a sick child who is working with the fund or a family member," said Keli, who serves as executive director of the fund. "He is always concerned how people are doing. He is a caretaker. Maybe that's just his personality."
-- Tom Canavan
Giants' Reese on the GM rollercoaster ride
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Being an NFL general manager is like being a kicker: What have you done for me lately? Take Jerry Reese of the New York Giants.
The general manager was on the hot seat the past two years when the Giants missed the playoffs after a couple of late-season collapses. It didn't matter that the team went 10-6 in 2010. They still didn't make the postseason.
Now, after a rollercoaster season, the Giants are in the Super Bowl against the New England Patriots. Nobody seems to care that New York was 7-7 after 14 games. All that matters is they went on a five-game winning streak and are now playing for an NFL title Sunday.
"It's just part of it," Reese said. "Last year we win 10 games and we don't qualify for the tournament and you're not that smart. This time, we win nine games, win a division, with less games, and now it seems I'm pretty smart again. It just comes with the territory and that's just part of it. It just is what it is."
Reese has been under the microscope as much as coach Tom Coughlin this season, and missing the playoffs the previous two seasons was only part of the problem.
The lockout had delayed the free-agency signing period and made teams scramble to set their roster.
Reese had to make several key decisions, and not all were popular. He released veteran offensive linemen Shaun O'Hara and Rich Seubert, and he was unable to re-sign popular tight end Kevin Boss and top receiver Steve Smith or coax Plaxico Burress back after his release from prison on a gun charge.
O'Hara, Seubert and Smith were coming off injuries and it was uncertain how much they would have been able to contribute. Boss got a deal from Oakland; Burress was signed by the Jets.
Reese's big moves were signing center David Baas and punter Steve Weatherford, re-signing linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka and lineman Kevin Boothe. He also added depth by re-signing safety Deon Grant and defensive lineman Dave Tollefson.
"Everybody has different ways of doing things," Reese said. "We had a good nucleus of guys coming back and we just felt like we needed to make the best football moves. Obviously, they're not sexy moves. We signed a guard, we signed a center and we signed a punter. That's not really sexy, especially from a fan perspective. Fans are fans and they like to see big names and see you look like you're stacking the deck, but we had good players already and we needed to fill the holes we thought were there and we tried to do that."
The other lingering issue was Reese's relationship with two-time Pro Bowl defensive end Osi Umenyiora. He had criticized Reese during the lockout, claiming the general manager had reneged on a promise to renegotiate his contract after a year in which the nine-year veteran had 10 forced fumbles.
The topic is still touchy for Reese. He refused to talk about either Umenyiora's future or that of backup running back Brandon Jacobs, who is due a $500,000 signing bonus in March and a big salary next season.
"It's not even appropriate to talk about right now. We are trying to win a Super Bowl," Reese said. "We will cross that bridge when it's time."
When the Giants won the Super Bowl after Reese's first season as general manager, the roster had been mostly put together by then-general manager Ernie Accorsi. This team is Reese's, with 44 of the 53 players signed or drafted by him.
Still, he refused to take credit.
"We all work hard to get where we are from the first person to the last person, whoever they are," he said. "It's all about team for us, that's what is important. It's our players. It's our team. It's our chance to win the Super Bowl
"We have gotten to where want to go and we will all be terribly disappointed if we don't finish the job now," he said.
-- Tom Canavan
RB Bradshaw misses Giants final Super Bowl workout
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Running back Ahmad Bradshaw missed the New York Giants' Super Bowl practice Friday because of a sore right foot. Coach Tom Coughlin listed Bradshaw as probable for Sunday's game, and said he expects him to play.
Bradshaw has a broken bone in his right foot and it was sore after two days of practice at the University of Indianapolis' practice bubble. He has dealt with the injury for months and usually only practices once a week for games.
"But he's OK," Coughlin said after the 70-minute afternoon practice. "He'll be ready.'
Besides Bradshaw, five others were listed probable with defensive end Osi Umenyiora (ankle, knee) and rookie special-teamer/safety Tyler Sash (foot) limited in practice. Receiver Hakeem Nicks (shoulder), CB Corey Webster (hamstring) and LB Jacquian Williams (foot) practiced fully.
All but Bradshaw and Sash appeared to be running and working without limitations.
Running backs Brandon Jacobs and D.J. Ware took the repetitions against the Giants' scout team, simulating the Patriots, during the padless drills.
Sash, a sixth-round draft pick from Iowa, had his foot stepped on midway through practice and left the field to have it wrapped.
Coughlin was told Lucas Oil Stadium would have an on-field temperature of 68 to 70 degrees Sunday, so he had the temperature in the bubble be set at 70 each day.
"We were able to get a good sweat going, working in conditions like they'll have Sunday," Coughlin said. "Of course, we didn't have 60,000 people watching." To that end, for the third straight day, the Giants had crowd noise piped into the facility.
Giants players and family members, who arrived Thursday, will be on their own Friday with a midnight curfew. The curfew on Saturday will be at 11 p.m.
The Giants will have a walkthrough Saturday morning, and players will be off during the afternoon. As is the usual custom for a road game, Coughlin will have 75 minutes of night meetings and then evening chapel service and a team snack before curfew.
The Giants' full management team watched Friday's workout. Chief executive John Mara was joined by chairman and executive vice president Steve Tisch and treasurer Jonathan Tisch, and multiple family members of the ownership group were on hand.
U.S. Army Lt. Col. Greg Gadson, a 2008 Iraq War double-amputee and consistent presence around the team since he gave them an inspirational speech in 2008, was on the sideline. Several players, including defensive end Justin Tuck, spent time speaking with Gadson.
