Choice of wardrobe showed a shade of team solidarity
CHANDLER, Ariz. - Had Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith walked into the large ballroom of the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass yesterday, no one would have blinked.
Men in black, right?
"I think it was Antonio [ Pierce's] idea," said wide receiver Plaxico Burress, when asked why all the Giants were dressed in black suits for the cross-country trip. "This is what our team is all about. It is about everybody being together all the time - not just when we are out on the football field."
Burress was one of six players available to the media. Quarterback Eli Manning, wide receiver Amani Toomer, punter Jeff Feagles, defensive end Michael Strahan, and linebacker Pierce were the others. To a man, they echoed coach Tom Coughlin's pronouncement - "We're excited to be here," he said - and Burress tried to put it into perspective.
"In life, all you can ask for is an opportunity. Now, we have an opportunity to go on the biggest stage in the NFL," said Burress. "I am happy to be a part of it, but even more so, I am happy to be a part of it with the guys that I'm playing with."
Over at another podium, Strahan was asked about the team unity thing, but he laughed.
"To be honest, I was wearing black anyway. I don't know where everybody else got theirs from," said Strahan. "They always follow my style anyway."
It doesn't sit well
Manning doesn't have any good feelings to fall back on when he comes to Arizona. The only other time he was here in a Giants uniform, he didn't start. That was Nov. 14, 2004, his rookie season, and Manning was the backup to Kurt Warner. The Giants lost, 17-14, and Warner was sacked six times. It was after that game that Coughlin made a bold statement about Manning: "He is the future of the New York Giants." Manning started the next game, and Sunday will mark his 60th consecutive start. Only four quarterbacks have longer regular-season streaks going - Brett Favre (253), older brother Peyton Manning (160), and Tom Brady (110) . . . Coughlin said the team would be in strategy sessions today, "but Wednesday we'll begin our formal practice week." . . . Coughlin took time out to talk about Mike Holovak, the former Patriots coach, NFL executive, and Boston College standout who died Sunday at age 88. "It's a sad day when you lose someone who had so much to do with the NFL," said Coughlin. "We send our sympathy and our thoughts and prayers to Mike's family."Lineman was a backer
There's one member of the Patriots who isn't surprised to see the Giants in the Super Bowl. "I picked them out of the NFC," said Richard Seymour. "I faced that team and I saw that they had talent on their side of the ball and they also play the game tough. I don't think they will sit back there and throw the ball all day. They will try to pound the ball and they can also do a lot of different things." From where he sits, New England center Dan Koppen is similarly impressed. "They're physical, they're athletic, they're smart, too. When you have Strahan and Osi [Umenyiora] off the edge, they have guys who can do a lot of different things," said Koppen of New York's defensive front. "We know what type of group they have." Certainly, the Giants' front four - which includes Barry Cofield and Fred Robbins at the tackle positions - has been key to New York's success, and, no surprise, a big part of that comes from their health. Strahan missed the opening game, but has been at left end since, while Cofield (Week 5) and Robbins (Week 5) each missed just one start. Umenyiora has lined up for all 19 games.The spoils
Strahan points to the Patriots' 18-0 record and their 38-35 win over the Giants Dec. 29 as reasons why New York is the underdog. And, no, he isn't looking at this as a chance to stop the Patriots' shot at perfection. "I can't care less about all that," he said. "I want a ring."