Not just any given Sunday
The 46th edition of the iconic sporting event, which will take place at the Lucas Oil Stadium, the home of the Indianapolis Colts (just after 11.30pm Irish time), is a dream combination for television executives.
It helps that one of the teams, the New York Giants, reside in America’s largest media market with the hugely populated state of New Jersey a significant part of their wide-reaching fanbase.
New England occupies most of the rest of the crowded northeast and the Patriots who represent that neck of the woods have the opportunity to become the greatest of all time, led by the most recognisable and most successful quarterback of the modern era, Tom Brady.
But any drama aspiring to greatness needs a revenge plot and a first act in which to ferment the tension and this one has February 3, 2008, the infamous day, still barely believable, when the Patriots, chasing a season of perfection, were brought down to earth by one man and his helmet.
With just over a minute left in Super Bowl XLII, David Tyree caught a pass from Eli Manning, miraculously gripping the ball between his hand and his helmet as he crashed to the turf. The Giants suddenly had a platform to take the lead but they still had work to do. They advanced the ball some more and a couple of plays later, Manning spotted rangy wide receiver Plaxico Burress in the endzone.
The rest is history — the Tyree catch remains the greatest moment in Super Bowl history.
Apart from the two head coaches, Tom Coughlin and Bill Belichick and whatever members of their staff who were in Arizona that day, 23 players will be back to do battle again and the Patriots will be looking to avenge a 17-14 defeat.
But there is so much more to tomorrow’s showdown. Eli Manning has the chance to overtake his brother Peyton in terms of titles. There is Giants linebacker Mark Herzlich, whose career was held up by cancer, and Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz, who has become a sudden salsa-dancing hero for the Puerto Rican neighbourhoods of New York City.
It is the greatest stage on which to prove oneself and no one has a better chance than Giants coach Coughlin, who can finally convince the notoriously fickle Big Apple sporting public that he has the coaching nous to compete with the best.
The best being Bill Belichick, of course, a man who is at his most dangerous when he has to devise a plan with the pressure on. As his former player Dan Klecko told Sports Illustrated this week, “Bill is about figuring out what the other team is going to do and just destroying it.”
Klecko continued: “Belichick and the Patriots are great in pissed-off, revenge games. Bill’s going to show every single Giants highlight. He’ll say something like, ‘You think you’re just going to go out there, slap it out there and win another ring? Well here, watch this. F**king Victor Cruz.’ He’s going to get you so scared, so amped up to play. You don’t want to be the guy who blows it.”
Then there’s Robert Kraft, the grand old patriarch and owner in New England. He lost his wife Myra to cancer in late July just as the player lockout was coming to an end. He had been heavily involved in negotiations and barely took time to mourn. As representatives of the owners and players gathered in front of the media to announce the new deal, the pint-sized billionaire shed a tear on the shoulder of Jeff Saturday, the huge Indianapolis Colts player representative. The Patriot players’ jerseys have been emblazoned with the initials MHK every gameday since she passed away and will do so for the last time tomorrow evening.
Most crucial to their hopes of honouring her memory is their quarterback. Brady, now 34, is going for his fourth Lombardi Trophy. That, above all, is reason for the Giants to be cautious. He has had a Hall of Fame career that can be elevated to greatness tomorrow.
But standing in the way of that is the most ferocious defence in the league of whom Jason Pierre-Paul arrives with the most intriguing back story.
The Giants defensive end is the son of a Haitian immigrant who has never seen his son play. Jean Pierre-Paul went blind when his son was still young, long before he embarked on a winding road to sporting stardom.
For the first time ever, Jean Pierre-Paul will be in the stadium when his son takes to the field.
“It’s special, even though he can’t see at all and he doesn’t know what’s going on,” Jason Pierre-Paul said.
“He has to listen to the crowd. It’s going to be great. My whole family is going to be there.
“My dad never quit, no matter what. He can’t see. He never let that stop him ...
“We can be down 20, I’m never going to quit. I’m going to keep rushing until the whistle blows and until the end of the game.”
If he succeeds, Brady and the Patriots will be denied again. And Manning will be the King of New York.
