NEW YORK GIANTS - S ANTREL ROLLE - Ingles

(on what gave the team confidence that they could stop Tom Brady for four quarters) “We had to go out there and just get back to our basics and be relentless and understand this game wasn’t going to be easy. We knew that Tom Brady is an outstanding quarterback. We just had to go out there and just play ball and just rally it and do the best that we could.”

(on if the Giants defense made any adjustments to stop the short passing game) “We just put in a couple of different calls, and we played a little bit more man to man. We didn’t want to let him dink and dunk the ball off as he was doing pretty much the entire game. Like I said, our defensive coordinator has been outstanding for us and we knew he would put us in a position to make plays. We just had to go out there and just run them effectively.”

(on his injury) “I got kneed in the ribs, which hurts like hell right now, but I don’t think anything could take down my high at this point. I’m sure it’s going to hurt a lot more later on tonight.”

(on what happened with the Wes Welker play) “We were getting different signals, different calls. The communication started with one thing and when they went to a different formation, we were supposed to check to something else. Not everyone quite got it. We were just on a little different page, but it happens. You know, one mistake all game, we’ll take that.”

(on the team’s feeling toward the end of the game) “It was calm. Eli Manning had the ball and we all know what he can do with the ball in his hands. We just went out there and just had faith in him and knew that the game was going to come down to us. The game had to be won by the defensive side of the ball and made sure we stayed relentless in what we were doing.”

(on what he was thinking on the ‘hail mary’ play) “I actually was pretty close to the ball. My assignment was to jam the receiver and not let him get up the field. Front that point on, most of the ‘hail mary’ is in the air. At that point in time, it could be anyone’s ball. It could be anybody’s ball at that point. We just had to go out there and just do what we’ve been taught to do, go out there and make sure you bat the ball out and I was just making sure no one caught it afterwards.”

(on if the ball falling to Gronkowski is indicative of the team’s struggles the last six weeks and on a lot of things going their way in the end) “You can’t draw on that play. At that point in time with a ‘hail mary,’ it can be anyone’s ball. You just have to go out there and do what you’ve been taught to do and work your technique and let that speak for itself. Thank God we won the upper hand on that side.”

(on Chase Blackburn’s interception) “It was huge. It was definitely the play of the game. I think Chase went out there and he played exceptional ball for us today. He was all over the place and he made a lot of big plays. He’s been doing that ever since he stepped foot into Giants’ gear. We couldn’t have done this without Chase and that speaks volumes for what kind of guy he is, his character, and most of all who he is as a teammate.”

(on if he could envision this after he rallied the players after the loss to Washington) “I can’t say I imagined this, but I did know that we weren’t playing our best ball. All I asked was for us to go out there and give 100 percent in practice and just see where we go. If we were 8-8 with us giving 100 percent, I would be satisfied with that. But, I knew that we were a better team. I knew that we had more character. We were better. We were many times the team that had been playing for the previous weeks. Once we put it together and once we started practicing like our lives depended on it, this is the outcome we got. We won game after game after game while taking it one game at a time.”

NEW YORK GIANTS - DE JASON PIERRE-PAUL - Ingles

(on how special the team is) “The team’s very special. We knew what we had to do coming into this football game. We had one mindset and one goal – to win a world championship and that’s what we did tonight.”

(on what this means to him) “It means a lot to me and more to the team. It’s just a blessing for me to be on the team and show my talent on the defensive line. Most of all, it’s a team effort. After we came out, that’s what we did.”

(on the comeback) “We knew what we were destined to do. We came in, and we knew it was going to be tough. Tom Brady is a great quarterback; he’s one of the elite quarterbacks. You have got to respect that. So is Eli (Manning). We were down, but we just kept on fighting. The locker room was quiet, but we talked to each other and Coach Tom Coughlin gave the whole defensive line and the whole team wisdom and knowledge and told them, ‘Let’s keep on fighting and finish this job. We are here to win a championship and that’s what we came to do.’ That’s what we did.”

(on if Giants changed his role in the second half) “It wasn’t anything different. That was our gameplan going in. (Defensive Coordinator) Coach Perry (Fewell) called good defensive plays and we executed them. As far as me dropping in coverage, that was just me doing my job.”

(On Coach Tom Coughlin’s halftime speech) “All he told us, ‘Listen, this is what we’re here for. It’s not like we’re losing. It’s only one point.’ He was like, ‘Just go out there and finish the job. We’re here to win a Super Bowl championship’ and that’s what we did. It was tough. Tom Brady is a great quarterback. We knew had to get to him and knew it started with the front four. We got to him, and Eli (Manning) just did a great job throwing the ball. He’s an awesome quarterback.”

(on the start of the game) “To be honest, I felt like it was alright. We could’ve done better. That’s what we did the second half. I feel like we were a little slow.”

(on the safety caused by Giants defensive end Justin Tuck) “Justin Tuck did a great job. I didn’t know where he was throwing to. It was a safety and I was told what happened. He was like, ‘He just threw the ball in the end zone. It’s a safety.’ Tuck did a great job on that call, on that penalty. Then they came back and scored. The game was going up and down. We were behind, but we came through and won the game.”

(on the last two minutes of the game) “I was just thinking, we got to rush him and the offense is going to score, which they did. After they score, we got to come out and support. That’s what we did. We were just rushing. It came down to the last couple of seconds and when Tom Brady threw that pass in the air, I just went down to my knees and closed my eyes and layed on my stomach. I didn’t know if he caught the ball. All I heard is the crowd going crazy. I didn’t know if one of the Patriots’ receivers caught the ball or we knocked it down. When they called it incomplete, I closed my eyes and it’s just a blessing. It’s my second year. There are guys in this league who have been playing football for 15 years and they haven’t even got to a playoff game. It’s just a blessing. I give all the thanks to New York. It’s my second year. I’m thankful.”

(on the Patriots last drive) “We knew our defense was going to do a great job stopping Tom Brady and getting to him. We got to him several times. Like I said, he’s an elite quarterback. He was just throwing the ball and getting it out quick. We can’t get frustrated because we know what kind of quarterback he is. We kept calm. We didn’t let anything phase us and we just played football.”

(on the secret to batting down balls) “I guess when you see it, just jump up. I had a lot of batted balls this year. I always tell my defensive line, I’m going to catch one but I never do. It comes too fast. But the thing is, a batted ball is a loss of down. It gives the secondary room to breathe. It’s a great job. That’s what I did. I had like two batted passes today. It was a great job. Through it all, we played hard.”

NEW YORK GIANTS - DE JUSTIN TUCK - Ingles

(on the Giants’ defense dominating) “Another team effort. That’s how we’ve been built all year, and we don’t really care where the credit goes. It’s just another great team effort, through and through.”

(on winning a Super Bowl championship in the state he went to college) “It’s great to win it back in Indiana, but it wouldn’t have mattered where we played – it still would have felt great. I, obviously, had a great four years at Notre Dame. Indiana and Notre Dame have been great to me. It’s definitely special.”

(on if this win was a fitting finish) “I don’t know. I don’t think I could have wrote a better script than this one. Like you said, we’ve talked about it all year, and it’s just fitting that it came down to a final drive by Eli (Manning) and a closing out by our defense.”

(on the pass rush getting to Tom Brady on the last drive) “I think our coverage made him hold the ball a little bit longer, and we feel very confident up front that if we get a little extra time, we are going to be able to get to anybody. So, it was just an inside move where I was able to beat the guard, and I got to him.”

(on the mood at halftime) “A little disappointing because we understood that we kind of gave them one right there. They had a great long drive. But, we were a little disappointed. We had played a pretty good first half, keeping them to three points at that point. But, they’re talented. We didn’t finish that first half. I’m just glad we finished that second half.”

NEW YORK GIANTS - LB CHASE BLACKBURN - Ingles

(on changing playing style late in the game) “We switched up coverage a little bit. Obviously, we played some where Jacquian (Williams) came in as the nickel person in the package he went deep, went to the middle post. We moved him around a little bit and tried to give some different looks.”

(on game-changing interception) “They got us into a check. I’d had him three vertical the whole way. I had to carry Rob Gronkowski and I heard the crowd go wild a little bit and I thought we had a sack. I continued to see “Gronk” go up the field and just tried to stay with him. I saw him look back so I looked back for the ball. When I spotted it, I tried to block out and go up for a rebound like in basketball – tried to eye-point it.”

(on Rob Gronkowski’s play) “He played pretty well. He played a lot of plays, a lot of snaps. He continued to work. That’s what a fighter is going to do – he’s not going to sit there on the sidelines.”

(on feeling redemption after Aaron Hernandez’s touchdown) “Definitely. I was beat on it. I played bad technique. He ran a good route and I let our team down on that play. Obviously, I was happy to make it up a little bit with the interception, but it wouldn’t mean anything if we didn’t win the game. Thank you, Lord, we won the game.”

(on Eli Manning’s play in the final possession) “Obviously we always have confidence in Eli (Manning) to do the job. We trust him. Obviously, the offensive line has to block for him, receivers have to catch the ball and we ran the ball well down at the end of the game when we need to run the clock out. Obviously, we let them score there at the end. Do you kneel it, or, do you kick the field goal? What do you do? Fortunately, it worked out either way, and we won the game.”

(on his interception) “I knew it was a long way. He stopped and then ran a little stick nod route on me. He stopped for a second and that’s when I’m guessing Brady was wrapped up a little bit and got out of it. I figured once he took off it was going to come deep. Brady likes to throw it down the field.”

(on reading the coverage prior to his interception) “Exactly. I stopped with him. I was thinking it was a sack for a second – as soon as he started going, I saw him go vertical. I knew I had to run and catch up with him.”

(on his overall play) “I can’t say I’m the fastest linebacker in the league. I just thank my teammates for doing their job.”

(on feelings when Brady has time in the pocket) “It happens sometimes. Most of the time, our defensive line does a great job of pressuring without bringing the blitz. At times, they’re going to match protected and they’re going to get guys blocked and he’s going to have a little bit of time to throw the ball. We just had to cover. We covered at points and then we let some things go, but we worked in harmony enough to win the game.”

(on defensive approach to their tight ends) “Just to switch-up.”

NEW YORK GIANTS - DC PERRY FEWELL - Ingles

(On winning the Super Bowl) “It’s unreal. I’m speechless. I thought our guys really played hard. They were into the football game. We wanted to have a four-man rush and get after Tom (Brady), and I just thought we did a nice job today.”

(On calling a game against Patriots QB Tom Brady) “I’ve called against Tom Brady many times and it is extra sweet to win against him in a game of this magnitude. He’s going to go down as one of the great quarterbacks of all-time, and this was just our moment.”

(On his defensive play call on the Hail Mary play) “We have a special design for it but we were praying a lot over there too. We thought some of the guys got their hands on it. We wanted to knock the ball down, but the thing I was looking for was that there wasn’t a foul on the play to give them another play at the end of the game. It was clean from that standpoint.”

(On the Giants’ pass rush) “I though they got after it pretty good today. We knew there were going to be some times that we weren’t going to be able to sack (QB Tom Brady). We had to be patient. I thought our guys were patient with that, but the main thing we had to do was try to stop the run in order to rush the passer.”

(On how the win feels) “It’s indescribable. It’s the best feeling in the world. We’ve worked extremely hard to get to this point and I give God all the highest praise for this opportunity.”

(On LB Michael Boley) “Mike Boley is an extension of me to a large degree because he communicates the call to the front and to the coverage and tries to get everybody lined up. He puts us in the right defenses and I can’t say enough about his football intelligence as well as his athletic ability.”

(On Patriots QB Tom Brady’s stretch of 16-consecutive completions) “We just had to get tighter in coverage. We respected them and Tom is one of the best in the league. We talked about getting tighter in coverage and challenging the receivers more. We wanted to get more jams and more bangs on the receivers. They did a good job of deploying them and spreading them all over the place and so they caused some mismatches for us.”

(On what he said to his defense before the Patriots’ final drive) “We didn’t have to say anything because (Head Coach) Tom (Coughlin) talked to us at the beginning of training camp about finishing. Everybody knew that we had to finish it. We just wanted to get ourselves together and make sure we could finish the game.”


(On how many hours of film he watched on Patriots QB Tom Brady the last two weeks) “Our defensive staff did a tremendous job with our game plan. We couldn’t measure the hours and hours of film that we watched in preparation for this. We had two tremendous weeks of preparation and practice. It was a total team effort.”

(On where Head Coach Tom Coughlin’s place in history) “Tom Coughlin is at the top of his game at the young age of 62. I wish I had as much energy as he has and I wish I was as knowledgeable as he is because he is one of the great football coaches of this modern era.”

(On his satisfaction in beating Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick) “I’m going to think about that later because I have so much respect for Coach Belichick and what he does and how he does it. There are always lessons to be learned and we can learn from everybody. I’ve definitely learned from him along the way.”

(On limiting big plays) “That’s something that we constantly work on throughout the year. We probably gave up the most big plays or second-to-the-most big plays over the course of the season. We just chipped away saying, ‘Hey, if we can eliminate the big play we can get to this point. I think our guys were focused and they did the job of not giving up the big play.”

NEW YORK GIANTS - OC KEVIN GILBRIDE - Ingles

(on Victor Cruz’s touchdown catch) “It was good. It was a hell of a play. It was ‘blitz zero’ but they pulled the linebacker out and they almost stole it and knocked it away. At least it obscured his vision. For him to concentrate and make the catch even though he bobbled it was tremendous.”

(on Mario Manningham’s long catch in the fourth quarter) “It was great concentration because it was over his shoulder and to be able to know that he had to keep his feet in, because it was right along the sidelines and because it was two-deep, he knew the safety, even though he was inside, had widened and was going to hit him. So not only did he have to catch the ball, keep his feet in bounds, he was going to have to hold onto the ball when he got hit. So it was a tremendous play by him.”

(on the play of New York’s offense) “I think we as an offense have been very, very successful. Certainly the triggerman’s got to do his job. I think collectively the receivers have really stepped up, made some tremendous plays. Mario did it tonight, but it’s been either Victor or Hakeem (Nicks). Somebody has made some big plays, so as a group, they expect to do well. They expect to put it in the end zone and I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention, when it’s probably the most difficult to pass pro, they rise up and pass protect better than they protected the whole game.”

(on if he anticipated that New England would let the Giants score at the end of the game) “I did not expect that. We were counting on just running the ball, milking it out and then it kind of caught us off guard. As it happened, we said, ‘Get down!’ and he thought he did. He thought he tapped down. We said, ‘We’ll be conservative, but if you can score a touchdown instead of a field goal running it in, let’s do it.’ So that’s what we figured. We’d use all three downs, milk all their timeouts. Milk as much of the clock as we can. If we get a touchdown, great. If we didn’t, then by the time we kicked a field goal it would be under 20 seconds and they’d have to go a long way to get that.”

(on being patient in the first half) “To me they played conservative the entire day. They were starting to lean, not every down, but they were leaning to Victor and Hakeem’s side. So even though they were two high, what we call ‘33 cloud,’ they were starting to slide that direction. We thought we would have a chance down the sideline. We thought we would have it with the formation we were just in a second ago when we had the three wides and the two backs. They dropped the safety down and made it look like single high and they tried to run it to two deep. That’s when we hit Mario down the right sideline where he just stepped out of bounds. We were hopeful we’d get a big play. We needed to get a big play because we had been moving it but not putting it in the end zone. So it was very important that somebody come up big and that was a huge catch he made.”

(on Eli Manning) “He’s been in that circle or cycle of success. He’s had confidence. He’s got a lot of confidence because he’s had so much success, but early on, the thing that always has distinguished him, been his hallmark, is he’s always going to come to work. He’s always going to put himself in position that he’s prepared. He’s going to put the players in the right position. He’s going to be able to make the protection adjustments that we ask him to make. We put a lot on his plate. He thrives on that. He looks forward to that challenge. He enjoys the intellectual part of it. I think the combination of just good genes, he’s been raised right, he has great poise and confidence, and the fact that we’ve had success as a team and I think the fact that he works as hard as he does, when that situation happens, he’s as prepared as can be.”

(on New England’s defense ) “I tip my hat to them. They had a sound approach: don’t let us get one-on-one matchups to see if we could get the big play. We’ve been very affective at that. See if we could prove that we could be disciplined enough to take these long, methodical drives and get in the end zone. Sure enough, we kept shooting ourselves in the foot, so their strategy was working. I looked up, we had 20 minutes time of possession but we didn’t have a lot of points.”

NEW YORK GIANTS - K LAWRENCE TYNES - Ingles

(on how it feels to win the Super Bowl) “It’s still so fresh and new but it’s kind of just a numbing sensation to have done this being at 7-7 six weeks ago it says a lot about our team, Coach Coughlin and the guys in the locker room.”

(on which Super Bowl win he enjoyed more) “I like this one better for some reason, I think it’s because it’s the newest one. I just think the way we played after being 7-7 and getting back, I thought we were an underachieving team at 7-7 and we just finally, for the last six weeks played like we thought we could play. To be World Champions is obviously a great thing to say, next to the birth of your children and getting married it’s the best professional experience you will have.”

(on fans wearing his jersey) “It’s probably all my parents. We have some divorced family members so my kids have like six grandparents, six grandmothers, so there’s a lot.”

(on what he was thinking when it looked like he would have to kick a game winning field goal) “I’m just thinking, like I said all week, of my routine and it was at the end of the game. I was approaching just like I was the two kicks in the third quarter. We got it so close, I thought Ahmad was going to take the knee, that would have been pretty sweet.”

(on Ahmad not taking a knee) “It was like he wanted to and then he just bulled forward. I’ll be honest with you, that was the right play. You give Tom Brady the ball, all they needed was a field goal had we kicked a field goal. I think we scored right there, touchdown. Giving him (Brady) a minute is nail biting as you saw so it was the right play for him to score.”

I’m just happy we won, I don’t care how we did it. Whether I kick or whether I don’t score, it’s just really cool to celebrate with 52 other men that laid it on the line for 20 weeks and to have it culminate in a World Championship and Ticker Tape parade on Tuesday. I’ve got to experience that and for me that has been my favorite part of winning championships, the ticker tape parade and celebrating with the people of New York.

(on how this game was similar to the 2008 Super Bowl) “There was a little bit more time left and all we needed was a field goal; last time we needed a touchdown. There were so many similarities with the safety and, this is going back to the 1991 Championship, but I was talking to Harry Carson just now with the trophy and he said something about how they went into halftime losing 10-9. It was eerily similar, a lot of guys didn’t want to talk about it, but we almost replicated history a little bit as far as how we got here and the game itself tonight. History does repeat itself.”

(on if the penalties that took them out of field-goal range early in the game bothered him)“I love kicking field goals, I really do, but I don’t let little fouls bother me. I just try to stay in the game, stay in my routine. I’m ready at all times. At any time, someone can score on our team, so I’m always ready. I always have my shoes tied, I’m kicking balls into the net. I’m not frustrated. I know what the guys do out there is difficult and for me to get upset over them would be very selfish. We moved the ball enough tonight. Seventeen was our goal in our meeting last night to hold them to and we held them to that.”


(on what a great play the throw to Manningham was in the fourth quarter) “Mario (Manningham) owes me for that because he is a little superstitious. During practices, I throw the ball to him when scout team offense is there, so I throw him those routes, oddly enough. We probably get about 50 throws in a day, me and him. It’s just because you aren’t going to get every ball in practice so Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday. I keep him pretty lose and we throw the ball around a lot so I’m taking all the credit for that.”

(on how tough of a play that was) “Its 9.9. It was a tough throw, a tough catch, a tough read of coverage to slip it in there. Eli has done that a lot this year. I’ve always thought he’s been a great passer. To say he did something abnormal, he didn’t.”

(on what read Manning had to make to complete the throw to Manningham) “Oh God, I’m not an offensive player, I don’t know. I couldn’t tell you. I have no idea.”

(on this year’s team and the future) I think our average age is 27 years old. I think I saw something this past week so that’s not old and you look at the positions. Now we have 53 world champions. We had 17 from the previous team. There’s going to be a lot of guys from this current team. No one says enough about our rookie class that we have. I call them the Fab Five, the undrafted special teams guys. Some of them were drafted but, Greg Jones, Spencer Paysinger, Mark Herzlich, Jacquain Williams, and Tyler Sash. We had such a great, unbelievable rookie class, it’s very similar to the one in 2007 when we won it with Steve Smith and Kevin Boss. It just worked out we had a good group of young guys. You need the bottom of your team to be great. Tyler Sash and those guys on special teams really gave us a boost this year on our coverage teams and our kickoff return. We never got it going to where we wanted but we were covering kicks and punts very well this year.”

(on how the field goal team was perfect tonight) “We expect that out of Zach (DeOssie) and Steve (Weatherford), especially when we are indoors. Two weeks ago in San Francisco that was tough but we expect to be perfect. Thankfully, we were able to help the team out tonight.”

(on if he watched the final play of the game) “I did watch it, I can’t turn away because I want to see it. I want to see what happens. I want the instant reaction, so I saw it. Those plays are tricky, they can happen, we’ve all seen them in college, we’ve seen them in the NFL with us and Green Bay, so you just hold your breath.”

(on what he did immediately after they won) “I hugged Tom (Coughlin). I got a full bucket of Gatorade on me because someone got him. Look how blue I am; I stink like Gatorade. Then I went looking for my wife, my kids, my dad, my brother, my best friend and my brother-in-laws are all here. It’s special to share it with people who helped you get here because all those people did. I think, to me, I want them to enjoy it as much as I do.”

NEW YORK GIANTS - WR MARIO MANNINGHAM - Ingles

(on his catch) “On the sideline they were going like this (gesturing a successful catch), so I knew I was in. It was a perfect throw. They rolled into cover-two at the last minute and I saw the corner was acting like he was going to backpeddle, but he came up to play cover-two and I extended to the side a little bit and worked him outside. Eli (Manning) just put the ball on the money. Great pass protection, great ball. I knew where I was on the sideline. I knew I didn’t have that much room. Good thing I wear (shoe size) 11s, because if I wore 11.5s, I don’t think I’d have been in.”

(on whether the previous long pass that he couldn’t stay in bounds for was in his head) “Eli said my bad, ‘I should have kept the ball in.’ We’re a team though, it’s both of us. I could have stayed in and he could have thrown a better ball.”

(on comparing his catch to former Giants WR David Tyree’s Super Bowl catch) “I’m not going to compare catches. We won the game. You can’t really compare the catches. He caught the ball with his helmet, I had good footwork.”

(on his catches on the game-winning drive) “I just go out and do my job. I know that plays are going to come. You have to have a short-term memory playing wide receiver. Just take advantage of every ball that comes your way.”
(on keeping his feet inbounds on the sideline catch on the game-winning drive) “I knew I had to freeze my feet when the ball touched my fingertips. Wherever I was at when the ball hit my fingertips, I just froze my feet and fell. I knew I was either going to get hit or hit the ground. I knew something was going to happen, but I knew that I couldn’t let that ball go.”

(on making plays down the stretch) “We knew that one of us was going to have to make a big play. We didn’t know when though. Just bite your tongue, be patient and the ball is going to come to you.”

(on the run game setting up the pass game) “They played a two-deep zone. We knew we had to run the ball and the run game was going to open the pass game for us. That’s how football is. You just have to be patient and wait your turn.”

(on whether he felt extra pressure on the last drive of the game) “There’s no pressure. It’s football, except you have a little bit more people watching.”

(on what Eli Manning said in the huddle) “He didn’t say anything. He just said the play. We knew what it was going to come down to. We’ve been in this situation all year. We’ve been in that situation, it’s just the Super Bowl. You have to dig deep and go out there and make a play.”

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS - S PATRICK CHUNG - Ingles

(on Giants WR Mario Manningham’s catch down the sideline on the Giants’ final drive) “He had both feet down. Good throw, good catch, man.”

(on if he feels like it had to take a championship play like Manningham’s to win the game) “Yeah, I mean we fought down to the end. It was hard fought but didn’t work out in our favor so hats off to them.”

(on how it feels after the loss) “How do you think it feels? It feels badly. We fought hard. We know the taste and we don’t like the taste so we’re going to keep working offseason to try to get back here next year.”

(on what he will remember most about the season) “Close doesn’t get it, man. Almost doesn’t get it either. They played a good game. They finished the game; we didn’t. It is what it is, man.”

(on what the Giants did to be able to run the ball so well and control the clock) “I have no clue. They did run hard. We had a couple missed tackles. We’re going to watch film and see what really happened. I don’t think we can answer all those questions right now. I mean, they played a good game. I can’t take it from them. They played a good game and got the win, so hats off to them.”

(on if they felt as if they had the opportunities to put the game away) “We had plenty of opportunities. Those were the two best teams in the NFL. They’re going to make plays. We’re going to make plays. It’s all about who makes the most plays. They ended up making the most plays.”

(on how tough it is to handle the loss after winning 10 straight games) “It’s very tough to handle. It’s a big game and you lose that game that close, you can almost be proud that you fought all the way to the end, but it sucks, man. We know how it feels and we’ve just got to keep working.”

(on if they were feeling pretty good after they came back from the nine-point deficit to then take the lead at the half) “Never feel good until the game’s over. Regardless of whether we’re on a roll or we’re not on a roll, all that matters is the score at the end. They ended up having more points than us and they won. They got the victory.”

(on if he thought Giants WR Mario Manningham had his feet in on the catch on the sideline in the fourth quarter) “We’re always going to think it’s not a complete pass. It’s a good throw, a good catch. He got his feet inbounds, so it was a good play.”

(on if he was shocked that Manningham held onto the ball on that catch after they hit him) “I mean, all we can try to do is knock the ball out. They’re good, too. They’re in the NFL too, man. They’re going to make good catches. He has good hands and it is what it is.”

(on what the defense was thinking when the Giants got the ball with three minutes) “We’re thinking we’ve got to make a play. We’re thinking the game is on us and we’ve got to stop them. They’re good, too, so they just finished the game. They finished the game and we didn’t. But we fought hard, man. I’m proud of everybody. I’m proud of the whole team. We fought hard.”

(on the closeness of the locker room and what it feels like to go through the loss with his teammates) “It just sucks, man. Plain and simple, point blank, it sucks. We know what it feels like now. Now we have to make sure that we don’t have that feeling again.”

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS - LB BRANDON SPIKES - Ingles

(on how he feels following a close loss) “Right now, words can’t even really express how I feel right now. It’s a letdown, and we’ve got to go to work next year and try to get better.”

(on what his head coach said in the locker room) “Just how it goes. The better team won today, and they made their plays and we didn’t. We had opportunities to make big plays when it counted, but we just couldn’t come up with it, so the better team won today.”

(on the late catch by Giants WR Mario Manningham) “It was a terrific catch. It was a good game, a championship game. He made a play and that’s what it’s about, making plays when it counts. My hat goes off to him. He’s a great receiver.”

(on whether the defense could have proved something by holding on to the lead) “Absolutely. I still feel like defense wins championships. We had our chances. We were right where we wanted to be as a defensive unit. I just feel like I let the guys down myself. There were a few plays I could have made myself and I was just a step late. It just hurts right now. Like I said, I can’t really sum it all up with words.”

(on the plays that he could have made) “I can just remember plays that I recognize and I was just a half-step late. That kills me, and obviously it will motivate me this offseason to get better and be ready to make those plays when I get the opportunity.”

(on the feeling walking off of the field) “Like I said before, I never dreamed this part of the game. A good team has to lose and that’s just how the game goes. Like I said, they played well and they beat us.”

(on whether it was hard to let the Giants score the final touchdown) “It killed me. When the call came in to let them score I kind of was like, ‘What?’ I’m here to do a job and it’s my job to play the defense and let them score. It was tough, though. It definitely was tough.”

(on whether they could have stopped the Giants without letting them score) “Yeah, you never know, but in that situation, that’s what we’re taught to do and what we had to do.”


(on what his offseason will be like) “Just work, just trying to get better. I’m going to make sure I let my teammates know to be grinding and getting better every day. I never want to feel like this again. This feels terrible. It’s a nightmare right now for me. I’m just at a loss of words right now.”

(on what this offseason will consist of) “Just grinding. There’s no easy way around it, just head first, jump right in. I’ll take a few weeks off and jump right in and just remember this moment, remember how it felt and just be motivated by it. You can’t look back. It is what it is, and I feel like me personally, everything happens for a reason. We got a few balls out; they recovered them. That’s just how it goes.”


(on whether he was surprised they weren’t able to recover three fumbles) “That’s the thing I’m talking about. We planned to put pressure on the ball and that was our whole gameplan. Like I said, it was just a step for us. They made plays and they were in the right spot. Like I said, my hat goes off to their team. They fought to the end and they deserved this one.”

(on whether there was confusion with 12 men on the field early in the game) “I don’t think so. We were just trying to get it from up top and see what personnel they were in. We fixed it after that. We were good. We had opportunities defensively to do what we wanted to do; we just couldn’t get it done.”

(on what the conversations in the locker room were like) “Most guys just felt like we let each other down. My thing is we fought until the end. I know that defensively we tried everything we could do. Like I said, they had some great players that made great plays when they needed it. That’s just how it goes. Like I said, they came to play today and they beat us.”

(on whether they can return to the Super Bowl next year) “Absolutely. We won’t have the same defensive unit; we know that. I’m pretty sure there are going to be some changes. There’s always changes in this business. We’re just going to go to work with what we have. Me personally, I think we have a young defense with a lot of talent, a lot of good guys, a lot of great friends and as long as we can just keep together and get better as a whole unit, I think the sky is the limit for us. I’m really looking forward to this offseason and getting with the teammates and trying to get all the little details that we missed and trying to correct them.”

(on what he is most proud of and most disappointed by) “I’m proud that my team fought until the end. We never game up and we played 60 minutes. That’s all I can ask for from my guys. As far as the disappointment, it’s the ‘L.’ Nobody wants to lose, but that’s just how it is in this game. Two good teams played today and a good team lost. I can’t take nothing away from those guys. Like I said, they made their plays. It was a good game.”

(on whether he has spoken to Robert Kraft and what was said) “I haven’t spoken with him yet. I just want to let him know that we’re going to be better. I feel like we’re going to be better, and I’m going to make sure to work my butt off in the offseason. I’m looking forward to it right now. I’m going to soak this all in, but with my family and my teammates, I’m pretty sure they are going to be there for support. I’m looking forward to this offseason.”

(on his first full offseason coming up) “I just feel like no matter what the situation is, I’m going to put my ten toes in head-first. I’m going to grind my butt off. It was a great experience to get here, and the way we lost, it just hurts. But like I said, I’m going to use this as motivation and try to keep developing as a professional player.”

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS - WR WES WELKER - Ingles

(on dropped pass) “It’s one of those plays I’ve made a thousand times. Just didn’t make it.”

(on the locker room after the game) “Same.”

(on if he felt disappointment after tonight) “Yeah, of course. We had an opportunity.”

(on if he was expecting the pass to be on the other shoulder) “I mean, no. The ball is right there. I’ve just got to make the play. It’s a play I’ve made a thousand times in practice and everything else. It comes to the biggest moment of my life and don’t come up with it. It’s discouraging.”

(on if the play is designed to go in the inside or outside) “You’re supposed to get at the numbers. It’s usually inside edge of the numbers. Just trying to make an adjustment on the ball and it’s a play I’ve got to bring in.”

(on what it is about this Giants team that plays them so close) “It’s the NFL. A lot of great teams and everything else. A lot of games come down to the wire.”

(on if he holds himself solely responsible for the dropped pass) “Yeah, it hit me right in the hands. I mean, it’s a play I never drop, I always make. Most critical situation and I let the team down.”

(on if they left opportunities on the field) “No, I think that goes into every game. I think there’s a lot of opportunities to miss out on. We definitely had ours and didn’t take advantage. I’m right there at the top of the list.”

(on if they felt after that drive if they still felt they had a chance) “Yeah, sure. We always got a chance when Tom (Brady) is back there. Deion (Branch) made a great play on fourth down and kept us alive. It should work out in the end.”

(on if it’s a perfect play does he score) “I mean, I don’t know. It doesn’t really matter now.”

(on the coverage on the play) “I think they got a little mixed up. I think man over me was playing high look and then safety went to one high. That’s why it opened up for me when it did.

(on if he got turned around on the pass) “No, I saw it develop and saw the ball in the air. I went to make the play and on it and didn’t make the ball.”

(on if Tom Brady saw the play develop) “Yeah, I mean he saw it and threw me the ball. I think he was a little worried about the safety so he threw it a little wider or whatever. But I mean, its right there. It hits me right in the hands. It’s one I’ll have to live with.”

(on if he’s felt this way after a loss) “Nope.”

(on the job the Patriot’s defense did) “They did a great job. They kept us in it. They got the ball out. A lot of great things out there. In the end it just wasn’t enough.”

(on the team this season) “We got a lot of tough players who do a lot of great things and keep fighting till the end. We just came up a little short.”

(on how uncharacteristic it was for receivers to drop passes in critical times) “I don’t know. I really don’t know how to answer that question. We work on it all the time and try to make plays. It’s one that will take a while to shake off, that’s for sure.”

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS - WR MATTHEW SLATER - Ingles

(On if there was a specific reason on the loss)
“I don’t think there is a specific reason. The Giants are a good football team and we’re a good football team. They just out executed us when it counted most and that’s just football. They played great and hats off to them.”

(On the play of the defense)
“They took a lot of heat all season and I think that they fought really hard today. None of those guys should be hanging their heads regardless of what they think they did. They held a hell of a good football team to just 21 points. Those guys fought and did everything they could. It’s no one’s [fault]. You can’t put it on anyone; we just didn’t get it done.”

(On what the Giants did to win the game)
“Obviously, they made more plays then we did and that’s what matters in who wins the game.”

(On if the Patriots had mental mistakes)
“We had some penalties that cost us, but we still had a chance to win and obviously if you don’t play your best, football penalties are going to happen and the game’s going to go back-and-forth. But they just made more plays than us.”

(On seeing the confetti fall for the other team)
“I couldn’t even look at it to be honest with you.”

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS - WR DEION BRANCH - Ingles

(on the loss being a tough one to swallow) “I mean, it’s tough man. Especially when we didn’t play good ball but still had the chance to win the game. Tip our hats off to those guys that won, the Giants. Congratulations to those guys.”

(on a turning point in the game) “I look at everything as a whole, from the start to the finish. The start of that we only had the ball a couple plays in the first quarter. Second quarter we had the ball and made some amazing plays. We got ahead then came out second half, went down and scored. From that, we just didn’t do anything else to effect the game and really push us over the top.”

(on Tom Brady’s missed pass to Wes Welker at the end of the game) “That one play wasn’t the end of the game. There was so much stuff that went down throughout the third and fourth quarters. All of the plays were big, every play is very important. Had I made the catch that was behind me, that could have been a key third down but we didn’t connect on it.”

(on whether the Patriots left a lot of plays on the field) “We did. We made more mistakes and regardless of the plays we made, we didn’t capitalize on the opportunities that they gave us. We caused a fumble, we had 12 guys on the field, we put balls on the ground two more times and they recovered the ball which would have been on their end of the field. Those plays like that don’t happen too often in a game and we didn’t capitalize on the opportunities.”

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS - RB DANNY WOODHEAD - Ingles

(on if he was confident the Patriots would score on their last possession) “Any time that we get a chance to get our offense on the field, we think we have a chance to score. It didn’t work out like that. They ended up getting more points than us, and they ended up winning the game.”

(on having a chance to score on the last play of the game) “Any time there’s time on the clock, we think we have a chance. It didn’t turn out how we wanted it to.”

(on how painful the loss is) “It’s as tough of a loss as I think I’ve ever had. You get so close, and it doesn’t end up the way you like it. It’s a tough pill to swallow.”

(on the confidence level of the team at the start of the second half) “We always have confidence as a team, as an offense, defensively and on special teams. They just ended up scoring more points than us. That’s what happened.”

(on how the Patriots seem to play close games against the Giants but come up short) “They’re a great football team, and I think that’s what it comes down to—two great football teams playing and going neck and neck towards the end of the game. One team ends up winning.”

(on if he sensed his role was going to increase this week) “I approach every week the same, and that is to be ready for whatever can be thrown at me. No matter how many carries or receptions I may get, I just feel like I need to stay ready all the time.”

(on his touchdown reception) “I was able to get open, and Tom (Brady) did a great job of putting the ball right on me. I had to do the easy part, and that was just to catch it.”

(on putting the loss into words) “It’s tough. We were that close to being world champions, and it didn’t happen. It’s a tough situation, but you’ve got to wake up tomorrow. The sun’s going to shine.”


(on head coach Bill Belichick’s postgame address to the team) “We went out there and played as hard as we could. We’re a tight-knit group. There isn’t any other 53—or 61 including practice squad—guys that I’d want to spend this with.”

(on Tom Brady’s ability to give them a chance on the final drive) “We think that no matter what happens, if there’s time on the clock, we think that we have a shot at still scoring or getting the first down. We were able to, but like I said, the tough part is that we didn’t score as many points as they did.”

(on how special it is to score a touchdown in the Super Bowl) “That’s something I haven’t thought about. The individual statistic of scoring a touchdown isn’t going to make me that happy. It’s the score at the end of the game. This is a team game. It’s not an individual game. I really haven’t thought about it.”

(on if the plan was to get him more involved or if they took what the Giants gave them) “I think every team is going to take what the defense gives them. Every week I approach it the same. I try to be ready for my opportunities, and that’s really what it boils down to. If I get an opportunity to go out there, go out and make the best of it.”

(on not being the first option on his touchdown reception) “The O-line did a great job of giving Tom [Brady] time, and I was just trying to break free any way I could. It happened to work out on that play.”

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS - TE ROB GRONKOWSKI - Ingles

(on the loss) “They’re a good team; hats off to them. They’ve got a good defense, a good offense, and they deserve it. They’re a good team.”

(more on the loss) “Well, the Giants are a great team. They played a great game. They’ve got a great defense, and we’ve just got to execute better. We’ve got to execute well, and unfortunately we didn’t. We’ve got to be playing like we did in the second quarter all four quarters.”

(more on the loss) It definitely hurts. Just losing the game hurts so much (with) how much we dedicated ourselves, how much our teammates all went through, just grinding every single day and every single off-day all together. We’ve just got to keep going and hope we can get to this position again.”

(on finding an offensive rhythm late in the second quarter) “We were just rolling there. We were executing well late in the second quarter, and (TE) Aaron (Hernandez) made a great play and got a touchdown. We’ve got to be rolling like that all four quarters.”

(on how confident the offense was on the final drive) “We’re always confident with Tom as our quarterback—an unbelievable quarterback. We’ve got so many great players around our whole offense starting with our O-linemen. They’re all great players, and we’re confident every time we go out there.”

(on comparing the loss to New England’s Super Bowl loss in 2007) “I wasn’t here four years ago, so I don’t know those feelings. I wasn’t on the team. I just got here last year, so I know the feeling of losing the big game, and it’s not a great feeling at all, and we’ve just got to keep on grinding.”

(on his health) “I was good. I was 100 percent out there doing everything they asked me to do.”

(on being held to two receptions) Just how they defended. They’ve got a good defense. They played well, and

(QB) Tom (Brady) hits open men. He finds open men, and, unfortunately, he was just hitting the guys who were open, and that’s just how it goes.”

(on the final drive) “When we have the ball in our hands with 0:57 left, basically a minute left, we’re confident that we can drive down the field and get some points. We were doing well. We got a couple of first downs, but unfortunately, the time flies pretty quick when you don’t get out of bounds and you don’t have three timeouts left. We’re always confident that we’re going to drive down. We’ve done it many times before, but, unfortunately, we didn’t do it this time.”


(on his ankle injury) “The trainers did a good job for two weeks, so when it got to the game time, I was ready to go.”

(on if it was frustrating to have to good drives but to struggle offensively at other times) “We’ve got to execute all game long. Those two drives in the second quarter were huge. We were moving the ball well. Unfortunately, we didn’t keep it up in the third and fourth quarter, and that’s how you win games, just executing in all four quarters and playing hard all four quarters.”

(on if the Patriots can make it back to the Super Bowl next season) “We’re looking forward to next year already. We’ve just got to have a good offseason. We’ve got to keep on grinding and stick together as a team and have everyone dedicate themselves.”

(on how he plans to rehab his ankle) “Just keep doing treatments. I’m recovering now. It’ll be good to go, so I’m not worried about it at all.”

(on New York LB Chase Blackburn’s interception) “Tom (Brady) just threw the ball up in the air, the linebacker did a great job. He boxed me out kind of, had good position on the jump ball and made a great catch. It was just a good play by him.”

(on TE Aaron Hernandez)
“He’s a heck of a player, Hernandez. I love playing with him. You saw how good he is, how he can ball, how he’s good with the ball in his hands. He’s an excellent player, and he’s just going to get better.”

(on if he was close to catching the Hail Mary at the end of regulation) “I was close, but close doesn’t matter. Close isn’t enough. Close doesn’t get it done. It’s either you catch it or you don’t, and that didn’t happen.”

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS - QUARTERBACK TOM BRADY - Ingles

(on the game) “First, I’d like to give the Giants a lot of credit. They certainly made the plays when they needed to. That is a very good football team. They put a lot of pressure on us. We just came up a little bit short. I think we had a couple of missed opportunities out there. Every guy in the locker room wishes he could have done a little bit more and maybe the outcome would have been a little bit different. It was a very hard fought game and we fought until the end. I’m very proud of that. I’d say we just came up a little short.”

(on if he thought there was a enough time left at the end of the game to win) “We got to the 50 (yard line) and just ran out of time. We threw a hail-mary at the end. I’m not sure how close we were to getting it. Obviously I wish we could have done a little bit more.”

(on the play intended for Wes Welker in the fourth quarter) “Wes (Welker) was running down the field and it looked like they messed the coverage up a little bit and I threw it to him. (Welker) went up to try and make it, as he always does, and we just couldn’t connect. He’s a hell of a player. I’ll keep throwing the ball to him for as long as I possibly can. He’s a phenomenal player and teammate and I love that guy.”

(on if this loss feels similar at all to the Super Bowl loss four years ago) “We just didn’t make enough plays. In the first quarter, we didn’t have the ball a ton. The second quarter, we played a little bit better. Third quarter, we started well and it came down to the fourth quarter. (The Giants) made some plays there at the end. We went out there to win the game. We just didn’t make enough plays.”

(on the safety) “It is a referee’s judgment call. I was looking down the middle of the field and (Justin) Tuck was looking to come get me and I tried to get rid of it. The referee made the call.”

(on what Wes Welker was like in the locker room) “I think everybody was just disappointed. You win as a team and you lose as a team. One play certainly wasn’t the reason we lost today. Everybody feels like we could have done more. I said after the game, ‘I’ll keep coming to this game and keep trying. I’d rather keep coming to this game and lose than not get here.’ Hopefully we’ll be back at some point. We had a great year; we just didn’t make enough plays today.”

(on what he was thinking when the Giants got the ball back with three minutes to go) “The first play that they made on our sideline was a phenomenal throw and catch. That got them going. They’ve got a very good offense. Certainly, Eli (Manning) has had a very good season. He made some great throws there in the fourth quarter and they deserved to win. They did a better job than we did.”

(on if they made adjustments after the first half) “We scored and got the ball a second time and didn’t do much with it. Then the next drive we had was (in) the fourth quarter. We had a few opportunities in the fourth quarter and didn’t really take advantage of them.”


(on the adjustments the Giants made in the fourth quarter) “They made a few more plays than we did. They’ve done a good job of that all season. Like I said, we all wish we could have done a little bit more. Our team fought really hard. Our defense really held at certain points today. They knocked some balls out. I wish we’d have gotten one of those. The ball didn’t really bounce our way either. They played a good game.”

(on not making the key fourth quarter play) “Yeah, that is what it comes down to in football. That’s one play. You look at our game four years ago, it was a miracle play that they made. Today, we had the chance to make one of those and we couldn’t come up with it. It always comes down to one or two plays in this game and if you make it, you’re celebrating. If you don’t, then you don’t sleep for a week.”

(on what this means for his legacy and if that matters to him) “I hope we do get back here again. I’ve been lucky enough to play in this game five times in 10 years. I’d love to keep coming back to this game and taking a shot. It’s better than sitting home and not playing in this game, so I hope another opportunity comes.”

(on how much confidence the team had going into the game) “We felt good. We made two critical drives. We did a good job. That’s what it takes to score. We didn’t really make any big plays. You need those methodical drives and we put together a few of them. We just didn’t put together enough.”

(on if an injury to his non-throwing shoulder from when he was sacked affected him the rest of the game) “No, it didn’t.”

(on if Rob Gronkowski’s injurt affected their game plan) “He played his butt off. He fought. He came out to our practice on Thursday and it’s hard to believe he could play the game with the way he was feeling. He really toughed it out. He’s a tough guy. He had a great season for us. You get bumps and bruises in this game and you have to fight through them and he did a great job of fighting and being very dependable for us all day.”

(on how he deals with losses) “As a competitor, we all hate to lose. We fight as hard as we can and sometimes you get beat. I’m proud of our team for the way that we hung in there all season. We just kept fighting until the end and it came down to one play at the end of the game. If we make it, we’re world champs, and if we’re not, then we’re wishing we were. I give (the Giants) a lot of credit for the plays they made. They deserved to win and hopefully we’ll be back at some point.”

(on not getting the final win for Myra Kraft) “It’s tough. It’s tough for all of us. Certainly, I wish we would have gotten it for (Mr. Kraft). I saw him after the game. I love him and respect him. We gave everything we could. Coach Belichick coaches us hard every day; puts a lot of pressure on us. The guys really responded and it just wasn’t our day.”

(on the Patriots’ decision to let the Giants score with a minute to go) “I liked it. It was better than not having a chance at all. Their inside the 10 (yard line) and could run the clock out and score, but we made the good decision to try and leave ourselves a little bit of time. We had a chance to win it there at the end and we just couldn’t do it.”

(on if he was worried about Eli Manning getting the ball back with three minutes to go to win the game) “Yeah, that first play that they hit on our sidelines was a big play. They got a big chunk of yards. After that, they were a little bit methodical after that. They made the plays when it counted and that’s why they won the game.”

(on Manning winning his second Super Bowl) “He’s a great quarterback. I’ve always really respected him. Obviously, he is a great leader. He’s a great quarterback.”

(on if the media gives too much credit to the quarterback for the outcome of the game) “We always get too much credit. Certainly, the quarterbacks do. It’s a team game and we win as a team and lose as a team. I don’t think that certainly one player – there are certain positions that obviously have more influence on the game than others – but you win as a team and lose as a team.”

(on if there is one throw he would like to take back) “Well, obviously, you hate to throw those (interceptions). I wish I would have gotten a little more on it. (I always want to give Rob Gronkowski) a chance to make the play. I just came up a little bit short.”

(on what he will focus on when he looks back at this game) “You always wish you could have done a little bit more. When you win, it’s great. When you lose, you rehash the game and certainly think about the things that we could have done better. I wish we could have made a few more plays.”

NEW YORK GIANTS - G DAVID DIEHL - Ingles

(on how it feels to be Super bowl champion) “Unbelievable. I mean, you look at this season and the way that we fought and stuck together. We accomplished something that nobody on the outside looking in thought we could do. But the people in our room, the players on this team, our coaches, our organization - nobody said this could be done except for us and we believed in one another. Let everybody say what they want to say. The Giants are World Champs, baby.”

(on persevering all 60 minutes and coming up big in the fourth quarter) “We knew it was going to be this type of game. New England is a great team. The last time we played them, there were five lead changes in the fourth quarter, so we knew we’d just have to keep fighting, keep scratching, and when the big opportunity came, we capitalized on it. Here we are, World Champs.”

NEW YORK GIANTS - WR VICTOR CRUZ - Ingles

“God is my Savior.”

(on how he feels) “Here it is. Everything plus more, man. I can’t ask for anything more. All the way to the very end. And you never know with Tom Brady at the helm, but we saw it through.”

(on Patriots QB Tom Brady’s throw at the end) “I was just holding my breath. Defense just holding it down.”

(on what it feels like) “Amazing. I dreamed of this moment. I dreamed of this time. I dreamed of being here. That’s my grammar school gym teacher! I couldn’t ask for anything more, man. This is the best feeling of my life. I want to catch some confetti; I want to bring it home.”

(on the Lombardi Trophy going to the Meadowlands) “It’s at home. It’s where it’s supposed to be. We came here, we won it as a team. It took every single person on this field to win this game and we did it. Everybody in Patterson, [NJ], we did it. We did it. We did it, and I’m glad I was a part of it.”

(on how he feels) “It feels amazing, man—just to be here, to have won it, to see the confetti coming down, it’s awesome. It’s absolutely awesome.”

(on the first touchdown) “I had to bottle it a little bit, but once I got it, I snagged it, and then it was salsa time after that, baby.”

(on if he ever had a doubt) “I just knew we had a shot. I just knew we had to keep plugging away man, and we did it.”

(on scoring in the Super Bowl) “It’s just a dream come true. You grow up, you watch this game and you hope you could just get yourself in a position to play in this league. To come in and not only play, but to score… I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

(on the play of his teammates) “(Quarterback Eli Manning) was great. He took advantage of the defense and every look he saw. Hakeem (Nicks), too. Hakeem had a crazy game. I’m just happy for them. I’m happy for all my guys.”

(on wide receiver Mario Manningham’s catch) “That was just a great grab. I understood that he wanted to make a play all game long. You could see it in his face. Once he got the opportunity, he really took advantage of it and he really just held on to the moment. He made the catch that basically propelled us to the next level.”

(on the last play of the game) “You kind of hold your breath a little bit when the ball is in the air. Then you see it come down and you just know that – you just hope that your defense comes up with a great play. And they did. It was perfect. It was tough, understanding that it was Tom Brady and you don’t know what could happen (because) he’s capable of anything when he has the football in his hands, but, it’s a credit to our defense. They really clamped down, really savored the moment and came up with the big play.”


(on quarterback Eli Manning) “I think it solidifies him a little bit. He had that question mark of whether he was elite, but he came out all season and proved it. And now he’s a Super Bowl champ, Super Bowl MVP again. There’s really nothing people can say about the guy now.”

(on the Patriots defense) “They kind of came out, forced us to run the ball a little bit. We saw that and we took advantage of it. We ran the ball very well today, I feel like. We gashed them in moments where we knew we could end the game and if we kept it up. We had our opportunities. Specifically on third down, though, they would kind of bracket me and keep two guys in my vicinity, keeping one guy underneath and one guy up top. So a lot of credit to those guys defensively. They did a good job, (but) at the end of the day, I was able to get in the end zone and dance a little salsa.”

(on how it felt to score) “It felt amazing. You always dream of scoring. You always dream of just getting to the Super Bowl, but to be able to score in it and do the salsa was just… I can’t even put words to it. It was just amazing. And to win the game on top of that, you couldn’t ask for anything more.”

(on the experience of the season) “It’s just been an incredible journey, an incredible ride. I wouldn’t want to spend it with anybody else – no other teammates, no other team, no other city. I’m just happy to be here.”

(on the huddle during the final drive of the game) “It was like any other huddle. We knew we had to go in and win the game. It was on us, which is the way we wanted it to be. We drove the field, Hakeem (Nicks) and Mario (Manningham) made some great plays, and it was just amazing.”

(on what it felt like to be on the sidelines during the game) “Throughout the whole thing, I was just pacing back and forth. I couldn’t really watch (the game). I just wanted the clock to go as fast as possible. Our defense played great. They held (the Patriots) back, four downs, got some time off the clock. We had a couple penalties, but managed to clamp down and really hold them down.”

(on the 12-men in the huddle penalty) “That’s a chance where we should have taken advantage, but we got an unfortunate penalty. We understood we just had to keep plugging away. Things like that are going to happen, but we just have to remain focused and keep on plugging away.”

(on his touchdown reception) “It was an inside slant route that was called by Eli (Manning). I jus tmade a great move on the safety, because he bit on the fake. I went inside and the linebacker tipped it a little bit, so it bobbled, but I went out, got two hands on the ball and was able to reel it in.”

(on wide receiver Mario Manningham’s 38-yard reception on the game’s final drive) “That was just a great catch. He’s been making that catch all year, and this was just one of those moments where we needed him to make that catch and he did. He kept his feet in bounds. It was huge for us.”

(on the close ending to the game) “It was good for us. We knew they were going to come out and play agressively coming out (in the second half), especially scoring right before the (end) of the (first) half, and they got the ball back (to begin the second half). So we knew we were up for a challenge, but we stayed together, we stayed a family, we stayed a team, and we came out victorious.”

(on the nature of Patriots-Giants games) “We understand each other. We play each other a lot – preseason, regular season, Super Bowls. We both know each other. Both coaches know what it takes to win. It takes a physical, hard-nosed game and it takes everyone playing on the same accord. There’s just something about both these teams that brings out the best in each other.”

(on wide receiver Mario Manningham) “You can’t forget about him. All these playoffs, he’s been making great catches and great moments. It’s just a credit to his professionalism and the way he’s carried himself. He’s somebody I look up to. He has some years in this league. I’m just happy for the guy. He’s made some clutch catches and has great moves. He comes up big when we need him most.”

(on whether being bracketed on defense helped open up plays for his teammates) “A little bit. Every time you see double coverage your way, you know there has to be one-on-one coverage somewhere. Any time you see that, any time you see a double coverage your way, it shows the amount of respect they have for your talent. But you know that other guys on your team have the ability to win on one-on-one coverage, and we did that today.”

NEW YORK GIANTS - WR HAKEEM NICKS - Ingles

(on his feelings of winning) “It feels great, I just feel great. World champs, baby.”

(on what play pushed the Giants on top) “It was on (Mario) Manningham’s play. For real, that put us over the top. It was clutch and we made it at the right time.”

(on the last play) “I hope they don’t catch it. I was hoping they don’t catch the ball. Defense did a great job all game, controlling them against a good quarterback, Tom Brady. We deserved it.”

NEW YORK GIANTS - RB BRANDON JACOBS - Ingles

(on winning the game) “I am in awe right now. We are a great football team and we were a great football team since day one. We persevered through all the stress and adversities that we had and we finished strong.”

(on how he is feeling) “I have two Super Bowl rings; got a great family, great football team, part of a great organization. What more could I ask for?”

(on being 7-7 regular season) “After going 7-7 we knew we still had an opportunity to win our division and make the playoffs and we stayed in it and kept fighting.”

(on the team) “This is the best team I have ever played on. I played on a good football team in ’08 but we didn’t deal with adversity as much as we did this year.”

(on coach Tom Coughlin) “Tom Coughlin is one hell of a football coach. I would rather go to war with Coach Coughlin than anybody in the National Football League. He has done great for us. He is a coach for this organization and he is a coach for his players.”

(on Eli Manning) “I don’t need to say anything about Eli. I shouldn’t say anything about Eli. Two-hundred and twenty-eight countries just saw Eli. I don’t have to say anything.”

(on the team’s confidence) “We’re a great football team. We deserve this. Always be confident. We persevered through all of the adversity and kept working. We ended up here and we finished. We went through the tough times; no question about it. We knew all week that they weren’t going to be able to stop us. It was just a matter of whether or not we gave them dumb plays, penalties and stuff like that. We had a few moments that detoured us a little bit. We kept believing and this is the reward. This football team is an example of what a man’s character should be like.”

(on how this Super Bowl victory compared to the last) “We believed the whole time since Week 1. When we got hot, we believed even more. The first time we won the Super Bowl, we were just playing off of instincts. After what we’ve been through, it just gave us a better chance. We kept working, we lost four in a row and we still had a chance to win our division and go to the playoffs. This is the best team I have ever played on. We were a good football team in 2008, but we didn’t have the same adversity we did this year.”

(on the team’s running game opening up the passing game) “No question Ahmad ran the ball hard. I did the best I could do when I got my opportunity, too. We just kept fighting and fighting until the end and we got another Super Bowl ring.”

(on the go-ahead drive) “We knew we could move the ball with ease on this football team. We shot ourselves in the foot with a couple holding calls. The last drive, we knew we had to score. (Ahmad) did the best he could and tried to be a team player and go down to run some time off the clock. But we’re not that kind of (running) backs, we score touchdowns. That’s what we do and that’s what we did.”

NEW YORK GIANTS - RUNNING BACK AHMAND BRADSHAW - Ingles

(on how it feels to win the Super Bowl) “It’s the greatest thing in the world, man. “I’m just hoping we can win another one. It’s the greatest feeling in my life.”

(on scoring the winning touchdown) “Oh man, it was the best feeling in my life. I’m just so happy to be here with my team and my family.”

(on what the difference in today’s game was) “You know what? It’s two of the greatest teams in the NFL, and we won it.”

NEW YORK GIANTS - QB ELI MANNING - Ingles

(on the win) “It just feels great. It was a great game with two great teams. We played to the very end. It was just a great effort on both sides. There were some big plays being made.”

(on his second Super Bowl victory) “I’m just happy for the guys. I’m happy for everyone in this organization, Coach Coughlin, all of my coaches, all of the players getting a chance to win the Super Bowl. Some of these guys are getting their first one. I feel great for them. I feel great for everybody.

(on the game) “It’s just tough. It’s tough out there on both sides. Offensively, we did well, but it was tough getting in the endzone, tough to score touchdowns. It’s great toughness and great faith by our guys just believing; and some big-time plays by a number of guys. We spread the ball around, taking what they gave us. (We) got the ball out quickly and a number of guys played big-time today.”

(on 38-yard reception by Mario Manningham) “They were in cover-2. Usually that is not your match-up. They had us covered pretty well to the right. I looked that way. I saw I had the safety cheated in a little bit and threw it down the sideline. Great catch by him (Mario Manningham), keeping both feet in. That’s a huge play in the game right there; when you’re backed up, to get a 40-yard gain and get to the middle of the field. That way we can pace ourselves a little bit, run the ball a little bit. It was a big, big, big-time play right there.”

(on his second Super Bowl win) “I’m excited to win a championship. I’m excited for my teammates. There are a number of guys, this is their first one. There are some other ones who are getting their second and more, but I’m just excited for them. I’m excited for Coach (Tom) Coughlin, all of the coaches and the Giants organization. This isn’t about one person. This is about a team coming together, getting this win. I’m just proud of our guys, proud of the team and how we fought all year. (We) never got discouraged, kept their faith and kept their confidence and just fought to the very end.”


(on winning the Super Bowl on a fourth-quarter drive) “We’ve had a bunch of them this year. We’ve had some 4th quarter comebacks. The whole second half – right before halftime, New England drives down and gets a touchdown, first possession of the second half, they drive and get a touchdown. That could’ve sucked the momentum right out of us, but we responded, we went back. We drove down there, got a field goal, again, got another field goal, got a turnover by our guys. We were very close. We obviously had some penalties that cost us – some very close third-downs. They did a good job of knocking the ball out, but offensively, I thought we played very well. We played smart; there at the end when we had an opportunity in the fourth quarter, we’d been in those situations and we knew that we had no more time left. We had to go down and score and guys stepped up and made great plays.”

(On New England’s drive at the end of the fourth quarter) “It’s tough. It is tough. I knew there wasn’t that much time. With New England, they’re never out of it. Tom Brady is a tremendous quarterback. He did a great job of converting on a fourth-and-16. All of a sudden they throw one in the endzone; it’s up there. That’s nerve racking. We’ve completed a hail mary this year. I was hoping another one wouldn’t be completed tonight for them. Great job by our defense, stepping up, getting a sack and doing some great things.”

(on the fan support) “All the New York Giants fans, thank you. Thank you for your support all year long. Thank you to the people that came to Indianapolis, we appreciate that. We had a great crowd tonight. They were loud. The majority were Giants fans, it seemed like tonight. We have the greatest fans in the world. They will be celebrating for us back in New York and we’ll be celebrating on Tuesday with them.”

(on what was going on inside him while waiting to get the ball back) “You know, you try to have it where nothing changes. You know the circumstances. You say, ‘Hey we’ve got to score a touchdown right here.’ We knew a field goal would work also. Obviously, we had a great first play, hitting Mario (Manningham) for 40 yards almost. That changes the field position. All of a sudden now, you are getting close to scoring range. A couple of other big plays: Mario on a curl route; Hakeem (Nicks) on a slant, and some other nice plays by those guys getting us into a scoring situation.”

(on the importance of staying even-keeled in that situation) “I think you have to try to be. That’s important.”

(on the story being him having two Super Bowl MVPs; both against Tom Brady) “I don’t think that’s the story. I think the story is the New York Giants are World Champions. That’s what I’m proud of. That’s all that matters. The only important thing is for this organization – the Giants, these guys that are on this team, the coaches – (to have) an opportunity to say ‘We are the World Champions.’ That’s the story.”

(on losing his two top tight ends) “Well, Bear (Pascoe) obviously did a great job. We were doing a lot of two tight end stuff. That took that away, but we kind of went to three receivers some, and a fullback and a tailback to throw it and run the ball. They were giving us some different looks, but we can adjust. I think that’s the great thing about this offense. We are flexible. Some of those formations we haven’t practiced all week, but we get right to it and guys know what they are doing. That’s the advantage of having a veteran group of guys who have been here, and they understand this offense and they can play well.”