I have a real bone to pick.
It seems to me like the New York Football Giants are getting zero respect from the American sports media. This is the same team who commandeered a perfect season away from the New England Patriots with their 2007 Superbowl victory, a heartbreaking loss for New England sports fans. This is the same team who dominated the regular season in 2008 and probably would have gone on to another Superbowl had star receiver Plaxico Burress not shot himself in the leg. Indeed the Giants did beat both 2008 Superbowl contenders, the Pittsburgh Steelers AND the Arizona Cardinals, during last years regular season.
Even after two great seasons, this off-season the sports media has refused to acknowledge the power of the Giants . A recent CBS Sportsline article summed up the top 50 players in the NFL right now. Eli Manning, the Giants quarterback who won the 2007 Superbowl MVP and went to the Pro Bowl last year did not even make the list, yet Tom Brady, the Patriots quarterback who did not play last season made the number two spot! There's something about Tom Brady that the sports media just salivates over. FoxSports released a list of the top ten clutch players in the NFL, guess who number one was? Yes, FoxSports ranked Tom Brady as the most clutch player in the NFL.
Do you see what I'm getting at? Wasn't it Manning, not Brady, who orchestrated a last minute drive on the biggest stage in America during the 2007 season bringing the Giants the title? One could even go as far as to say that Brady choked during that Superbowl. After not losing a game the whole season he ended up losing the one game that really mattered. For some reason that doesn't seem to me like a sign of a "clutch" quarterback.
Manning won the Superbowl MVP in 2007 and played in the 2008 Pro Bowl and he gets no recognition from the media for those accomplishments. He helped win a Superbowl ring for his team in 2007 and was likely to repeat until the Plax drama, and he doesn't even make the 50 top players! In fact 7 of the top 10 players have not yet won a Superbowl, one of the top two players didn't even play football last year, and still they're ranked over Manning. I don't know how these sports reporters make these lists but it really seems to be a bunch of bologna.
It's okay though... the media can continue to lambaste Manning and under-rate the Giants, they thrive when being doubted. Now they have one of the strongest defenses in the NFL and a beastly offense that no longer has to put up with the drama of Plaxico Burress. You heard it here first, the New York Football Giants are the team to beat in 2009. Watch out for BIG BLUE!
