Goodbye, Farewell and Amen

When the Giants knocked Tom Brady down after his first snap, I should have known.

When Bill Belicheck decided to go for it on Fourth and 13, rather then settle for a 49 yard field goal, I should have known.

When the unflappable Tom Brady missed a wide open Randy Moss in the corner of the end zone, I should have known.

When Pro-Bowl cornerback Asante Samuel dropped a sure fire interception on the Giants game winning drive, I should have known.

When, on the next play, Eli Manning slipped out of the grasp of three separate Patriots and heaved a desperation throw to David Tyree, who jumped over Rodney Harrison, trapped the ball against the top of his helmet and miraculously prevented it from hitting the ground, I REALLY should have known.

But it wasn’t until I was running like a wildman in knee deep water in the sandbar of Maunalua bay, holding up a single victorious finger in the air and shouting at the top of my lungs, celebrating the celebrating the Giants incredible victory over the seemingly invincible Patriots, that it hit me:

God cares about the football.

As the Patriots stormed through the regular season and the first two rounds of the playoffs undefeated, I lamented that it signaled that God did not care about football. A God who cared about football would not reward a team for cheating and poor sportsmanship. Yet week after week the Patriots continued to win and a championship seemed their manifest destiny. Patriots ownership even trademarked 19-0, Perfect Season, Road to Perfect and 19-0: A Season of Perfection. Yet, just when the Patriots were poised to finish off their perfect season and join the 1972 Dolphins as the only team’s to finish an NFL season undefeated, God aided the Giants final drive and reminded us that his love of the gridiron had not waned.

In retrospect, it seems so obvious. In Week 17, the Giants decided to risk injury and play their starting lineups for the entire game in a meaningless contest against the Patriots. The Giants had nothing to gain from the game – they had already clinched the sixth seed in the NFC playoffs – but in the spirit of fair play and good sportsmanship, they decided to try and knock off the still unbeaten Patriots. During that game, young Quarterback Eli Manning shed his previous inconsistency and, almost instantly, transformed into a Pro-Bowl caliber quarterback. Similarly, the unpredictable Giants defense shut down what many believed to be an unstoppable Patriots offense for three quarters, before narrowly collapsing in the end. At the time I attributed the Giants inexplicable improvement to the magnitude of the game and their desire to end the Patriots run at history. Had I only believed, I would have seen God broadcasting his plan.

But the signs didn’t end there. While playing the Giants, Tony Romo and the NFC’s highest scoring offense somehow couldn’t score, even though they had the ball in the red zone twice in a row with less then three minutes to play. The following week, Brett Favre seemed to age thirty years before our eyes. After summarily dismantling the Seahawks, Favre looked old and tired against the Giants. But even with his poor play, the Packers appeared to have victory in their grasp when they won possession of the ball to start overtime. Then, in what should have been an obvious sign from above, Favre threw an atrocious interception on the first play of overtime, which set up a game winning 49 yard field goal for Giants placekicker Lawrence Tynes, who had missed his two previous attempts. The signs were there all along, I just lacked the faith to see them.

Looking back on the season, what strikes me most the Giants improbable rise to prominence and eventual Super Bowl victory, is that, while many fans and media members lost faith that anyone could beat the Patriots, the Giants never lost faith. In fact, during the week leading up to the Super Bowl, Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress proclaimed that the Giants were going to win 23-17. Normally, when a player guarantees a victory, especially in a game as big as the Super Bowl, he comes across as cocky, arrogant and foolish. In contrast, Plaxico appeared level headed and confident. (Faithful J-Bors will attribute this to Plaxico obeying the J-Borhood etiquite of the guarantee.) Plaxico had faith. Perhaps, if others had maintained as strong faith as Plaxico, they would have succeeded in knocking off the Patriots.

Earlier in the season, the Ravens seemingly stopped the Patriots on fourth down at the end of the game to win the game, except their Defensive Coordinator, Rex Ryan, called a time out right before the play because he did not trust his players to make the stop. Rex Ryan lacked faith.

When the San Diego Chargers played the Patriots in the AFC Championship, they came out fired up and were within striking distance in the fourth quarter when they faced a fourth down in Patriots territory. Rather then put his trust in his offense and try to convert the first down, coach Norv Turner played it safe and punted the ball. Needless to say, the Chargers never got the ball back. Norv Turner lacked faith.

Finally, in the Super Bowl, Patriots coach Bill Belicheck made an unsuccessful attempt to convert on fourth and 13 rather then allow his second year kicker the opportunity to try a 49 yard field goal in a game which the Patriots would lose by three. Bill Belicheck lacked faith.

The Giants, on the other hand, never lacked faith. Even when Tom Brady led the Patriots on their customary late fourth quarter drive to take the lead, the Giants maintained their swagger. After the score, I, like many others, figured the game was over and that the Patriots had once again eked out a narrow Super Bowl victory. The cameras showed a close up of Teddy Bruschi hugging Juinor Seau on the Patriots sideline saying “You’ve got your ring. You’ve got your ring.” (I’m not sure which display of overconfidence was most ridiculous, The Boston Globe selling pre-orders of their new book “19-0”, Bill Simmons writing an article that tried to determine whether the 19-0 Patriots were a better team then the 1986 Celtics or Teddy Bruschi declaring victory minutes before surrendering the game winning touchdown on defense.) Only, the Giants never got the memo. They marched 80 yards in just over two minutes and secured the greatest Super Bowl upset since Broadway Joe led the Jets over the Colts.

God, as people often say, works in mysterious ways. The signs of his work, while obvious in retrospect, are easy to overlook when they occur. In spite of my recent revelations and return to faith, I almost missed God’s final calling card in regards to the Super Bowl. While researching for this article, I learned that Super Bowl XVII was the second most watched TV program of all time, behind the only the final episode of M.A.S.H. This didn’t mean much to me at first, until I learned the name of the episode:

“Goodbye, Farewell and Amen”

Amen, indeed.