(This story originally appeared in the 2017 New Era Pinstripe Bowl Program.)
There’s a catch from Super Bowl XLVII that everyone remembers, and it’s not the one that won the game. David Tyree’s helmet catch is iconic, the type of thing you never forget once you see it.
But it wasn’t until a few plays later, when Plaxico Burress reeled in a perfectly placed toss from Eli Manning, that the Giants actually scored the go-ahead touchdown that would vanquish the up-until-then undefeated Patriots. Time stopped as Burress sat under the ball, one of the truly great frozen sports memories of my life. I’m a lifelong Giants fan, a bit too young to have fully appreciated Super Bowls XXI and XXV. And that Patriots team was so good; had they won, there’s no doubt that they would have gone down as the greatest team in NFL history. About two weeks later, my sister-in-law gave birth to a baby girl; had it been a boy, I think she and my brother would have had a real fight as to whether the newborn Jewish baby could be named Plaxico.
I’m a Michigan grad, with a not-small soft spot for Tom Brady. My freshman year, we were undefeated heading into East Lansing, where Burress put on a show that I still remember nearly two decades later. One highlight was when Michigan coach Lloyd Carr, out of ideas, sent out his top receiver, David Terrell, to see if he could somehow stop the Spartans’ superstar wideout. Not quite. Burress barreled over Terrell. Even as a Michigan fan, I had to laugh.
Obviously, after the touchdown catch, things turned quickly for Burress, whose stupid mistake in a nightclub took him from Super Bowl hero to cautionary tale. But for the 2017 New Era Pinstripe Bowl Program, I chatted with the receiver during a ceremony at Yankee Stadium honoring that Giants team. He was perfectly open about his mistakes, willing to revel in his successes, and generally incredibly pleasant. I hate when Spartans prove to be decent guy (kidding).
98-102 BURRESS FEATURE