Super Bowl XLII: One of the Greatest Games of All Time

“I never thought about them even playing college ball, much less pro football, much less winning Super Bowls or MVPs,” says their father, ARCHIE MANNING, who himself played 13 years in the NFL and is the New Orleans Saints’ career passing yardage leader. “It wasn’t in the plan. We tried to raise kids just like other parents raised their kids. I can’t explain it.”

60 TONS OF SALUTE

In New York City, it’s called the “Canyon of Heroes,” the section of lower Broadway and the Financial District that is the epicenter of the city’s ticker-tape parades that have saluted everyone from Charles Lindbergh to John Glenn. On Tuesday, it kicked off a New York-New Jersey Super Bowl salute to the Giants.

Approximately one million New Yorkers lined the route as a snowstorm of shredded paper estimated at 60 tons rained down from Manhattan’s skyscrapers onto the champs as they motored on red, white and blue floats up Broadway to City Hall to receive the keys to New York City from Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. New York Governor Eliot Spitzer and U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer also attended.

“I’ve been to Mardi Gras, New Year’s Eve in Times Square and Carnivale in Rio, and this beats them all,” said Giants fan Lori Pletenik.

Then it was on to a stage at the 50-yard line at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey where roughly 35,000 fans, including former New Jersey Governor Richard J. Codey, saluted the Giants in their home stadium. Summarizing the salute to his team in Manhattan and the Meadowlands, Giants head coach Tom Coughlin described the day perfectly:

“This is the greatest pep rally I’ve ever attended.”

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