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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 8, 2012)
Portland Observer Page 12 B 13Ck H iS to ry M o n th Februaiy 8.2012 Super Wild Finish to NFL Season Manning leads Giants over New England IN D IA N A P O L IS (A P) - Tom Brady let his final pass fly toward the scrum of players in the end zone, hoping for an in credible finish. Uh-uh, Tom. Not in this city, and not in this game. Indianapolis is a Manning town, whether it's Peyton or Eli pulling out the wins. And the Super Bowl is suddenly the prov ince of the New York Giants, who have figured out how to topple Brady and the New En gland Patriots in the biggest moments. Eli Manning led another fourth- quarter touchdown drive and won his second Super Bowl MVP on Sunday night, leading the Giants to a 21 -17 victory that provided a pulsating finish to an NFL season that started with turmoil and a lockout. "It's been a wild game," said Manning, who now has one more Super Bowl title than his older brother. "It’s been a wild sea son." A wild finish was certainly fitting. The Giants (13-7) almost didn't make the playoffs, needing a lot of help at 7-7 with two games left. Their defense finally came together, and Manning gave them a chance in every game with his penchant for comebacks — a league-record 15 touchdowns in the fourth quarter. O f course, his greatest career com eback was in that Super Bowl four years ago, when the L egal N otices I Need to p u b lish a co urt document or notice? Need an affidavit of publication quickly and efficiently? Please fax or e- mail your notice for a free price quote! Fax: 503 -2 8 8 -0 0 1 5 •-mall: classlfl eds@portlandobserver.com The Portland Observer New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz (80) and kicker Lawrence Tynes (9) celebrate with the Vince Lombardi Trophy after the Giants' 21-17 win over the New England Patriots in NFL Super Bowl XLVI. (AP photo) O nce M an n in g h am cam e Patriots were undefeated and Welker. "It's one of those plays dow n with it, the G iants sensed Manning led a late scoring drive I've made a thousand times." Manning's turn for more Su- things had turned their way, that included an enduring Super ju st like four years earlier. Bowl moment — the incredible per Bowl magic. He threw a spot-on 38-yard "I think they are both spec- catch David Tyree made by trap- ping the ball against his helmet, pass down the sideline to M ario tacular catches," G iants coach The Patriots (15-4) had a M anningham , fitting the ball Tom C oughlin said. "I think chance to avoid more such his- perfectly betw een two defen- with M ario's earlier tonight, the tory on Sunday. Brady, trying to sive backs barreling dow n on way he kept his feet inbounds match boyhood hero Joe Mon- the receiver. M anningham got and held onto the ball (w hile) tana and Terry Bradshaw with both feet dow n before getting going out o f bounds was a re- four Super Bowl titles, had New sm acked out o f bounds in front m arkable thing." England in range to put it away o f the Patriots' bench, a catch The Patriots were thinking late in the fourth quarter. that was upheld on replay and the sam e thing, too. Wes Welker dropped a pass rem inded the 68,658 fans at "I thought that play they at the 20-yard line with 4 min- Lucas Oil Stadium — one in m ade on our sideline was a utes left, forcing a punt that gave particular — about that other phenom enal throw and catch," the Giants another chance trail- catch four years earlier. Brady said. "That got them ing 17-15. "In those situations, you are going." "It comes to the biggest mo- alw ays looking to see who is They got down to the 6-yard ment of my life, and (I) don't going to be the guy," Tyree line w ith ju st over a m inute left come up with it, "said a red-eyed said, in the G iants locker room, and the Patriots dow n to one tim eout. New York could have run the clock dow n to a few seconds and kicked a field goal. Patriots coach Bill Belichick did the math and decided on a trade-off: Give up a touchdown for some tim e. New England pulled up and allow ed Ahm ad Bradshaw to run the final 6 yards with 57 seconds left. Once Bradshaw realized what was happening, he tried to stop at the 1-yard line to keep the clock going but ended up falling backward into the end zone. Brady w ould get one last chance with the Giants defense bearing down on him, as it al ways does. Defensive end Jus tin Tuck huddled the New York defense after a touchback on the kickoff left the ball at the 20- yard line. "I think a lot of guys had their eyes lit up," Tuck said. "This is what we've been working for all year, and we've got 57 seconds left to be world champs." B rady set a S uper Bow l record by com pleting 16 con secutive passes earlier in the g a m e , to p p in g M o n ta n a 's record. W hen he needed sev eral quick com pletions to get m oving in the last m inute, he couldn't do it. Manning was 10 of 14 for 118 yards in the final quarter with his seventh game-winning drive of the season. Overall, he com pleted 30 of 40 for 296 yards with a touchdown and no inter ceptions, leading the Giants to their fourth Super Bowl champi onship — two behind Pittsburgh for the record. "It just feels good to win a Super Bowl," Eli said. "Doesn't matter where you are." Coach Earns Sportsmanship Award Naaman Yarbrough a role model for Portland youth Each year, students from Self Enhance ment join hundreds of other kids from across the Portland area to participate in the Tualatin Valley Football League; teaching children the value of athletic competition in a safe and enjoyable environment. • •••*» SEI Football Coach Naaman Yarbrough not only single-handedly led his team of 3rd and 4th graders to victory this year, he also picked up the esteemed W ellnitz Award for sportsmanship along the way. “N aam an is com m itted, dedicated and ju st flat out a good coach. This is an extrem ely difficult aw ard to win, and it is w ell-deserved,” said Tony M elson, SEI sports outreach coordinator. “N aam an had quite a few younger and inexperi enced kids on his team this year. N ot only did he coach them to victory, he m anaged to teach them the value of true sports m anship.” When Naaman was a young man, he was also a part of the SEI program, along with the majority of his siblings. Because of his time at SEI, and through the attentions of his coordinator and mentor Richard Fortson, Naaman was able to suc ceed after high school, and in turn, become a role model for a new generation of youth in need of guidance.
