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
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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.