One Giant Feels 'Honored' to Have Beaten Pats in Super Bowl

One thing that struck me as odd is that so many of my fellow Giants fans seem so damn angered and incensed at the mere thought of the New England Patriots. They hate them, often with every fiber of their being!

That honestly perplexes me on several levels because, as a Giants fan, does it not feel like an honor that your team was the only one of five different teams in the Brady/Belichick era that actually defeated the Patriots in the Super Bowl?

Since 2001, the Patriots qualified for the Super Bowl six times. They knocked off the Rams, the Panthers, the Eagles, and the Seahawks. But they got beat by the Giants. Twice.

That's pretty impressive! It was not enough for me to root for the Patriots on Super Bowl Sunday, but I do not loathe them. And as disappointed as I was that Seattle did not win, a consolation prize was, indeed, that the Giants still hold that distinction as the one and only team, so far, in this era, to have beaten the Patriots once they qualify for the big game.

This was not the case the last time that the Giants won Super Bowls. Remember that the Giants were the first team in the eighties to beat John Elway and the Broncos? But they were far from the last, and each of the Broncos losses were by wider and wider margins, so Washington and San Francisco beat the Broncos even worse than the Giants managed to do.

Then, the Giants barely held off an explosive Buffalo Bills squad, and won their second Super Bowl by a single point, clinching it when Scott Norwood's field goal sailed just wide right right at the end of the fourth quarter. But Washington dismantled Buffalo the next season, and Dallas embarrassed them twice in a row after that, so New York's victory looked a lot less unique.

So, for purely selfish reasons, I am taking pleasure in the fact that the Giants actually managed to not only beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl -twice -  but am also taking some comfort also in the fact that they were the only team that managed to do so.

Steve Weatherford, the punter for the 2011 Super Bowl champion Giants, remembers well his experiences back then, and how joyous the entire team was after defeating the New England Patriots to take the title.

And that led to him pulling for New England this time around, largely for the reason that I already mentioned - if the Seahawks lost (which we know they did), then the Giants retain the unique distinction as the only NFC team to have beaten the Pats in the big game during the Brady/ Belichick era.

Hey, I know it's a reach to "celebrate" that fact. But, then again, following a miserable 6-10 season, Giants fans should find something to celebrate, right?



Giants' Weatherford: 'Honored' to have Belichick and Brady's Super Bowl number By Anthony Sulla-Heffinger February 5, 2015 5:54 PM Shutdown Corner


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