My First Super Bowl

My first Super Bowl was, to say the least, an incredible experience. It brought back childhood memories when my dad took me to New York Giant football games at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. Back then, the teams were coached by guys like Allie Sherman. The quarterbacks names were Charley Connerly, Y.A Tittle and Fran Tarkenton. Players like Spider Lockhart, Dick Lynch, Homer Jones and Pete Gogolak were the heroes then. It also meant going for years without world championship, quality teams.

But just how did this Honduran radio host and writer for “Honduras This Week” end up in Phoenix attending the game? It all started when members of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (in Arizona, U.S.A.), one of the largest county sheriff offices in the U.S., came here to help improve and train police on both the mainland and on The Bay Islands. I invited them on my radio show twice to talk about all the good and selfless work they were doing to help the security and safety on our island as part of their international Partnership in Service and Justice Program.

After the shows, they reminded me that the Super Bowl was going to be in their county in 2008 and they were one of the key security organizations for the event. They invited me to visit them in Phoenix and said they would help me arrange press credentials to cover the game. That was less than a year ago. It never left my mind that I might be able to attend my first Super Bowl.

When they returned with a another team of police officers six months later, the second group also asked me if I wanted to go, and of course, I thought about going again. But as it got closer to Super Bowl time, it was looking less and less possible. At the time, I was just getting 106.5 FM on its feet after taking over as manager just weeks before – the timing was not right.

Giants VS Packers

That was about the time I watched the Giants play the Packers on that freezing cold day in Green Bay two weeks before the Super Bowl. I never expected the Giants to win, much less that the Giants would be traveling to Phoenix to play the big game. Even after I saw them win the NFC Championship, it still didn’t fully dawn on me that they were in the big game until minutes later when I heard the announcer say that the Giants were headed to the Super Bowl.

I quickly called my contact in Phoenix to see what had to be done to go. After several calls, I learned the next day that the NFL cleared my press credentials. I decided to take a big leap of faith, call the airlines and make my reservations. Two days earlier when I first called, the tickets were one price. That night, instead of being more expensive, they were $150 less. Almost a no-brainer: I purchased them.

Uh oh! 

Five days later and the night before I was to fly, I got a call telling me that although the NFL did clear my credentials, there was a problem getting all the necessary security clearances. Here I was, airline tickets in hand and uncertain whether I would actually get into the game. What should I do - take this chance to do something my dad never got to do in his lifetime, or stay home?

I went to sleep telling my wife I wasn’t going to go. I woke up from my sleep the next morning after dreaming what it would feel like not going to what it felt like if I took a leap of faith. Against all intellectual reasoning, the overwhelming feeling was to just go and give it a shot.

Going to Phoenix 

I arrived in Phoenix late Saturday night, mere hours before the Sunday night kick-off. The next day, a friend took me down to see another mutual friend and we were treated to a wonderful party with terrific food. He also whispered in my ear that he would come out at half time to give me his ticket so I could at least see half of the game.

What a relief - and what a guy! My dream came true. I was going to the Super Bowl. It didn’t matter that it was going to be the second half. I was going and couldn’t have been happier!

With our VIP pass, we were escorted through a private entrance to a great restaurant and ate, compliments of the house - some of the largest, best-tasting shrimp I ever had (must have come from Honduran waters) along with sliced tenderloin along and lots of other food I had not tasted in a long, long time.

In the middle of the meal, my friend received a phone call. He said, “Come on…let’s go!”

I looked up with a mouth full of tasty morsels managing to say, “And leave this great food?”

He said, “Yes, right now. We have to go!”

“Oh my God,” I thought to myself. I gobbled up as much as I could and we left. “Where are we going?” I asked.

Going? Going?…Yes, Going! 

He told me there was a chance there might be a donated ticket for me to attend the entire game. I tried not to get too excited, but it was difficult. When we arrived, a ticket was put in my hands. I could not believe my eyes. My intuition did not let me down. I was going to my first Super Bowl game!

After a vigorous pat-down, I walked past security guards. Upon entering the new University of Phoenix Stadium, I found my aisle, number 139. I looked down at the ticket for the first time. It said row 20. I looked down at the row I was standing at. It was row 59. I kept walking lower and lower, further and further down until I reached row 20. I looked down at the field and said to myself, the seat I just got five minutes before were for 20 rows from the field!

I found myself sitting in a VIP section behind the goalposts. A lady walked right over to me and slapped a red bracelet on my wrist just as I saw the kickoff. She told me I could drink and eat all I wanted. The restaurant food was just below the stairway. When I finally sat down, the long tables in front of each of the rows of seats in the area was loaded with fresh, buttered popcorn and barrels of candy including M&M’s, both plain and peanut, nuts, and just about any other snack one could ever want. I was feelin’ pretty good!

Experience of a Lifetime

In a section of mostly Giants fans, I was sitting on one of three Super Bowl cushions that eventually came home with me. I was truly in ‘heaven on earth’ and heard San Francisco Hall of fame quarterback Steve Young say the same thing several times over the huge sound system and scoreboard when he described his career during commercial time-outs.

The 7 -3 Patriots lead at halftime was the second lowest halftime score in Super Bowl history, mostly because of the excellent defense by both teams.

Halftime was another memorable experience, but not because of the halftime show. Before I left on the trip, I had sent some e-mails telling fellow football fans where I was headed. My oldest high school friend, Ken Hale, wrote back telling me he was going too, and would be in section 115. So at half time, I took a walk to look for him.

Finding my Long Time High School Friend 

When I finally found section 115 located clear across field, I tried to rush by the attendant to look for Kenny. It didn’t work. She stopped me and said I could not go down there without my ticket. I said ‘please?’ She said…’no!’ I told her my ticket cost more than the tickets in that section and said I was looking for an old high school friend who I hadn’t seen in years. I pleaded my case, “You can watch me go up and down the aisle. If I don’t see him, I will be right up.”

She looked at me for a few seconds and said, “Okay.”

I knew if Kenny was there I would find him, because he went prematurely grey at a fairly young age. So I looked for the guy with grey hair. On the way down, I didn’t see anyone that looked like him. Being a little disappointed, I started back up from field level until I saw someone who kind of looked like him. I hadn’t seen him in 15 years, so I was not sure. I yelled Kenny’s name across several people to see if it was him. That person who turned to look at me stared at me for a few seconds and then flashed big smile. I found my friend!

We had a great talk during the Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers half time concert. With another near miracle under my belt, I walked back to my seat and watched the second half, wondering if the Giants were going to stay with those Patriots after they woke up and started playing. I was not confident.

Back to the Second Half 

The Giants continued to play incredible defense, as they had most of the season. They won the last 10 games in a row away from home without a loss. That was an all-time NFL record. Then, as the “wild card” team, they had to remain on the road for three final tough games against Tampa Bay, Dallas and Green Bay to get to the Super Bowl.

In the second half, the Giants scored first with a touchdown to make it 10-7. In the fourth quarter, the Patriots scored to make it 14-10 with just a little over two minutes to go. The Giants needed a miracle, a prayer and a touchdown or they would lose.

The next two football minutes were the most exciting I had ever witnessed. The Giants received the kick-off and seconds later, the receiver was tackled immediately behind the 20 yard line. Eli Manning, the youngest of the quarterback Manning’s, would had to pull every ounce of skill he had to pull this off. Big brother Payton won last year’s Super Bowl against the Chicago Bears. Who would believe that one year later, baby brother Eli had two minutes to match that incredible achievement with one of his own. The Giants would have to go over 80 yards to do it. The Giants’ prospects looked dim.

After an initial terrible desperation pass, the young, inexperienced Giant quarterback took a deep breath and started his attack down field. He threw pass after pass, first down after first down, one miraculous play after another.

A Play Never to be Forgotten in Super Bowl History 

The one unforgettable moment in this year’s Super Bowl? It was when Manning came away from a pack of marauding, hungry Patriot attackers, hands grabbing and pulling at his uniform, only to escape and complete an almost impossible pass downfield, the pass that led to an easy touchdown completion to put the Giants in the lead!

The stage was set for another New England Patriot exciting, last second win. They needed a field goal to tie, a touchdown to win. I had seen them do just that several times in the last year or so. I was just waiting for the onslaught to begin. It never happened.

Michael Strahan and gang sacked Brady. One pass after another failed to connect with receivers. Another Patriot miracle was not meant to be.

Giants Win!! 

Eli Manning won the game with pinpoint passes to receivers who caught them with fingertip precision. As the clock ticked down, the stadium, filled with well over 40,000 Giant fans, started its celebration. It was an overwhelming experience. Moments later, Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” brought down the house. Tears streaked down faces. Was it true? Yes it was….the New York Giants were the 2008 Super Bowl champs!

 

Tags: Eli Manning, football, New York, New York Giants, New York sports, NFL, Super Bowl