From UAlbany to Arizona ... New York Giants Are Super Bowl XLII Champions

Courtesy: UAlbany Sports Information

Glendale, Ariz. – Eli Manning hooked up with Plaxico Buress on a 13-yard touchdown pass with 35 seconds remaining in lifting the New York Giants to an improbable 17-14 victory over the previously unbeaten and heavily favored New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII on Sunday, Feb. 3.

Manning, the Super Bowl MVP, and the wild-card Giants (14-6) pulled off the upset with a 12-play drive that covered 83 yards in the final minutes of play. The Patriots, who finished 18-1, had taken a 14-10 lead with 2:42 left when Tom Brady hit Randy Moss with a 6-yard scoring pass. The fantastic finish capped the Giants run to the NFL title with playoff road wins against Tampa Bay, Dallas and Green Bay.

Head coach Tom Coughlin and the Giants’ journey to the championship started in the Capital Region on the UAlbany campus last summer. The Giants have held their annual training camp at the University since 1996.

“This is a thrilling time for the many people on this campus who put their heart and soul into Giants training camp each summer,” UAlbany Director of Athletics Lee McElroy said. “It is particularly appropriate than in a year where the University named the football practice field after former owners Wellington Mara and Robert Tisch that the Giants would achieve their ultimate goal ... a Super Bowl championship.”

The Giants, who also won Super Bowl championships to cap the 1986 and 1990 campaigns, will most assuredly receive a hearty welcome back to UAlbany when the NFL team returns for its 13th training camp in July.