The moments emerged 10 years ago, but maintain a newborn’s shine: Wes Welker’s drop. Manning to Manningham. Ahmad Bradshaw’s failed attempt to stay out of the end zone.
The memories remain vivid — more significant than all but a limited selection of plays in the Giants’ 97-year history — as the catalysts for the franchise’s second Super Bowl upset of the Patriots.
To Jake Ballard, it all felt miles away. He was in the building, but in the dark.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Giants’ starting tight end was marching down the field with Eli Manning. In the final minutes, Ballard was in the locker room, the most curious man in America. Cheers thundered through the bowels of Lucas Oil Stadium, with no way to decipher New England’s momentum from New York’s. There was no TV nearby, no radio, no smartphone. There was no way for Ballard to walk, no means to move the injured player.