He had been to this point three previous times as the general manager of a team, and three times he has failed, which is why Ernie Accorsi sees trouble lurking behind every corner. The man can talk about defeat. Yesterday, he knew only triumph.
“You don’t dream of a moment like this,” Accorsi said, still scanning the scene and the crowd on the field while Giants Stadium was in full celebration mode. “You try to envision what the moment would be like but in this stadium, with this crowd, that’s why I came down early, just to feel it. In your wildest dreams, you think of a moment like this.”
While working for the Browns, Accorsi’s team made it to the AFC Championship Game three times, and each title game ended in heartache. But with 12:30 remaining in the fourth quarter yesterday, Accorsi bravely left the press box, finally feeling confident that the Giants were about to take him where he has never gone before. The Giants led 41-0 and soon enough, the Vikings were officially removed from the NFC Championship Game.
For an NFL veteran who has adopted New York as his new home, Accorsi loves to gauge the mood of his new city. It wasn’t difficult to determine what the city was thinking yesterday.
“I know this sounds like a politically correct thing to say, but in New York you can’t top it,” he said.
It was Accorsi who put Jim Fassel’s plan in motion and re-designed the Giants after last season’s 7-9 swoon. It was Accorsi who was the point man in the gamble of signing Kerry Collins. It was Accorsi who rebuilt the offensive line by bringing in Lomas Brown, Glenn Parker and Dusty Zeigler. It was Accorsi who signed cornerback Dave Thomas, who blanketed Cris Carter so effectively yesterday.
“I’m just happy for everybody in this organization, but I’m really happy for Kerry,” Accorsi said.