THE goal is not to be defeated before the game ever starts, not to be distracted and so bent out of shape that the week leading up to the Super Bowl deteriorates so badly the team feels as if it has run through a gauntlet full of thorns and land mines.
In five days, the Giants touch down in Tampa and the hysteria begins. An endless barrage of interviews and bright lights and microphones, questions, always questions, some probing, others pandering. Some revel in the worldwide attention, others prefer to crawl into a shell and wait for everyone to leave, which, or course, they never do.
Just as Jim Fassel and his assistants yesterday were completing the final touches of the gameplan to be used on the field against the Ravens in Super Bowl XXXV, so too have other plans been set in motion to ensure the Giants a smooth ride toward Super Sunday.
Just as the Giants believe their coaching staff gives them an edge, so too are they certain their ability to handle the upcoming media onslaught will showcase their team, not crush it under the weight of intense scrutiny.
“It’s not like we’re going to the Super Bowl from some outpost,” said Pat Hanlon, the Giants vice president of communications. “We’re going to the Super Bowl from the media capital of the world.”
It is Hanlon’s job to coordinate with Fassel and devise the best way for the Giants to balance the staggering media demands that the NFL imposes with the team’s intense desire to maintain a business-as-usual approach. Fassel will conduct massive press conferences for six consecutive days, starting Sunday night, and players are mandated to sit for interviews every day up until Friday. When Fassel mused “if we can fit in practice with all the media requests” he was exaggerating, but only slightly.
Some teams grow tighter and tighter as the week progresses, others bask in the glow of constant attention. General manager Ernie Accorsi is convinced the Colts in 1969 lost Super Bowl III to the Jets before the game was ever played. “Distractions,” Accorsi said. “I don’t think it’s overrated, I think it’s very important. The great thing about this organization is we have a plan.”
The plan is put in motion by Hanlon, who is regarded as perhaps the best in the league at what he does. Following the guidelines set down from the highest possible source, co-owners Wellington Mara and Bob Tisch, Hanlon runs a media-friendly operation, which should allow the Giants to slip comfortably into the wild times that await them down south.
Already, Hanlon is prepared with a streamlined schedule for Kerry Collins, who figures to be one of the most sought-after interviews on either side. His personal story has a made-for-TV appeal, the tale of a golden boy who hit the skids because he hit the bottle before he confronted his personal demons and rose to prominence with the Giants.
During his two years with the Giants, Collins has displayed remarkable patience in reprising his troubled life and his drinking problems. Last Thursday, for the first time, he admitted he was sick of talking about it. A few days before that revelation, Collins told Hanlon some sort of restrictions would be needed if the Giants advanced to the Super Bowl.
Left unattended, Collins would be forced to recount his story so often that it might be impossible for him to keep his head in the game. Hanlon’s plan will not please everyone, but it will protect his quarterback. Collins, probably on Monday afternoon, will hold a private press conference, lasting 30 minutes. “Anybody can ask him anything they want to about the life and times of Kerry Collins,” Hanlon said. “From that point forward Kerry’s approach the rest of the week will be he’s going to discuss our team, the game, his season but not rehash his personal life for the 1,000th time.”
It sounds reasonable, but reason and the Super Bowl rarely are connected. The largest media gathering of the week, other than the game itself, is Tuesday, otherwise known as Picture Day, which will take place at Raymond James Stadium. What if crews arrive that day in hopes of hearing Collins give his version of a drinking life?
“I don’t think the circus that is media day is the appropriate setting or forum to have that discussion,” Hanlon said firmly. “He understands his story is going to be one of interest to everybody who’s there, he understands he’s obligated to tell it, so what we’re telling people is this is when he’s going to tell it.”
For the past two weeks, it almost seemed as if the Giants were auditioning for a lead role in the Super Bowl. Most teams leading up to the conference title games do little to accommodate the influx of national media other than to open the locker room, as usual, and in effect say “Go get ’em.” On occasion, a team will make a marquee player or two available in a special setting. Last week in Minnesota, star attraction Randy Moss did not speak. Not once.
“There’s not one guy on this team who’s even come close to saying ‘I don’t want to do that,'” said Hanlon, whose message is delivered either in person or by his assistants.
Prior to the playoff games with the Eagles and Vikings, Hanlon produced a parade of players into a comfortable interview room, the sort of access that is rarely, if ever, expected prior to the Super Bowl.
“The challenge,” Hanlon said, “is to do what [Fassel] has done and what this team has done, which is to maintain our routine and focus of why we’re there. The support people around this team, that’s our job.”
The way the job is done is the reason the Giants are confident they will not be beaten before the Super Bowl ever starts.
PRIME-TIME SAYERS: GIANT MEDIA STARS IN THE MAKING
The barrage awaits. There is no more grand stage than the one available the week leading up to the Super Bowl, and some players make the most of it and become media stars. Here’s a handicapper’s guide to five Giants players who will not disappoint when it comes to telling it like it is.:
LOMAS BROWN: Like old man river, his words just keep rollin’ along. Everyone loves the story of The Long Wait and no one tells it quite like this affable left tackle. Hint: Ask him what it was like to play with Bobby Layne.
MICHEAL BARROW: The master of the colorful analogy. Called Media Mike from his days with the Oilers and Panthers, did nothing to disprove that moniker in New York. Hint: Ask him about his buddy and fellow linebacker Jessie Armstead.
GREG COMELLA: The Thinking Man’s Fullback from Stanford who has an interesting way of looking at things. Don’t be scared off by those intense eyes. Instant local angle for Boston-based media. Hint: Ask him about running the Ramapo hill with Tiki Barber.
GLENN PARKER: Looks like a biker with shaved head, goatee and tattoos, but he’s as interesting a character as you’ll meet. Offensive lineman with inquisitive mind, insightful answers and self-deprecating humor about his roundish body. Hint: Ask him about his four Super Bowl losses or about this year’s Merlot.
MICHAEL STRAHAN: The Giants Toastmaster at defensive end. Best story-teller on the team, the go-to guy for quotes about other players. Sensitive and sometimes touchy, but won’t be this week. Hint: Don’t ask him about New York media.