TAMPA – Typical Super Bowl story, Brandon Stokley.
Who?
Exactly.
You didn’t know much about Luis Sojo before he drove in the winning run in the Yankees’ World Series clinching game either, did you?
In case you’re wondering who this Stokley is, in our infinite wisdom to bring the readers every iota of information about as many players as we can during the hype week that leads up to the Super Bowl, we’re guilty as charged for omitting Stokley from our list.
After all, the second-year Ravens’ receiver had caught all of one pass in the 1999 season and he’d been somewhat of a role player this season, with 11 catches for 184 yards and two touchdowns.
So who knew he’d become one of the 2001 Super Bowl heroes?
As it turned out, the Giants’ defensive staff and players must have spent about as much time investigating what kind of a factor Stokley could be in the game as we did in our analysis.
Stokley, on one flashy play, completely turned the momentum of Super Bowl XXXV last night by catching a 38-yard touchdown pass from much-maligned Ravens quarterback Trent Dilfer just 8:10 into the game.
“Unbelievable man. Who would have thought of it?” Stokley said. “I worked hard for this moment. (The Giants) tried to take away our running game, which gave us one-on-one coverage on the corners. I got behind (Jason Sehorn) and Trent made a great throw.
“All I wanted was the ball to be thrown to me and I knew I could make a play on it. It was great.”
The play of Stokley’s life gave the Ravens a 7-0 lead, which might not sound like much. But the way the dominant Ravens’ defense has played, 7-0 feels much more like 21-0.
On the play, Stokley charred Sehorn with a quick move and then a bolt down the left sideline.
Dilfer put the ball right where it had to be – connecting with Stokley in stride.
For the Giants, it was a stunning development considering that Sehorn is considered the fastest player on their roster.
After Sehorn was dragged into the end zone by Stokley, he got up and glared at teammate, safety Shaun Williams, who bit on a Dilfer look to the left at tight end Shannon Sharpe and was late to help Sehorn.
Stokley was the Ravens’ fourth-round pick in the 1999 draft out of Southwestern Louisiana University, where his father, Nelson, was the head coach. He holds every receiving record at Southwestern Louisiana.
And, in a bit of irony, the Giants should have known about Stokley, because he made an acrobatic game-winning catch against them in a 28-24 preseason win in ’99.
Oh yes, Stokley’s one catch in the ’99 regular season was a 28-yard touchdown reception. So big plays are obviously a part of his resume, none bigger than last night’s catch.