Meet Brady's Worst Nightmare
BY DAVE HOLLANDER,
AOL
Posted: 2008-02-07 13:42:20
Justin Tuck: A Football Hero
After harassing Tom Brady all night long at Super Bowl XLII, registering two sacks, a forced fumble and six tackles to his credit, Justin Tuck didn’t go to Disney World. He spoke with us. The Giants defensive end who rose to the big game occasion carefully considers his next family BBQ with cousin and Patriot Adalius Thomas, explains why Steve Spagnoulo is a good listener and wonders if Tom Brady gets sacked and nobody hears it does it mean it didn’t make noise?
Dave Hollander: Most of the NFL can’t answer this question but you can: What sound does Tom Brady make when he hits the ground?
Justin Tuck: He really doesn’t make any sound, not that I noticed. All quarterbacks make the same sound. It’s a clinking of the pads. It just depends what kind of hit you get on ‘em.
DH: Did he say anything as he was getting up?
JT: We had some back and forth. He would tell me to slow down and I would tell him to “Hold the ball a little longer.” Other than that, there wasn’t too much dialogue going on.
DH: On your second sack you forced a fumble recovered by Osi Umenyiora, killing a Patriot drive. How big did that ball look to you as you approached from his back side?
JT: Honestly I don’t even remember seeing a ball. I just remember coming from the back side and I knew he still had the ball in his hands, so I was trying to grab his hand and luckily I was able to get hold of the ball. He looked huge. The ball didn’t. I don’t know if he saw me or not but that was probably the biggest play of my career so far.
DH: For the full sixty minutes your Giants front four rushed Brady like pack of starving dogs let out of their cages. Was there something you guys saw on tape that gave you special confidence?
JT: I think it was just a combination of nobody giving us a shot and we got tired of hearing it. We wanted to go out there and really beat up on this football team. We knew the more physical team would win and that’s the approach we took. We just went out there and let it all hang out on the football field. No way was anybody gonna be like “You know what I had some left” after this football game. Nobody had anything left. Everybody gave it their all. That’s the beautiful thing about it. You just go out there, you play football and things start going your way.
DH: You manhandled their Pro Bowl guard Logan Mankins. Was there something you noticed about him or his stance this time that gave you the advantage?
JT: Just watching him and on film and watching myself on film, I noticed hadn’t been using the outside rush on him a lot. I had been mostly going inside on him in the previous game. And I noticed on film in our previous meeting that in general I hadn’t showed my speed on the outside. I was always trying to set up an inside move with my speed instead of faking inside and coming back outside. That’s something I practiced all week. And watching him on film, he is definitely susceptible to [the outside move]. So when we got to the game I finally had an opportunity to test my theory and lucky for me some things went right and I got a couple sacks.
DH: You guys shut down the highest scoring offense in NFL history. Some are saying it’s the greatest defensive performance in Super Bowl history. Have you been able to reflect on that at all?
JT: I really haven’t. I mean, I watched the game on the tapes we have and obviously we were flying around but you just don’t really get a concept of the game because it’s you playing it. But to hear the reaction from the fans, the coaches around the league and the other players around the league - I mean it’s starting to hit me. You know the Coach [Tom Coughlin] graded the film the other day and he told me it was probably my best effort of the year. So when people start coming up and saying things like that it starts to sink in. You start to step back and pay attention to the fact that you were actually a part of something special.
Postgame: Eli Manning hoists the Lombardi Trophy as Super Bowl XLII MVP after one of the all-time stunning upsets in sports history. Click through the photos to see how the Giants made it happen.
DH: Where were you for the Eli Manning escape and David Tyree catch?
JT: First time I saw it played back was in my hotel room after we got back from the game. And it was amazing. On the sideline I didn’t really see how he caught it on his helmet. I mean I was pacing up and down the sideline. I couldn’t sit down. I thought it was a great play when I saw it live, especially Eli eluding the rush and Tyree going up and getting the grab, but after I saw the replay of it and seeing him pin it up against his helmet – that was crazy. By far the best play I’ve ever seen.
DH: Everyone is lauding first-year defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. It seems like he called the right blitz at the right time almost every time. Want to add to the praise?
JT: The more and more we got to know him earlier in the year, the more we knew we had something special on our hands. Because he’s one of those coaches who goes beyond the X’s and O’s. He really listens to his players. There have been times when he sent in a play call and we sent it right back at him: “Coach, we don’t want to run that.” And he listens to us. That’s odd for a defensive coach, no less a defensive coordinator. The last play in Dallas when R.W. (McQuarters) got that interception, he sent in a blitz. Because he gives us the freedom to tell him what we really think, we said ‘Nah coach, let us rush with our down four and send more coverage back.” And he listens to it. That’s what sets him apart to every other coach I’ve had and every other coach in this league. Not only is he a genius but he also realizes we’re out there playing the game. We see things first hand so obviously we can give some insight on how thing are going on the football field. And he definitely listens to that.
DH: Many people point that third game of the season against Washington. You’re 0-2, down 17-3 at half then up 24-17 in the fourth quarter with :58 second left and the Redskins with first and goal at the 1-yard line. You held. What happened that day that changed your team?
JT: I don’t necessarily know if it was one thing. I think it was just a combination of everybody coming together in the locker room at halftime and believing in each other and knowing that if we play our style of football we can definitely pull this game out. It’s amazing what happens when 11 guys on a football field are thinking the same things and believing the same things. That’s exactly what we did. Once we got the opportunity to get that goal-line stand I think that was something that really catapulted us to do what we did the rest of the season.
DH: I definitely carried over the next week against Philly where you sacked Donavan McNabb 12 times, winning 16-3 (en route to a six-game winning streak).
JT: That was amazing. The effort we got that game, it was kind of like a video game. We could do no wrong. Osi definitely had a big game. Mathias Kiwanuka had a big game. And I had a big game. It came from a lot of different people. [Michael] Strahan had a sack. It was like a feeding frenzy. Once one person got a sack then another got a sack. We’re not selfish. We don’t want just one person getting the play. Me and Osi and me and Stray [Strahan] we always talk about it. Once one of us gets a sack the other one of us are definitely want to get one too, because we don’t want to listen the one guy that made the play take his bragging right all the rest of the week.
DH: You say people didn’t give you a shot. The last game of the season against the Patriots you lost in another great football game, 38-35. What message did that send to this Giants team?
JT: That we can play with anybody if we play our game. And we didn’t even play our best game. We played hard and still made some mistakes but at the end we still had the opportunity to win it. So we knew that if we played our style and saw them again we could definitely have a great chance of beating them. That’s basically what we got from that football game. It was a huge confidence boost.
DH: Do the playoff games against Tampa Bay, Dallas and Green Bay game seem like a blur right now?
JT: Man, it seems like years ago.
DH: You and Adalius Thomas are cousins. How’s that gonna work at the next family barbeque?
JT: We’ll find out in about two and a half weeks. There’s one set up back home in Alabama.
DH: Looks like somebody ought to be serving somebody else.
JT: (laughs) No comment on that whatsoever...
LOS ANGELES, CA - JULY 16: Actress Kate Walsh and NFL player Terrell Owens pose in the press room at the 2008 ESPY Awards held at NOKIA Theatre L.A. LIVE on July 16, 2008 in Los Angeles, California. The 2008 ESPYs will air on Sunday, July 20 at 9PM ET on ESPN. (Photo by Stephen Shugerman/Getty Images)
Getty Images
LOS ANGELES, CA - JULY 16: Actress Kate Walsh and NFL player Terrell Owens pose in the press room at the 2008 ESPY Awards held at NOKIA Theatre L.A. LIVE on July 16, 2008 in Los Angeles, California. The 2008 ESPYs will air on Sunday, July 20 at 9PM ET on ESPN. (Photo by Stephen Shugerman/Getty Images)
Getty Images
NFL athlete Eli Manning, center, accepts the award for best game for the New York Giants victory in Super Bowl XLII at the ESPYs Awards on Wednesday July 16, 2008 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)
AP
NFL athlete Eli Manning, center, accepts the award for best game for the New York Giants victory in Super Bowl XLII at the ESPYs Awards on Wednesday July 16, 2008 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)
AP
LOS ANGELES, CA - JULY 16: (L-R) Actress Kristen Bell, NFL athlete Adrian Peterson, actor Zac Efron and actress Sophia Bush pose with Adrian Peterson after Peterson won best breakthrough athlete at the 2008 ESPY Awards held at NOKIA Theatre L.A. LIVE on July 16, 2008 in Los Angeles, California. The 2008 ESPYs will air on Sunday, July 20 at 9PM ET on ESPN. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
Getty Images
Actress Kate Walsh and NFL athlete Terrell Owens present the award for best game at the ESPYs Awards on Wednesday July 16, 2008 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)
AP
Actress Kate Walsh and NFL athlete Terrell Owens present the award for best game at the ESPYs Awards on Wednesday July 16, 2008 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)
AP
Former NFL athlete Michael Strahan,of the New York Giants, accepts the award for best team given to the New York Giants at the ESPYs Awards on Wednesday July 16, 2008 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)
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Former NFL athlete Michael Strahan, center, of the New York Giants accepts the award for best team given to the New York Giants at the ESPYs Awards on Wednesday July 16, 2008 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)
AP
NFL athlete Adrian Peterson poses with award for breakthrough athlete in the press room at the ESPYs Awards on Wednesday, July 16, 2008 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)
AP
DH: On what finger will your first Super Bowl ring?
JT: It’ll probably be on the right had because I have a very important ring I have to put on my left hand come April 12th this year.
DH: Nice! May you get to the altar as fast as you get to the quarterback!
JT: Thank you, man. I’m just having a completely blessed year.
Dave Hollander is the author of 52 WEEKS: Interviews with Champions! Info
at: www.davehollander.com
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