Edelman, Eli Manning have a comical discussion about Super Bowl XLII originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Julian Edelman wasn’t with the New England Patriots for their crushing Super Bowl XLII loss to the New York Giants, but he still came to his former team’s defense in a conversation with ex-Giants quarterback Eli Manning.
Manning recently appeared as a guest on Edelman’s new podcast, Games With Names. Former Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi, who played for New England in Super Bowl XLII, also joined the show.
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Naturally, the conversation steered into Manning’s favorite topic: David Tyree’s infamous helmet catch. After Manning recalled a close call on Brandon Jacobs’ fourth-down run, Edelman ribbed Manning about benefitting from poor officiating.
“That was close, Eli? What about the holding penalty?” Edelman asked. “Did you pay the refs, too, after paying Asante Samuel?”
“What holding?” Manning replied.
Tyree’s miraculous catch came after Samuel’s dropped interception. Had the ex-Pats cornerback made the play, New England almost certainly would have finished off their perfect 19-0 season.
Another controversial play came before Tyree’s grab when Patriots defenders appeared to have Manning “in the grasp.” That would have resulted in the play being blown dead for a sack.
Manning still denies that it would have been the correct call.
“Me? I wasn’t in the grip,” he said. “They were pulling on me, but you can’t call that in a Super Bowl. You can’t blow the whistle. They do that to keep guys safe. There’s no being safe in a Super Bowl. You’ve gotta let the guys play.”
The debate about what should and could have been called by the refs at the end of Super Bowl XLII will go on indefinitely. Manning says former Patriots quarterback Tom Brady still brings up both Super Bowl losses to the Giants to this day.