For many professional football players, reaching the Super Bowl is the absolute pinnacle.
But for former New York Giants defensive back Jason Bell, it was a bittersweet reminder of what could have been.
Cornerback/safety Bell was signed by the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent after the 2001 NFL draft, and led the team in special teams tackles as a rookie.
He then played for the Houston Texans before joining the New York Giants in 2006.
Unfortunately, Bell’s time in New Jersey was plagued by injuries — most notably, a back injury he suffered while working out during the offseason.
Subsequent surgery saw him land on the team’s injured reserve for the entirety of the 2007 NFL season — the same season the G-Men made it all the way to the Super Bowl.
Bell was around the Giants’ throughout that improbable Super Bowl run.
He fondly remembers being inside the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, and watching his teammates pull off what’s widely regarded as one of the biggest upsets in the history of North American sports.
“The Super Bowl that stands out the most to me is when I was on injured reserve and the New York Giants won in ’07,” Bell exclusively told talkSPORT.
“And I remember being at the game, obviously all my teammates were out there playing. I knew my career was over because of the injury, but I’m watching them play. I’m just so excited.”
The Giants began the 2007 season with low expectations after star running back Tiki Barber retired.
But thanks to quarterback Eli Manning, wide receivers Plaxico Burress and Amani Toomer, running back Brandon Jacobs, and a defense consisting of Justin Tuck, Pro Bowler Osi Umenyiora, future Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce, and Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Strahan, the Giants finished the regular season with a 10-6 record — good enough for second in the NFC East and the fifth seed in the playoffs.
In the postseason, the Giants beat Tampa Bay 24-14 in the NFC wild-card round, then won a pair of thrillers at Dallas (21-17) and at Green Bay (23-20, in OT) to punch their ticket to Super Bowl XLII.
Their reward? A matchup with the 18-0 New England Patriots, led by legendary head coach-quarterback duo Tom Brady and Bill Belichick who were gunning for a perfect season.
The Giants, who were bidding for their third Super Bowl victory and first since they won Super Bowl XXV seventeen years earlier, were huge 12-point underdogs against a team being talked about as one of the greatest ever.
The David vs Goliath contest was a back-and-forth affair highlighted by David Tyree’s legendary ‘Helmet Catch’ on a 3rd down in the fourth quarter with the Giants down 14–10.
Tyree made the leaping, one-handed catch on the game-winning drive by pinning the ball with his right hand to his helmet for a 32-yard first down conversion.
Manning then found WR Buress with a a 13-yard touchdown pass with 35 seconds remaining to pull off a stunning 17-14 Giants victory and a Super Bowl upset for the ages.
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“Every moment is like, I am living and breathing it,” Bell recalls of being in the stands and watching it all unfold.
“Oh my gosh. I just remember my buddy Plaxico Burress catching the last touchdown at back of the end zone.
“And I just sat down and my career flashed before my eyes because I wanted to be out there, but I couldn’t.
“I was standing up, but I sat back down when he scored and the whole place goes crazy. And I just remember sitting in my seat, like, ‘wow’.
“I just sat there and watched all my buddies run on the field. I saw the kids. I vividly remember Osi [Umenyiora], and then Antonio Pierce.
“Oh my goodness, just the joy in their face. Michael Strahan, you know, what he had been through until he finally got a Super Bowl.”
Bell remembers the swell of emotion he experienced in the aftermath of the game, recalling his own journey and those of his teammates as well as the sacrifices they made in order to realize their dreams of lifting the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
“It’s like a birth of a child or something,” Bell says.
“I was in the city. I was around, and man, that was tough.
“And nobody expected them to do that. So I was just so happy for them.
“You just remember everything. How I got there, how I left, all of it.
“It’s a sacrifice. I think you immediately start thinking about what I would have done if I was on that field, what it took to get there.
“That’s what I thought about with them. I knew what they all went through.
“I think that’s why I love the Super Bowl so much, because I remember feeling like that.”
Bell retired in 2008 due to career-ending back surgery the previous year.
The Giants’ fairy-tale continued long after him, though, as they once again stunned Brady and the Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI following the 2011 season.
The Giants defeated the Patriots in the Super Bowl rematch by a score of 21–17, with Manning winning Super Bowl MVP honors for the second time in his career.
However, those two unlikely Super Bowl victories are distant memories for current Giants fans.
After allowing superstar running back Saquon Barkley to join the Super Bowl-bound Philadelphia Eagles in the offseason, Brian Daboll’s team finished with a 3-14 and failed to make the postseason.
Fans of the G-Men don’t have much to cheer about in the build-up to Super Bowl LIX between the Chiefs and Eagles this weekend, but one small announcement could provide a morsel of satisfaction.
Manning, in his first year of eligibility, is a finalist for the 2025 Pro Football Hall of Fame class.
He is among 15 players who have been named finalists and is currently awaiting the impending decision on his induction, scheduled for February 6.
Manning’s worthiness among the crème de la crème of football’s elite is the topic of much discussion — detractors cite his 117-117 (.500) win-loss record, 244 career interceptions, and lack of All-Pro selections — but for Bell, Eli is a Hall of Fame lock simply for beating Brady twice in the Super Bowl.
“Think about Eli Manning. Took down Tom Brady twice,” Bell says.
“When Giants fans look at Eli, they see the guy that got them two Super Bowls and took down the New England Patriots mastermind twice.”
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