Sideline Notebook: SUPER BOWL XLVI

GIANT SMILES

The post-game celebration on the field at Lucas Oil Stadium after the Giants won Super Bowl XLVI was just as one would expect. Euphoric. Joyful. All the things Madonna wanted her halftime to be.

The jubilation surrounding the trophy presentation was expressed not only by the players but by their families as well.

Wives, children, parents, brothers and sisters all got in on the act.

Proud papa Archie Manning was ecstatic. Sure, he’d seen this scene before.

But the elder Manning told me before the game that he was nervous. No bones about it.

After the game, Archie was clearly elated. He and Eli’s brother, Cooper, were on the field with some of Eli’s nieces and nephews absorbing the moment.

Peyton Manning did not make an appearance. He had not wanted to be a distraction all week as Eli tried to win a second Super Bowl Championship in the “House that Peyton Built.”

The Mannings weren’t the only notable family on the field. Many Mara’s — including a bevy of Mara grandchildren — dotted the scene.

There were scores of babies and toddlers drinking in the scene as well. Small faces everywhere were beaming in the shower of confetti, watching on as their dads partied like children themselves, everyone wearing a Giant smile.

BRADY’S ANGUISH

As I watched Tom Brady on the sideline in the second half, it was clear the quarterback was desperate to be on the field as much as possible.

After a drive-ending sack that sent Brady to the sideline with a left shoulder concern, the three-time Super Bowl champ was visibly frustrated.

With the Giants offense back on the field and driving, Brady looked at pictures, drank water and waited for his next opportunity.

It looked as though that next opportunity was eminent with the Giants facing a third-and-seven from their own 11-yard line. Brady got off the bench and started throwing some warm-up passes.

But Pats LB Rob Ninkovich was called for a 5-yard penalty, giving the Giants a third-and-two instead of a third-and-seven. Brady shook his head in disgust.

Manning converted the third-and-two with a 12-yard pass to Hakeem Nicks, and Brady got steamed. You could see — and hear — the anger as Brady trudged back to his seat on the bench.

It was a single moment that was only a precursor to the greater anguish that was yet to come.

HERZLICH HELPS THE HURTING

When Giants TE Jake Ballard sprained his knee in the fourth quarter, the team called his return questionable.

“Questionable” turned into “No Chance” after Ballard fell to the ground in pain when testing his knee on the sidelines.

The Giants called for a cart. It was like a replay of the first half when TE Travis Beckham left the game with a torn ACL.

In Ballard’s case, he was helped into the cart by LB Mark Herzlich, who was inactive.

Herzlich, no stranger to pain himself, was there to support the suffering Ballard.

This was not the kind of contribution Herzlich had hoped to make in Super Bowl XLVI.

“I just want to get in there for anything,” he told me at media day. “Just one play.”

When Herzlich deplaned in Indianapolis a week prior, he sent out a Tweet that went viral:

“2 yrs ago I was told I’d never walk again, Just WALKED off plane to #Indy to play in #SuperBowl #TakeThatCancer”.

Herzlich’s story has been well documented. Three years ago he was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer, in his left leg.

Two years ago, the Boston College star concluded his chemo.

“It’s not often that I think back to the cancer,” the 24-year-old rookie told me. “But on the plane (to Indianapolis), one of the movies offered was “50/50.” It made me think back. This (moment) is more than a movie.”

“I always thought in a perfect world I’d get better enough to play one more year at BC,” he continued. “Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d be in the Super Bowl in two years.”

Herzlich’s comeback story culminated Sunday night with a Super Bowl championship, though the tale would have been far more triumphant had he actually played in the game.

The undrafted free agent suffered an ankle injury in the week twelve game against the Saints. He was inactive for the last eight games, including the playoffs, but had hoped to make the active roster in Indy.

Herzlich was medically cleared to play, but he knew being activated would depend on need and space.

Regardless, Herzlich’s Indianapolis experience was worlds away from another Super Bowl he has etched in his memory.

“I remember watching the Super Bowl (XLIV) on the couch with my family in Philly. I was bald and sick. It was hard to watch any football at all.”

The Saints beat the Colts in Miami that night in February of 2010.

And Herzlich has since beat cancer. He’s in remission and in two short years expects to be declared cancer free.

DID YOU NOTICE BJGE?

Though Ben-Jarvis Green Ellis was on the losing end Sunday Night, he scored a small victory for concussion awareness.

Green-Ellis became the first player in Super Bowl history to wear a chinstrap that could revolutionize the way head injuries are treated in the NFL.

You may have noticed that the Patriot runningback was wearing the Impact Indicator, which is a chinstrap with a computer chip embedded in it. That chip measures the force and duration of any hit taken by the helmet.

If the measurement reaches a pre-determined threshold, a green light on the front of the chinstrap changes to a flashing red light — which indicates that the player may have sustained a head injury and should come off the field and be examined.

The NFL plans to evaluate the product, which is manufactured by Battle Sports Science in Omaha, NE, and will look for scientific data supporting its validity as a tool in concussion management.