Leader

To win a World Championship it helps to have someone who has been there and done that. You want someone who is going to step up and be a leader for the rest of the team. That person for the New York Giants was Justin Tuck. After fighting through injuries all season Tuck put that aside and carried a defense, and team on his back.

Before the game the usually soft spoken Tuck grabbed some of his teammates and let them know how enthusiastic he was about this game. He took the role to fire everyone up and make sure they were prepared and that there head was in the game. Tuck was yelling, “You don’t have a ring!” he began, literally shouting at guys like Chris Canty and Michael Boley. “You don’t know how this feels. Think about that. Think about what you’ve missed in your life.” Those are words that can get you fired up. He got them ready for a game against one of the greatest all-time quarterbacks. Not only did Tuck vocally show his leadership, but also led by example recording two sacks (with one on the final drive).

This Giants team has controlled their own destiny by winning the Super Bowl. They were led, by their quarterback Eli Manning, to score a touchdown with 57 seconds left. But the inspiration came before that by the words of Justin Tuck. “I said, ‘None of you want to walk off this field tonight thinking you missed this opportunity, because you never know when you’ll get another,’ ” Tuck explained later. “And I told them that we’re built for this. To go out and grab it. It’s there for us.” With a leader like that you can become Super Bowl Champions. And the Giants now are.