Tuesday was media day at the Super Bowl as both the Patriots and Giants met with the media, legit and otherwise. There were 18 podium stations set up for the major players and coaches while others milled about being interviewed.
As with any media day there are always some nuggets that come from it.
Giants safety Antrel Rolle said that the Giants team has come to Indianapolis expecting to win the game. “We are not going to be denied.”
New England TE Rob Gronkowski came out of his walking boot on Monday night and it won’t go back on the rest of the week. As Gronk continually put it he and his injury are “day-to-day”.
Extra’s Maria Menounos, who was wearing a Patriots jersey, told Gronk that she has a wager that if the Giants win she has to wear a Giants bikini. Gronk said it was nice to know there could be a positive if the Patriots lose.
Giants LB Matthias Kiwanuka is an Indianapolis native and gets to play the biggest game of his career in front of his family and friends. He missed out on Super Bowl XLII due to a fractured left fibula that put him on the IR.
Patriots T Matt Light and G Sebastian Vollmer did not partake in the media day due to illnesses and offensive assistant Josh McDaniels was not made available.
New York DE Osi Umenyiora said “Matt Light please get well soon, I hope to see you on Sunday. You are one of my greatest friends.” Umenyiora and Light go at each other pretty good on the field.
New England offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia loves rookie T Nate Solder. “How could you want anything more out of a young kid than we have this year?”
Scarnecchia added in his comments that T Sebastian Vollmer who has been hurt is expected to play on Sunday. “Sea Bass” and Pro-Bowl G Brian Waters make a formidable right side of the offensive line. Vollmer has played in just 6 games this season.
New York RB Brandon Jacobs said during media day that WR Plaxico Burress wanted to sign with Giants, not the Jets, when he was a free agent last summer. He added he doesn’t see Burress returning to the Jets next season due to all the locker room turmoil.
He didn’t have a podium but Patriots WR Chad Ochocinco drew a crowd of nearly 50 reporters on the field after he slinked in a little late for media day. Taking up some space between the podiums for WR Matthew Slater and TE Aaron Hernandez he answered questions.
Asked several times if he was disappointed to finally reach a Super Bowl in a season when his production was down, Ochocinco replied, “if I had 100 catches and 1,000 yards I’d probably be home in January. After a ten-year span I finally had a year where it didn’t go well. I did everything I was supposed to do. I bought in…But I didn’t write the script.”
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