New York Giants' Ahmad Bradshaw Stumbles Upon Vince Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl XLVI

New York Giants' Ahmad Bradshaw Stumbles Upon Vince Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl XLVI

By: Jesse Rubinoff

If Ahmad Bradshaw ever chooses to have children, how will he possibly explain this to them? How do you tell your kids that you didn't mean to score the game-winning touchdown in the Super Bowl? I figure the conversation will go something like this...

Ahmad: Kids, your daddy scored the game-winning touchdown in the Super Bowl, aren't you proud?

Kid 1: Yeah, but you looked like a fool doing it.

Kid 2: Did you have a mental breakdown? A brief lapse in judgment? Did you black out, start falling into the endzone, and then wake up halfway down? Do you not understand that we are going to be teased about this our entire lives?

Ahmad: Kids, IT WAS ELI'S FAULT!!!!

In all seriousness, Eli Manning may very well have been to blame for Bradshaw's indecision at the goal-line. Or perhaps it was Tom Coughlin and the Giants sideline that missed the proverbial boat. Here is a synopsis of the events as we have come to understand them this morning:

The Giants trailed New England by two with 1:04 remaining in the game, but the Giants were on the Pats' six-yard line. New England was left with one timeout. The Giants very well could have used up most of the clock, kneed the ball in the middle of the field, and attempted no more than a 25-yard field goal to win the game as time expired. This would of course, relegated Tom Brady and the vaunted Patriots offense to the sidelines for the rest of the game. But confusion reigned on the Giants sideline, and head coach Tom Coughlin apparently never told Eli to tell the offense not to score. Eli snapped the ball, handed it to Bradshaw, and then realized the situation and yelled at the running back not to run in for the score. Bradshaw, obviously confused, stumbled his way past the Patriots defense that had parted like the Red Sea, and fell into the end zone. Bradshaw then proceeded to hold his breath for the remaining 51 seconds as Tom Brady and the Patriots offense failed to stage what would have been a legendary last-ditch comeback.

First and foremost, the blame lies with Coughlin for not making a decision and relaying that decision to his quarterback. Coughlin said post-game that he was torn when he saw Bradshaw go into the end zone. He realized that he may have made a mistake. Second, it's indefensible that Eli had time to go into the huddle, talk about the play, and not even bring up the option of stopping on the one-yard line. Third, when Bradshaw saw that the Patriots defense was letting him score, he should have taken a knee on the one yard line.

There are dissidents who believe Bradshaw ultimately made the right call by scampering into the end zone, even if he didn't actually mean to do it. And I agree that taking points late in the fourth quarter can never really be a bad thing. The Giants still assured themselves of being in the lead and forcing Brady to go the length of the field in less than a minute with only one timeout. But the thought of botching a chip-shot field goal just doesn't seem like reality. If your long snapper, holder and kicker can't execute a 25-yard field goal to win, you probably don't deserve to win the game.

There will always be “woulda, coulda, shouldas” in sports. If Deion Branch and Aaron Hernandez caught their passes in the last minute instead of having terrible drops, the Pats wouldn't have had to try 

a Hail Mary, and actually could have executed a real play with a chance to win. Luckily for Bradshaw and the Giants, the Patriots just couldn't get it done down the stretch. But giving one of the best quarterbacks of all time a chance with under a minute to go in the Super Bowl was a huge risk because of indecision that never should have occurred.

Let's hope generations of the Bradshaw family choose pictures of him hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy to hang around the house, and not of the “butt-down” touchdown that nearly led to the Giants' demise.