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Manning, Coughlin prove dynamite duo

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Associated Press 9:14 PM Monday, February 6, 2012

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Smiles were the order of the day, as the Super Bowl-champion New York Giants returned home, victorious once again.

The team’s charter plane from Indianapolis touched down around 1:55 p.m. Monday at Newark Airport in New Jersey.

Several players saluted the crowd as they departed the aircraft, and some used cameras and video recorders to capture the moment and the scene. Coach Tom Coughlin also had a big smile as he waved to the crowd.

Once on the ground, the players, coaches and team officials were greeted by several hundred airport employees and a Port Authority bagpipe band. Crews also fired water cannons to salute the team while the plane taxied to a hangar.

The players then took buses to the team’s headquarters in East Rutherford, where thousands of fans lined the gates waiting to catch a glimpse of the champions.

At around 2:15 p.m., a caravan of five chartered buses pulled up to the gate at the Timex Performance Center. The first bus had Coughlin sitting in the front seat, waving to the cheering fans.

When all five buses made it safely inside, the players started to filter out and to their own vehicles. Wide receiver Mario Manningham and defensive end Justin Tuck came over to the fence to greet the cheering fans, offering handshakes and high fives.

Tight end Jake Ballard was spotted coming off the bus donning crutches to help him maneuver with his injured right knee. He managed to smile and wave to the adoring fans.

INDY CLEANS UP: Bleary-eyed and jubilant, Super Bowl organizers swung into cleanup mode Monday and hoped the rave reviews from fans and journalists over how it pulled off its first Super Bowl will draw the NFL’s showcase event back to town.

From record attendance at Super Bowl festivities to high praise from visitors, celebrities and the league’s top official, organizers declared the game a victory for the city.

“Yesterday was really a grand slam for us,” said Super Bowl Host Committee President Allison Melangton.

Attendance at the game itself was far from a record — Lucas Oil Stadium was filled Sunday night with about 69,000 fans, while last year’s game in the larger Cowboys Stadium in Dallas drew more than 100,000 attendees — but the week of pre-game celebrations drew admiring visitors in droves.

TOM AND ELI SHOW: Tom Coughlin has never won the NFL’s coach of the year award. Eli Manning has never been the league’s MVP.

With two Super Bowl victories in the past five seasons, though, they have emerged as the NFL’s top coaching-quarterback tandem. And the best may be yet to come.

The 65-year-old Coughlin and the 30-year-old quarterback are getting better with time, and it was never more obvious than in this past season, which the Giants capped with a 21-17 victory over the New England Patriots on Sunday night for the franchise’s fourth Super Bowl title.

The bond between Coughlin and Manning is there for all to see.

“He epitomizes everything that I believe in as a player,” Coughlin said of Manning on Monday.

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