NEW YORK GIANTS CHAMPION OF SUPER BOWL XLVI (2012)

 Giants, Champion of Super Bowl XLVI in 2012

Super Bowl XLVI was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 2011 season. The Giants beat the Patriots 21–17. The game was televised by NBC. Super Bowl XLVI was the 46th annual championship game of the modern-era NFL and was played at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. Kickoff time was approximately 6:30 p.m. EST (23:30 UTC) on Sunday, February 5, 2012. This was the first Super Bowl to be played in Indianapolis, and only the fourth time that the Super Bowl has been played in a cold-weather city, after Detroit (XVI and XL) and Minneapolis (XXVI). Downtown Indianapolis, the home of Lucas Oil Stadium, featured an outdoor Super Bowl Village and other programs at the Indiana Convention Center.

Per convention as an even-numbered Super Bowl, the Patriots as the AFC representatives had the home team designation. Super Bowl XLVI was the sixth Super Bowl in which the two teams had competed in a previous Super Bowl match up, as the Giants and Patriots had previously met in Super Bowl XLII. Both head coaches (Tom Coughlin and Bill Belichick) and both starting quarterbacks (Eli Manning and Tom Brady) returned from Super Bowl XLII.

Giants quarterback Eli Manning, who completed 30 of 40 passes for 296 yards and a touchdown, was named Super Bowl MVP for the second time in his career. The Giants set a new record for the poorest regular season record (9–7, win percentage of 56.3%) by a Super Bowl champion.

Host selection process

Three cities presented bids for the game:

* On January 31, 2008, the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau announced their plans to host the game at Reliant Stadium, and holding events at the surrounding Reliant Park, hoping that their city would host the championship game for the second time since Reliant Stadium opened.

* On February 19, 2008, the City of Indianapolis, led by Colts owner Jim Irsay and Indianapolis mayor Greg Ballard, officially announced details about their intentions to bid for Super Bowl XLVI. Part of the agreement included a proposal to build a practice facility on the campus of Arsenal Technical High School that would be utilized by the school after the Super Bowl.

* On March 6, 2008, one month after hosting Super Bowl XLII at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, the second Super Bowl held in the Phoenix metropolitan area, the Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee led by Committee chair Mike Kennedy formally announced their intentions to bid for another one. . Glendale would eventually win its bid for Super Bowl XLIX in February 2015.

NFL franchise owners selected the Indianapolis bid at their meeting on May 20, 2008.

A labor dispute had threatened the postponement or cancellation of the game during the spring and summer of 2011; league officials had set contingency plans to postpone the game one week if it had been necessary to postpone regular season games into the second week of January. Since the dispute was resolved well before the start of the regular season, no postponements were implemented, and the game remained as originally scheduled.

New York Giants

With a 9–7 record during the regular season, the Giants returned to the playoffs for the first time since 2008, when they won the NFC East and finished the season as the NFC's #4 seed. The Giants entered their week 17 match up with the Cowboys with both teams tied for the division lead with 8–7 records. The Giants took a 21–0 first half lead and while the Cowboys closed the gap to make the score 21–14 early in the 4th quarter, the Giants held on to defeat the Cowboys 31–14, clinching the divisional title and a playoff berth. Then they advanced to the playoffs by defeating the Atlanta Falcons in the Wild Card game 24–2, then they defeated the teams with the two best records in the NFL, knocking off the 15–1 Green Bay Packers 37–20 and the 13–3 San Francisco 49ers 20–17 on Lawrence Tynes's game winning field goal in overtime.

New York's offense was led by Pro Bowl quarterback Eli Manning, in his seventh season as the team's starter. Manning set new career highs in nearly every statistical category in 2011, throwing for a franchise record 4,933 yards and 29 touchdowns, with 16 interceptions, giving him a 92.9 passer rating. His top target was receiver Victor Cruz, who caught 82 passes for a franchise record 1,536 yards (3rd in the NFL) and 9 touchdowns. But he had plenty of other targets, including Hakeem Nicks (76 receptions, 1,192 yards, 7 touchdowns), Mario Manningham (39 receptions and 523 yards in 12 games) and tight end Jake Ballard (38 receptions, 604 yards, 15.9 average)

Running back Ahmad Bradshaw was the team's leading rusher with 659 yards and 9 touchdowns. He was also a reliable weapon in the passing game, hauling in 34 receptions for 267 yards and two touchdowns. Brandon Jacobs also made a big contribution on the ground, rushing for 571 yards and 7 touchdowns.

New York's defensive line was led by defensive ends Jason Pierre-Paul and Osi Umenyiora. Pierre-Paul racked up 86 combined tackles and ranked fourth in the NFL with 16.5 sacks, earning him the only Pro Bowl selection on the Giants defense, while Umenyiora recorded 9 sacks and 2 forced fumbles. New York also had an excellent secondary led by Corey Webster, who intercepted a career high 6 passes. Defensive backs Kenny Phillips and Aaron Ross added four interceptions each, while safety Antrel Rolle picked off two passes and led the team in combined tackles with 96.

The Giants joined the 2008 Arizona Cardinals and 1979 Los Angeles Rams as the only other team to advance to the Super Bowl with fewer than ten victories since the NFL expanded to a 16-game season in 1978. They have won six consecutive playoff games away from their home stadium, dating back to their victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2007 Wild Card round. That includes their Super Bowl XLII victory over these same Patriots, although that game was played at a neutral site (and the Giants were the designated "away" team for the game). The 2011 Giants are the first team in NFL history to reach the Super Bowl after having been outscored by their opponents in the regular season (394 points scored, 400 points allowed).

The Giants were the designated "away" team for Super Bowl XLVI.

New England Patriots

The Patriots finished with a 13–3 record, winning the AFC East and clinching the AFC's #1 seed in the playoffs. New England lost two straight games in weeks 8 and 9 against the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Giants, respectively, before rallying to win their remaining regular season games. In the playoffs, New England defeated the Denver Broncos in the divisional round and the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship Game.

Back at the helm of the offense was 12-year quarterback Tom Brady, who earned his 7th Pro Bowl selection. Starting every game of the season, Brady completed 65.6% of his passes for a career-high 5,246 yards (the second highest total in NFL history) and 39 touchdown passes, with just 12 interceptions and a rating of 105.6. Brady also added 109 yards and three scores on the ground. His main weapon in the passing game was Pro Bowl receiver Wes Welker, who led the NFL with 122 receptions (22 receptions ahead of second place) for 1,569 yards and 9 touchdowns. New England also had two of the best tight ends in the NFL: Pro Bowler Rob Gronkowski, who set new tight end records for receiving (1,327 yards) and touchdown catches (17); and Aaron Hernandez, who caught 79 passes for 910 yards and 7 touchdowns, while also rushing for 45 yards. Another big element of the passing game was veteran receiver Deion Branch, who caught 51 passes for 702 yards and 5 scores. Receivers Chad Ochocinco, Tiquan Underwood, Julian Edelman, and Matthew Slater made minor contributions to the passing attack; the latter two also served as emergency defensive backs.

New England had several key contributors in the ground game. Their main rusher was BenJarvis Green-Ellis, who rushed for 667 yards and 11 touchdowns. Running back Stevan Ridley added 447 yards and a 5.1 yards per carry average. Danny Woodhead contributed 351 yards with a 4.6 YPC average, and gained another 437 yards returning kickoffs. New England also had a solid offensive line, which was anchored by Pro Bowl guards Logan Mankins and Brian Waters. With all these weapons, New England ranked third in the NFL with 513 points.

The Patriots' defensive line featured two Pro Bowl selections: Vince Wilfork, who generated 3.5 sacks, two interceptions, and one forced fumble; and Andre Carter, who contributed 10 sacks and forced two fumbles. Defensive End Mark Anderson was also a major force on the line, earning 10 sacks and two forced fumbles of his own. Behind them, Rob Ninkovich excelled at linebacker, gaining 74 tackles, 6.5 sacks, and two interceptions. In the secondary, cornerback Kyle Arrington had a breakout season. After recording just one interception in his first three years, Arrington picked off 7 passes in 2011 to lead the NFL in that category, while also leading the team in tackles with 88.

Playoffs

As the #1 seed in the AFC, New England earned a first-round bye and home field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. In the divisional round, the Patriots defeated the Tim Tebow-led Denver Broncos 45–10. The Patriots dominated the game throughout, setting new franchise postseason records for total yards (509), points (45), and margin of victory (35). Tom Brady completed 18 of 25 passes for 246 yards and a postseason record five touchdowns in the first half. The Patriots defense had a breakout performance: Tebow was held to just 9 of 26 completions and was sacked five times.

In the AFC Championship Game, the Patriots faced off against the #2 seed Baltimore Ravens. Brady was out-dueled by Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco, who threw for more yards and touchdowns on the same number of completions and attempts. Nevertheless, New England managed to take a 23–20 lead in the fourth quarter on a 1-yard run by Brady. With 1:44 left in the quarter, Baltimore got the ball back with one last chance to tie or win the game, driving all the way to the New England 14-yard line. But the Patriots managed to hold them there, with cornerback Sterling Moore breaking up two consecutive Ravens pass attempts in the red zone, including one in the end zone. Facing fourth down, Baltimore attempted a 32 yard field goal by kicker Billy Cundiff that would tie the game and possibly bring it to overtime. In one of the most memorable endings in NFL playoff history, Cundiff missed the kick wide left, allowing the Patriots to advance to the Super Bowl.

New York finished the season as the NFC East champion and the #4 seed in the conference. The Giants defeated the #5 seed Atlanta Falcons in the Wild Card round 24–2, the first playoff game at MetLife Stadium. Eli Manning threw for 277 yards and 3 touchdowns with no interceptions, while the Giants defense shut down the Falcons, the only Atlanta points coming from a safety given up by Manning's intentional grounding penalty in his end zone.

The Giants then moved on to face the #1 seed and the defending Super Bowl XLV champion Green Bay Packers in the divisional round. The Giants never trailed in the game, winning 37–20. One of the key plays in the game was a Hail Mary pass by Manning to Hakeem Nicks, giving New York a 20–10 lead at the end of the first half. As they did to the Patriots' record-breaking offense in 2007, the Giants generated significant pressure on Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, sacking him four times and disrupting his talented receiving corps. This was the first time in NFL history a 15–1 team failed to make it past the divisional round in the playoffs.

The Giants faced the #2 seed San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game. After a series of defensive standoffs in the fourth quarter, the game went into overtime. Both teams continued to struggle on offense, until New York linebacker Jacquian Williams stripped the ball from San Francisco wide receiver Kyle Williams after a punt return. The Giants recovered the ball at the 49ers 24 yard line, setting up a 31 yard field goal attempt by Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes. Unlike Cundiff earlier in the day, Tynes' kick was successful, giving the Giants a 20–17 victory.

Super Bowl pre-game news and notes

The Patriots, as the designated home team, had a choice of wearing their home navy blue jerseys or their white away jerseys. Briefly, there was speculation that the Patriots might wear the white away jerseys in order to switch the jerseys from Super Bowl XLII, where the Patriots wore dark blue and the Giants wore white. Also, the Giants are 4–0 in playoff games in their white away jerseys since the 2007 season. However, the Patriots announced on the Monday following the Conference Championship Games that they will be wearing their customary navy blue home jerseys as the home team in Super Bowl XLVI.

Hospitality experts speculated that "Indianapolis will have seen the most severe hotel price gouging in Super Bowl history." The city has 6,000 hotel rooms, fewer than typical for a Super Bowl host city. Some rooms in downtown Indianapolis reportedly cost more than $4,000 a night. By contrast, rooms close to the stadium in previous Super Bowls were usually available for about $200. The room shortage and high prices caused some attendees to plan to stay in Chicago, 180 miles away, and ride buses to events.

Because the Giants and Patriots drew their fan bases from New York City and Boston respectively, the Super Bowl echoed the fierce rivalry between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox in Major League Baseball.

The Giants entered Lucas Oil Stadium first, to "Written in the Stars" by Tinie Tempah, Eric Turner.

The Patriots entered last, as they were the "home" team, to "Crazy Train" by Ozzy Osbourne.

First Half

New England deferred the coin flip, and New York elected to receive.

New York opened the game with a drive to the Patriots 33-yard line, threatening to score first. After giving up a 19-yard reception to Giants wide receiver Hakeem Nicks, New England's defense stepped up to prevent a score: Linebacker Brandon Deaderick sacked Eli Manning for a 2-yard loss, then Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw was tackled behind the behind the line of scrimmage on a blitz by Patriots cornerback Kyle Arrington. On third down, New England defensive end Mark Anderson sacked Manning, pushing the Giants out of field goal range and forcing a Giants' punt.

New York got a boost from punter Steve Weatherford, whose 36-yard kick pinned the Pats back at their own 6-yard line. On the Patriots first offensive play, Tom Brady attempted a play action pass, but a heavy rush from Giants defensive lineman Justin Tuck forced a deep throw into the middle of the field, with no receiver anywhere near it. As a result, Brady was flagged for intentional grounding in the end zone, which results in a two-point safety, giving New York a 2-0 lead. It was the first safety in a championship game since Super Bowl XLIII. After receiving the free kick, New York drove 78 yards in 9 plays — including a key 24-yard run by Ahmad Bradshaw — and increased their lead to 9-0 on Manning's 2-yard touchdown pass to Victor Cruz.

On the ensuing drive, Tom Brady completed passes to BenJarvus Green-Ellis for 7 yards, Deion Branch for 15, and Wes Welker for 19, moving the ball to the Giants' 31-yard line. New York managed to halt the drive at their own 11-yard line, but Stephen Gostkowski kicked a 29-yard field goal for New England's first score early in the second quarter.

The Giants punted on the next drive, then held the Patriots to a three-and-out. When New York's next drive stalled, Weatherford's 51-yard punt gave the Patriots possession 4-yard line. Brady, however, completed eight consecutive passes for 71 yards, and threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to running back Danny Woodhead, giving the Patriots a 10-9 halftime lead. The drive went for 14 plays and covered 96 yards, tying the record for the longest drive in Super Bowl history.

Second Half

New England took the second half kickoff and started out strong: Brady completed a 21-yard pass to Chad Ochocinco (his first reception of the postseason), and two rushes by Green-Ellis gained 25 yards to the New York 33-yard line. Brady eventually finished the 8-play, 79-yard drive with a 12-yard touchdown pass to tight end Aaron Hernandez, increasing New England's lead to 17-9.

Starting the following drive from their own 35-yard line after Jerrel Jernigan's 34-yard kickoff return, New York responded with a drive to the Patriots 20-yard line where Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes converted a 38-yard field goal, cutting the score to 17-12.

On the next drive, New York forced a three-and-out — including a Justin Tuck sack of Brady on third down — and Will Blackmon returned Zoltan Mesko's 43-yard punt 10 yards to the Patriots 47-yard line. New York subsequently drove back into scoring range on a drive that utilized several different players, including a 12-yard reception by seldom used tight end Bear Pascoe to reach the New England 9-yard line. On third down, however, a sack by New England's Anderson and Rob Ninkovich forced New York to settle for another Tynes field goal, making the score 17-15 with 35 seconds left in the third quarter.

On the second play of the fourth quarter, the first turnover of the game occurred when Giants linebacker Chase Blackburn picked off a deep Brady pass at the New York 8-yard line. New York then drove to the Patriots 43-yard line, but were stopped there and had to punt. New England took the ball back and drove to the Giants 44-yard line before they too were forced to punt.

The Giants took possession from their own 12-yard line with 3:46 left in the game and only one timeout. On the first play, in what would end up being one of the key plays of the game, Manning completed a deep pass along the left sideline to receiver Mario Manningham for a 38-yard gain to midfield. New England coach Bill Belichick challenged the catch, but call on the field stood and it cost him his team's first timeout. Two more completions from Manning to Manningham gained another 18 yards. Manning then completed a 14-yard pass to Nicks on the New England 18-yard line at the two minute warning. Two plays later, New England called their second timeout with 1:03 left after Bradshaw's 1-yard run gave New York a 2nd down and goal on the 6-yard line.

Rather than try to stop New York any further and risk the game on a short field goal attempt from Tynes, New England allowed Bradshaw to run into the end zone on the next play unobstructed. Bradshaw attempted to pull up and stop on the 1 yard line, but his forward momentum caused him to fall across the goal line, giving New York a 21-17 lead and New England 58 seconds and a timeout for their final drive. New York failed a two-point conversion attempt, leaving the Giants with a four-point lead with less than one minute remaining.

New England started at their own 20-yard line to make what would be the final drive of the game. After two consecutive dropped passes, a 6-yard sack by Tuck forced New England to use their last timeout facing fourth down and 16 on their own 14-yard line. But Brady kept the drive going with a 19-yard completion to receiver Deion Branch. An 11-yard completion from Brady to Hernandez advanced the ball to the Pats' 44, followed by a twelve-men on the field penalty against the Giants, which moved the ball to the Patriots' 49 with 9 seconds left. After an incomplete pass, on the game's final play, Brady thew a Hail Mary pass intended for Hernandez in the end zone, but the ball was deflected away and hit the ground just out of the reach of tight end Rob Gronkowski, giving New York their fourth Super Bowl win in franchise history.

Summary

Bradshaw was the top rusher of the game with 72 yards and a touchdown, also catching two passes for 19 yards. Nicks was the top receiver with 10 receptions for 109 yards. Blackburn, who had been cut by the Giants earlier in the season before being re-signed, had 6 total tackles and an interception. Tuck made 3 tackles and two sacks. For New England, Brady completed 27 of 41 passes for 276 yards and two touchdowns, with one interception. His top target was Hernandez, who caught 8 passes for 67 yards and one score. Welker added 7 receptions for 60 yards and two carries for 21. Gronkowski, who came into Super Bowl XLVI battling an ankle injury, was held to just two receptions for 26 yards. Linebackers Jerod Mayo and Brandon Spikes each had 8 solo tackles, 3 assists, and a forced fumble.

With the win the Giants became the fifth team to win at least four Super Bowls, while the Patriots became the third to lose four. Brady has yet to win in Lucas Oil Stadium as a professional and has not won a game in Indianapolis since 2007, when the Patriots defeated the Indianapolis Colts on their way to a perfect regular season. Belichick dropped to 3-2 as a head coach in the Super Bowl, while Tom Coughlin won his second Super Bowl in as many tries.

Dan Shaughnessy said in a piece in The Boston Globe about Boston on the loss by the Giants under the headline, "History Repeats:" "Instead of celebrating a grand slam–championships in every major sport over a period of four years and four months–New Englanders are spitting out pieces of their broken luck, bracing for the avalanche of grief from those annoying New Yorkers."

Broadcasting

United States

In the United States, the game was televised nationally by NBC. It was also streamed live online, both to computers (via NFL.com and NBCSports.com) and mobile devices (via Verizon Wireless's NFL Mobile app), the first legal online streaming of a Super Bowl telecast in the USA. Al Michaels called play-by-play for NBC, marking the eighth time that he was behind the microphone for a Super Bowl and the second time he called a Super Bowl for NBC. Cris Collinsworth was the color analyst for the game, his second Super Bowl as a game analyst and first since he was in the booth for Super Bowl XXXIX for Fox. Michele Tafoya was the sideline reporter.

As part of "Operation Fake Sweep," Immigration and Customs Enforcement, along with the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, seized and shut down sixteen websites that had provided access to pirated Internet television feeds of NFL games on February 2, in an action similar to the crackdown they had implemented the previous year. For the first time, domains in the .tv space were also seized, despite that the space is allocated to Tuvalu.

Super Bowl XLVI was carried nationwide on radio over Dial Global's Westwood One affiliates, with Kevin Harlan as play-by-play announcer, Boomer Esiason as color analyst, and James Lofton and Mark Malone as sideline reporters. Locally, the game was broadcast by the New York Giants Radio Network flagship (WFAN) and the New England Patriots Radio Network flagship (WBZ-FM). Bob Papa called the game for the Giants with Carl Banks as his analyst and Howard Cross as sideline reporter, while Gil Santos was at the microphone for the Patriots with Gino Cappelletti as analyst and Scott Zolak as sideline reporter. Santos and Cappelletti returned for their sixth Super Bowl as broadcast team for the Patriots while Papa and Banks called their third and second Super Bowls, respectively, for the Giants. This was the first Super Bowl broadcast for the Giants not to feature longtime analyst Dick Lynch, who had retired from the team's radio booth following the 2007 season and died in 2008.

In other countries

NFL International televised the game to viewers outside of North America, with Kenny Albert and Joe Theismann calling the English language feed.

Commercials

All commercials for the game sold out by Thanksgiving 2011, at an average price of $3.5 million per thirty-second ad, by far the highest rate for Super Bowl advertising in the event's history. At least one thirty-second advertisement commanded a price of $4 million.

Pro-life activist Randall Terry has said he is planning to run an advertisement featuring graphic photos of aborted fetuses during Super Bowl XLVI. Terry was not allowed to air the ad nationwide, given that the networks have a policy under equal time rules to reject all political and issue related advertising during the Super Bowl. However, he is able, by Federal Election Commission rules, to force up to 35 local stations (those located in states in which the Democratic Party primaries are within 45 days of Super Bowl Sunday; Terry entered the primary as a dummy candidate solely for the purpose of this advertisement) to run the advertisement uncensored, regardless of whether it meets Standards and Practices or Federal Communications Commission guidelines. As of January 2011, Terry has purchased ad time in 11 markets.

An advertisement from Pepsi featured Melanie Amaro, the winner of season one of the Fox series The X Factor. Other confirmed advertisers include Doritos (continuing its user-generated "Crash the Super Bowl" contest), GoDaddy (featuring The Pussycat Dolls in addition to regular celebrity endorsers Jillian Michaels and Danica Patrick), Bridgestone, Volkswagen (a 60-second spot advertising the third-generation Beetle featuring dogs barking to the tune of "The Imperial March"), General Motors (four for Chevrolet and one for Cadillac), Toyota, Hyundai, Acura (featuring Jerry Seinfeld in an ad for the NSX), Kia Motors (advertising the Optima with a spot starring Adriana Lima), Audi (parodying the Twilight series with an ad for the A4), Honda (starring Matthew Broderick in a reprisal of the lead role in Ferris Bueller's Day Off), newcomers Dannon Yogurt and Century 21 Real Estate, Teleflora, Mars, Incorporated (introducing the M&M's brown spokescandy), The Coca-Cola Company, CareerBuilder.com (reprising their chimp advertisement campaign), Cars.com, Skechers, Relativity Media (running four advertisements for Act of Valor), Paramount Pictures, Walt Disney Pictures, and Universal Pictures. Anheuser-Busch has purchased nine slots during the game. An advertisement for Priceline.com killed off the "Priceline Negotiator," ending William Shatner's role as spokesman for the company, a role he has held for over a decade, to make way for a new campaign that will premiere during the game.

Entertainment

Word had leaked as early as October 2011 that Madonna would be the performer for the Super Bowl halftime show, with M.I.A. and Nicki Minaj performing as well; all three are featured on Madonna's new single "Give Me All Your Luvin'" which was performed as part of the show. The league confirmed Madonna as the performer on December 4. Other collaborators on the project included longtime Madonna collaborator Jamie King, Cirque du Soleil, Moment Factory, LMFAO and Cee Lo Green. M.I.A. came under controversy for giving the middle finger during the performance of "Give Me All You Luvin'", which was caught by the broadcast feed. The gesture was given when she appeared to sing "I don't give a shit," although it was hard to hear clearly if the expletive was said, stopped short, or cut off as the censor unsuccessfully tried to blur the screen to cover the gesture.

The Indiana University Marching Hundred performed during the pre-game show.

On January 12, 2012, it was reported that former American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson would sing the National Anthem at Super Bowl XLVI. It marks the fourth time in the previous five years that an Idol contestant has performed the anthem (joining Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Hudson and Jordin Sparks). Husband-and-wife country musicians Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert performed "America the Beautiful" as part of the ceremonies. American Sign Language translation for both songs was performed by Rachel Mazique, the currently reigning Miss Deaf America.Green and Shelton are both judges on the NBC TV series The Voice, which the network broadcast after the game.

The coin toss ceremony featured the recent inductees to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Curtis Martin, one of the inductees, was originally selected to toss the coin, but in what NESN described as "a rather awkward scene", referee John Parry ended up flipping the coin himself while Martin stood beside and watched. The Patriots won the toss, the first AFC team to do so in the Super Bowl in 15 years. Because the coin toss landed on heads, the pizza chain Papa John's offered free pizza to millions of Americans who participated in a promotional contest.

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