After Disappointment of 2001, Burress Finally Gets His Super Bowl
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
Plaxico Burress was in pain — but it had nothing to do with the sprained right ankle that barely allowed him to practice all season. This pain had been around since 2001.
It started after the Pittsburgh Steelers were beaten by the New England Patriots in the AFC title game. Nothing hurts like falling a game short of the Super Bowl.
“I told the coaches all week that I had been to this point, this door, once before and I didn’t get in,” Burress said. “I didn’t want to do that again. I told them if I got this far again I was going to kick the door down.”
He did just that. The eight-year veteran had a career day Sunday in the Giants’ 23–20 overtime win at Lambeau Field over the Packers.
Next stop: A Super Bowl matchup in the desert against those very same Patriots.
Burress made a career-best 11 catches for 154 yards, stunningly enough, against Al Harris.
The Packers cornerback is one of the top press-technique defenders and he limited Burress to two catches when they met September 16. Burress tweaked his ankle in that game.
“I was telling everybody it was a good battle,” said Burress, whose previous high for catches this season was eight against Dallas in the season opener. “I was telling everybody earlier in the week that we wanted to have a chance to win this football game, that myself and Amani (Toomer), we had to make some plays on the outside, and we did.”
Burress used his 6-foot-5-inch size and strength to get position on Harris and outjump him for several balls.
“We hit a couple of, we call it fade stops, where he goes outside and you just make a read,” quarterback Eli Manning said. “If he gets on top, you throw the read and if not, you throw it up high and let him use his body. A couple times we threw it down the field on them and they didn’t know what to do.”
Burress also showed he could take a big hit, jumping up after safety Atari Bigby knocked him off his feet following a third-down catch over the middle in the second quarter.
Burress yapped at the Packers’ bench after the play. He also talked all game with Harris.
“If you watched the first game, same thing,” Harris said. “He’s a competitor. I’m a competitor. That’s what you do when you compete. Nothing personal.”
