Quiet End For a Super Bowl Hero

Ralph Vacchiano tweeted this news. Here's the full story.

David Tyree has signed a one-day contract with the #NYG and will officially announce his retirement from the NFL tomorrow morning.

Now I wrote last year about how much Tyree means to me and that is just as true today. This picture still is the background of my Twitter page and will always be unless something drastic happens. Hell, there's a small chance I name my future son David Tyree Stewart. We all remember The Helmet Catch, but we tend to forget he was a great special teams player, a poor man's Steve Tasker. He also had another huge catch, scoring the touchdown that gave the Giants a 10-7 lead early in the fourth quarter of that Super Bowl. There hasn't been a more unsung hero in NFL history and the fact his career ends quietly, without another catch after his epic catch in Super Bowl XLII should only punctuate that point.

So this is goodbye, so let's honor him the right way with a YouTube tribute. This is from America's Game for the 2007 Giants.

Farewell to a Super Bowl Hero

(For the record, this is a worthy photo as my Twitter background for the foreseeable future)

Today, in edition to being the true start of college football, is cut day in the NFL. Teams have to cut rosters from 75 to 53 players for Week 1 next week. Most times, the men who get cut are no-name players who we try to talk up as important players, but in fact aren't (sorry Tommie Hill, the greatest play in preseason history didn't save you). However, one of the cuts today was David Tyree, the man who made the greatest catch in football history. And I don't want to hear from those who think it's Montana-to-Clark, because Tyree's catch had more degree of difficulty.

David Tyree, however, was more than just one catch in the Super Bowl. He played a great special teams for us that had him selected to a Pro Bowl in 2005. He was also used in spot duty as a wide receiver when needed. Super Bowl XLII would be one of those games. He scored the go-ahead touchdown early in the 4th quarter to give the Giants a 10-7 lead over the Pats. After New England responded like the champs they were, the stage was set for Eli-to-Tyree (by the way, can we get real nickname for this catch; is it Catch-42, is it The Play, the Miracle in the Desert, The Glendale Grab, just pick one). Plaxico scored the touchdown and the greatest Super Bowl I ever watched (from a purely biased standpoint) was won by the Giants.


Tyree missed all of last year after hurting his knee during training camp. He came into training camp this season a year behind and down to eighth in the depth chart (FYI: Teams apparently don't carry eight WR's). I would watch Tyree's footage in training camp and all I'd see was him dropping passes, fitting in with the rest of the receiving corps not moving up into the top-6 wideouts on the team. After hearing about Tyree getting cut, Ralph Vacciano of the Daily News tweeted that both the Chiefs and the Ravens were interested in giving Tyree a call and signing him. I hope they are serious, and he can find his way back into the NFL and contribute as a special teamer and spot-legendary catch maker.


Best of luck David, you will be welcome into the new Giants Stadium forever.