Q: How does the Super Bowl celebration compare the second time around?
DIEHL: I'll tell you what, being the second time around, I will say it was a little different. Don't get me wrong, it was just as sweet holding the trophy and having that experience and doing the parade through the Canyon of Heroes and all that stuff. You still couldn't believe that here we are winning our second time, but I think it was just a little different from the first time to the second time because the first time it was such a whirlwind. You didn't know what was happening, how things were going to take place – the parade, the pep rally. Everything just happened so quick. That seemed like that first week right after was a blur. This one, second time around, the feeling was just as great that you had down inside and smiling from ear to ear every day is still there. But it's still just a little bit different. To be sitting here, going into my 10th year in the NFL and to have two Super Bowl rings, it's unheard of, that's crazy.
Q: As we keep getting further away, what sticks out from the 2011 run?
DIEHL: Looking back and watching the game and just thinking about it, it's just a credit to all the guys and coaches around here and the organization. When you're 7-7 and everybody from the outside is throwing rocks at you and saying that you're out, all the adversity that could have taken this team in the wrong direction and had us doubt, it didn't bother us whatsoever. We went in the completely opposite direction and used it as motivation. That's the great thing about both these Super Bowl wins that we had. We've gotten there based on the fact that we came together as a team.
Q: The organization celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Super Bowl XXI team throughout the season. What's it like knowing you'll have that same camaraderie with your teammates that won this year? Do you think about that yet?
DIEHL: Going through those games and being in that locker room and being on the sidelines and looking the guys in the eyes next to you and knowing that they're selling out and they believe and you're doing the same for them. Those are the things that you will remember for the rest of your life. Those are the bonds that you have as a teammate and being brothers. I know that whether it's 10 years from now or 20 years from now, when we get back together and they have the reunion of sorts, we can look at each other and truly smile. I know it's going to be like we never missed a beat because just the character of our guys on this team and the work ethic and the belief in one another, it outshined everything else.
Q: You've had a long career with the Giants. What did you learn about yourself and the organization this season in particular?
DIEHL: Coach Coughlin and all of our coaches were under a ton of scrutiny as well. The only thing that everyone did was, throughout everything, we came back to work. We said let people say what they want to say, but from the time you walk in this door to the time the day's over, put aside all the B.S. and let's get to work. It just goes to show you the mental capacity that if you believe in something and buy in and work and work and work, there's no telling what you can do. I think that's something that you see in sports, but I think anybody who's a Giants fan can relate it to their lives. Whether they're young, they're old, if they want something bad enough and they believe in themselves and their abilities, if you work hard, there's no telling what you can accomplish.
Q: There were a lot of injuries and shuffling of positions on both sides of the ball. How did you weather through all of that?
DIEHL: Opportunities are never lost. Coach Coughlin has used that quote. I love it. Opportunities are never lost – somebody will take the ones that you miss. And it just goes to show you when things were tough, when people were getting injured, our performance never faltered because the guys who were there and needed to step up and play did. They were ready to go, and with our defense, they never skipped a beat. No one skipped a beat. I think it's a credit to those guys. To have a veteran like [Kevin Boothe] here, who can play center and guard, who's a smart Ivy League guy. And also with Mitch [Petrus] coming into his second year, having some injuries and having him stepping in the way that he did, I think a lot of credit goes to those guys and the way they work but also a lot of credit goes to coach [Pat] Flaherty. He gets us prepared in the offensive line room not only the technique and fundamentals, but also the mental aspect of it – the assignments and all that stuff. When it comes Sunday, there's nothing we're not prepared for.
CLICK SIX>>New York Giants' Chris Snee, PTOs Honor Wyckoff First Responders. [Wyckoff-Franklin Lakes Patch]
Friends say goodbye to Giants' great Alex Webster. [TCPalm]
Twenty current and former NFL players including Super Bowl champion Will Blackmon will take part in the first-ever* NFL Pro Hollywood Boot Camp* at Universal Studios in Universal City, California.
The program, which runs from April 2-5, is being directed by NFL Player Engagement and Film Life Inc., the New York-based film production company, and will cover a wide range of topics in the movie industry. [Press Release]
Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino uses Big Blue for motivation in Big East win. [New York Daily News]
"Use the analogy of the New York Giants," Pitino said of how he instructed point guard Peyton Siva (18 points, eight rebounds and six assists) and the rest of the Cards. "Nobody remembers the regular season any more. When you get into the playoffs, it just matters what you do in the postseason. Don't worry about what you did the regular season. Just be a great player in the postseason."
Linval Joseph-unheralded Reason for New York Giants Success in 2012. [NFLMocks.com]
Giants' Justin Tuck, former Jets fullback Tony Richardson share the NFL with Barcelona. [The Star-Ledger]
In Barcelona, Spain, Justin Tuck and Tony Richardson passed around an American football to their European audience, and then showed footage of 10 top plays from this past NFL season -- including two circus catches by Giants receivers Victor Cruz and Domenik Hixon.
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