This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Indianapolis
The packaging of Super Bowl XLVI came naturally, perhaps wishfully.
With the New York Giants and New England Patriots meeting again Sunday, four years after producing one of the most memorable games in NFL history, the labeling was instant and easy:
Rematch.
Tom Coughlin and Eli Manning vs. Bill Belichick and Tom Brady.
Yet while the coaches, the quarterbacks and the uniforms remain the same, just about everything and everybody else are different. The casting constantly changes in pro football, and there could be no better illustration than the rosters for these teams' return to the Super Bowl.
Let's just say there's a lot of newness between New York and New England, from then to now.
From the offensive and defensive lineups that night in suburban Phoenix, the Giants and Patriots each have kept only five starters. In all, New York's 16 holdover players and New England's seven returnees account for just 23 of the 106 roster spots.
So if there's symmetry in how the Giants have played their way into another Super Bowl after a mediocre regular season and consistency in the Patriots' fifth appearance in 11 seasons, there's also an entirely different texture to this Super Bowl, coming four years after New York's 17-14 victory wrecked New England's perfect season.
"We barely have any guys left from that game, so I guess it's the organizations' rematch," said Patriots offensive lineman Logan Mankins, one of his team's few remaining starters. "A lot of the players have moved on."
That's the nature of the NFL. A team's personnel turnover resembles a college program's, even without eligibility limits. The Patriots' degree of change in four years is somewhat extreme, because that Super Bowl team was aging.
"We knew, sooner than later, we would have to replace some of those players," Belichick said. "We ended up replacing quite a few in the last couple of years, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. That's just the way our team was. We won a lot of games with those guys … but it doesn't last forever in football."
Yet even with the limited number of Super Bowl XLII alumni playing Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium, a pattern emerges. The offensive line is a critical position in football, and a combined five starters (three Giants, two Patriots) are still in place. The quarterbacks are the more obvious common elements, with Manning and Brady playing at an elite level.
"To have [Manning] in that spot as all other things around him change … there is great stability, leadership, poise and ability coming out of that spot," Coughlin said.
Manning and Brady provide the natural hook to the rematch, after Manning's game-winning drive topped Brady's go-ahead touchdown. But remember who caught those TD passes: Plaxico Burress and Randy Moss, each long gone. So is David Tyree, whose phenomenal catch kept the Giants' drive alive, and many other key figures from four years ago.
Free agency is a factor, and so are off-field issues, retirements and the reality that teams are always looking to upgrade their rosters. About one-fourth of a team's personnel changes from year to year, the equivalent of a graduating class in a college program.
"You're going to have a core of guys that you can keep over that eight, 10-year period of time, but for the most part, that rollover, that attrition probably is a lot more like college," said NFL Network analyst Brian Billick, a former BYU player and NFL coach.
So NFL coaches, executives and fans know their teams never know if or when their next Super Bowl opportunity will come. Even if the teams return, the players realize they won't necessarily come along.
One morning this week, Mankins looked around a team-wide interview session and said, "This room will be different next year. We'll have a lot of new guys. It's just part of the game, and you get used to it after a while."
Twitter: @tribkurt —
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The New York Giants and New England Patriots each have five starters who also started in Super Bowl XLII.
Giants
David Diehl • Offensive lineman
Kareem McKenzie • Offensive lineman
Chris Snee • Offensive lineman
Eli Manning • Quarterback
Corey Webster • Defensive back
Patriots
Wes Welker • Receiver
Matt Light • Offensive lineman
Logan Mankins • Offensive lineman
Tom Brady • Quarterback
Vince Wilfork • Defensive lineman —
Super Bowl XLVI
P At Indianapolis
New Englandvs. New York Giants
Sunday, 4:20 p.m., Ch. 5