Premium ContentMouse over Home then click on Premium Content for information.LINCOLN — Time almost stood still for Prince Amukamara on the final play of Super Bowl XLVI.
Tom Brady's desperation heave to the end zone was still alive and couldn't fall to the turf fast enough for Amukamara and his New York Giant defensive mates.
From behind, Amukamara saw New England tight end Rob Gronkowski lunge for the ball with just enough of a chance to remind him that anything is possible.
In that crazy instant, in fact, Amukamara recalled a famous play in Nebraska football history, one burned into his brain from his four seasons with the Huskers.
"I saw the ball tipped and then I saw Gronkowski dive — and the exact play that came into my head was the play we did where it hit off somebody's foot (at Missouri in 1997)," Amukamara said. "The Matt Davison play. It's crazy how quick that flashes back to you."
This ball did not get kicked, did not get caught and the only hearts broken Sunday belonged to Brady and the Patriots.
Amukamara has been on quite the joy ride ever since.
The rookie was getting his picture taken with Katy Perry, Flavor Flav and Seal after the game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The New York City parade and MetLife Stadium celebration Tuesday were right up there with the Super Bowl itself, he said.
His days are still filled with interview requests, his nights with little sleep.
"I'm just trying to get back down from Cloud Nine," Amukamara said Wednesday. "It just seems like everything is still happening so fast."
Amukamara did find time Tuesday morning to watch the tape and study his performance. He played about 15 snaps and would have stood to get more had Gronkowski (ankle) not played and New York utilized more of its dime package.
But the first-round draft pick was on the field for all of New England's final possession, full knowing of Brady's penchant for fourth-quarter magic.
"I've seen Brady and we've all seen the comebacks, so 57 seconds was plenty of time for him," Amukamara said. "So we knew our defense would have to be on our Ps and Qs. And then with a Super Bowl, a Hail Mary like that ... why not get completed? Anything just seemed like it could happen because it would make for a good story."
The Giants got to write the ending, however, and Amukamara saw it from the back of the end zone, staying disciplined to his assignment in case the football was tipped backward.
He removed his helmet, dropped to one knee and prayed.
The highs had won out over the lows in his first season, which had started with the No. 19 overall pick in the 2011 draft, not signing until Aug. 4 and then breaking his foot minutes into his second practice of training camp.
"It was definitely just a weird, weird, roller-coaster season," he said. "I had the setback in the beginning, came back the first game and had an interception, then after that not seeing that much time.
"But I had to keep working and keep persevering, and I ended up playing and helping the team win the Super Bowl. I think it's a great story."
Some of the same could be said for the Giants, who were 7-7 in December and facing two win-or-else games just to make the NFC playoffs. They then started the postseason by beating Atlanta before road wins at Green Bay and San Francisco.
The Super Bowl plan against Brady, Amukamara said, was for New York to "try to take his head off, try to hit him as much as they can.
"Just disrupt his rhythm and timing and make him feel uncomfortable in the pocket, and I think they did an amazing job doing that," he said. "In the back end, it was just cover receivers and get hands on them and challenge their routes."
All told, 52 former Nebraska players have made a total of 66 appearances in Super Bowls. Amukamara is the first since Tyrone Williams (Green Bay, 1996 season) to win as a rookie.
He will finally relax some when he goes home to Arizona for a few days. It's possible that he will return to Lincoln as early as next week to start working out with Nebraska strength and conditioning coach James Dobson.
The Giants will have to make decisions this offseason on free agent cornerbacks Aaron Ross and Terrell Thomas, who is returning from a torn ACL. Some of it might come down to what they think of Amukamara and his future, but he said the organization was loyal and had his back last fall when people on the outside were already calling him a bust.
"They never lost faith in me," Amukamara said. "I'm definitely getting a feel of the expectations from them ... and how I'm going to meet them."
Contact the writer:
402-444-1042, rich.kaipust@owh.com
twitter.com/RKaipustOWH
Copyright ©2012 Omaha World-Herald®. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, displayed or redistributed for any purpose without permission from the Omaha World-Herald.
RSS Feeds