Andon Russell

CHAMPIONSHIP-WINNING RUN!

AR-15( Read more... )

New York Giants, quarterback, #15
Super Bowl XLVI MVP

2011 Regular Season Statistics:
379-616 (61.5%), 5,201 yards, 30 touchdowns, 13 interceptions

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Playoffs:
Jan 8 ATL, W 24-2 (Wild Card Round): 23-32 (71.8%), 277 yards, 3 touchdowns

Jan 15 @GB, W 37-20 (Divisional Round): 21-33 (63.3%), 330 yards, 3 touchdowns, 1 interception

Jan 22 @SF, W 20-17 (Conference Championship): 32-58 (55.1%), 316 yards, 2 touchdowns

Jan 29 AFC 59, NFC 41 (Pro Bowl): Did not play (Note: Did not participate in the Pro Bowl due to securing Super Bowl appearance)

Feb 5 NE, W 21-17 (Super Bowl XLVI): 30-40 (75%), 296 yards, 1 touchdown (Note: Was awarded Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award following the game for his performance and the win)

He needed something to take his mind off of the disappointment. The disappointment was relative. It wasn't possible to be disappointed about something that wasn't there to begin with or hadn't been discussed before. Was it? The idea of having children had seldom crossed his mind. That was mainly do to the fact that he was still playing professional football and had been chasing his fiancee for a year trying to reconcile. When around Capri, Andon refused to let it show. He didn't express a sort of sadness that had built up and and had been brewing for close to a week now. Sitting in the room that was designated for him whenever he made terrible decisions or compel Capri to question his actions -- appropriately labeled as "the doghouse" -- Andon turned on the television, setting up game footage to study from the 2011 regular season en route to the Super Bowl. It was mainly compiled of situations where he made mistakes followed by a similar situation in which he thrived in, or overcame. Studying himself and his habits is what contributed to his improvement from 2010 to 2011 (albeit with the Dallas Cowboys in '10), catapulting him further up the list of elite quarterbacks and adding to his legacy on the field, solidifying it.

Andon needed a distraction; he needed to remove the thoughts of Capri possibly being pregnant -- and then discovering that she wasn't -- from his mind altogether. It was impossible, however. The first play he observed on the screen was his first interception of the season. It was inevitable that he tie in the disappointing news regarding the possibility of a pregnancy with the negativity he observed on the 42-inch high-definition screen. The large picture and its clarity put everything into perspective: He was failing. None of it made sense, though. On Christmas night 2010, he made what was quite possibly the biggest mistake of his life when cheated on Capri and had sex in Arizona. But a year later, she was accepting his proposal when he asked her to marry him. Then -- back to last season -- he hurt his arm after the collapse of relationship in the final game of the regular season. The Cowboys missed the playoffs and subsequently cut Andon to save money because they feared he would never throw a football again. To correct that, Capri moved to New York City to escape Andon, but he followed; his arm was now, miraculously, surgically repaired, the New York Giants showed interested in him and -- after working out for them to prove his arm was just fine and probably better than ever -- signed him to a lucrative deal; the season was up-and-down, but he exacted revenge on the Cowboys (beating them twice) and the Giants made it into the playoffs and went on to win the biggest game of the year; plus he gets the girl and they're set to be married. It was weird. He couldn't figure out what was going on. There always seemed to be when something positive happened to him, something negative occurred to counter it and knock him all the way back down. It was too much. The issue here weighed heavily on him. A baby boy or girl would have completed everything, given them a family. If his fiancee was to be pregnant now, they would be married by the time the baby was born.

Andon threw another interception on the TV. That one eliminated any opportunity to win that particular game. "That's it!" he yelled. "I can't watch this bullshit!"

He shut the television off and threw the remote across the room into the wall. The remote exploded and Andon stood to leave. He needed something else to distract him from the damaging news.

Free agency starts Tuesday in the NFL.  Everybody is talking about where Peyton Manning is gonna go.  I will admit: It is pretty crazy to see a guy like him be on the market and have to choose a team to play for after playing for one for 13, 14 or so seasons.  I can relate to what he's going through; Dallas had to make the same decision on me as Indianapolis had to on him.  They cut me because they never thought I would throw a ball accurately again with the shoulder injury I suffered.  I like to think I proved them wrong.  I responded with my best season in 12 years!  Manning, though?  It's his neck.  He's had three surgeries, I believe, four procedures in all.  That's nuts.  Indy had to cut him last week to avoid paying him $28 million on Thursday, and now he's being courted by several teams.  I know how it goes.  Probably should call him to see how the process is going for him, see if I can offer any advice.  I'll tell him there's another big contract out there waiting on him!  Somebody will throw him more money than even I received last summer.  Nature of the business, though.  And he's a big-time quarterback.  He deserves it.

Speaking of free agency, we need to re-sign some of our guys so we can make another run at this thing.  That Lombardi Trophy is looking nice at headquarters; I want another one.  And when we receive those rings at our home opener, the hunger is gonna come right back stronger than ever because I know how it feels now, which is why I took it upon myself to approach management and let them know I want to restructure my deal to create the cap space for them work with to improve our team, make use that much better than we were last season.  I freed up quite a bit of money for the front office to use by taking more than $10 million off of my salary for this upcoming season.  Instead of $13 million this year, I'll make $2.08 million.  I want another ring to go with the two I'll have later this year!

It feels good to be able to watch free agency this season and not be apart of it.  I have to really thank the Giants for giving me another shot and chance to play football again.  I also have to thank my soon-to-be wife; she had as much to do with it all as anyone.  Thank you, babe.

It's been two days since we won, and it still hasn't really set in for me.  I don't know when it will.  This is all surreal, believe it or not.  It took me eleven years in this league to really make it to the playoffs, let alone get to the Super Bowl and win it.  It finally happened for me.  It makes me wonder if I'd been wasting away in Dallas, making zero progress.  I basically break my shoulder and they throw me away like I'm trash.  It was great to beat them both times this season.  That was one reason I signed with the Giants after the lockout -- to play Dallas twice a year.  The only thing that felt better was running through these playoffs en route to the championship.

This last year was crazy for me -- good and bad.  I made some poor decisions starting late 2010 that led to a tumultuous 2011, at least for the most part.  It wasn't until I actually settled into New York and let shit come to me -- instead of forcing the issue -- that everything turned around for the better.  It led to a lot of positive things.  A lot.  The lockout was lifted so we could play again (I thought I'd might have to retire); we won our division with 9 regular-season wins; I threw for the most yards in a single season in my career, third-most in NFL history; I got engaged; and, most importantly (I'm joking, baby!), we won a world championship.  Let me soak this up, because we could be back next season or never again.  After all, it took me 11 seasons.

I'm not a fan of this damn car they gave me for MVP, either. I hate convertibles.