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Off field, Giants are no match for flashy Cowboys

Shaun Powell

January 10, 2008

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Contrary to several breathless media reports out of Dallas, the pretty girlfriend of the quarterback might show up at Texas Stadium on Sunday, after all. Oh, and here's a juicy exclusive you won't find anywhere else: They're talking marriage. True stuff.

None of this will be a major distraction this week for him or his team, however, because not many people or paparazzi know Abby McGrew or care that she's engaged to Eli Manning.

As hot items go, she's no Jessica Simpson and he's no Tony Romo, which is a way of saying the obvious: The Giants are no match for the Cowboys in terms of glamour or celebrity or commercial appeal.

When these teams line up for their NFC playoff game, you'll know why one wears a star on its helmet. You can rattle off six or seven instantly recognizable names associated with the Cowboys in a snap. Meanwhile, the Bradshaw who'll run the ball for the Giants makes far less money and signs fewer autographs than the Bradshaw who'll be in the TV booth.

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"What do you expect?" said R.W. McQuarters, the Giants' cornerback, with a shrug. "They're still America's Team."

And the Giants are East Rutherford's.

They've won 11 games and play in the biggest media market in the country, and yet the Giants, in many ways, are better suited for Green Bay. There isn't a single big-time star on the team, since Michael Strahan is slowly regressing onto the B-list. Eli played a decent game in Tampa, and yet he's still the Younger Brother. Jeremy Shockey, now that he's a reformed loudmouth, is boring, and besides, he's hurt. That's about it.

The only touch of Hollywood with the Giants lies with chairman Steve Tisch, he of the perfect teeth and tan, who has produced box-office hits, mainly "Forrest Gump" and "Risky Business." But nobody knows who owns the Giants. Everyone knows who runs the Cowboys.

Jerry Jones even co-stars in a commercial with Romo and coach Wade Phillips, who did not inherit the folksy humor of his father, Bum, but somehow gets noticed without yelling nearly as much as Tom Coughlin. There's Terrell Owens, who has his own publicist despite having long ago mastered the art of the self-promotion.

These Cowboys are loved by TV, walk with a swagger and invite comparison, image-wise, with the champion Cowboys teams. They also look to make the flashy big play, which only increases their appeal and the impression that the country will hardly notice the team across the field Sunday.

And here's an added insult for the Giants: Roughly half their locker room grew up Cowboys fans. "My father got me interested in them," rookie Ahmad Bradshaw said. "So this is a big dream for me. Just to know I'll be a part of a game like this is exciting."

His idol? Not O.J. Anderson or Rodney Hampton or even Tiki Barber.

"Emmitt Smith," he said. "Never met him, and if I did, I wouldn't know what to say. I'd just stand there, looking at him."

This comes as little surprise. The Giants were terribly unappealing even when winning Super Bowls. Phil Simms threw perfect 10-yard passes. Every now and then, Anderson would break free for 12 yards. The one player worth watching was a linebacker; the only elusive, open-field runner who ever stepped on the Giants Stadium turf was a streaker.

Nobody west of New Jersey desperately wants the Giants to win and ruin a potential Brett Favre-Cowboys showdown, but the beauty of the Giants, if they have any, lies inside their belly. They didn't win eight games on the road without inner strength and the ability to shut out all outside influences. Twice this season, they've played the Cowboys relatively close, save for a few big plays, and they know what's coming. The Cowboys haven't looked good in almost a month, and if Manning plays mistake-free again, this could be interesting, not a word usually associated with the Giants.

"It's going to come down to football," said McQuarters, relieved to know it will not come down to beauty. "If we go out and play good football, everything will take care of itself."

The Giants better hope so, because Jessica Simpson isn't known to date losers.