SEATTLE – The first player last night to appear in the interview room designated for the visiting team was Jay Feely. Usually, kickers make such appearances only after nailing a game-winner. Feely had not done that, but he agreed to come in and explain away how he misfired on three field goals that turned a rousing Giants victory into a 24-21 overtime loss to the Seahawks.
Feely, who was 21 of 23 on field goals entering the game, apologized to the entire team in the locker room, then faced the music afterward in the interview room.
“Alright,” Feely said upon entering. “Bring it on.”
Feely said he couldn’t remember one like this. “Never had an end of a game like that,” he said.
Now many kickers have. Feely earlier in the game hit field goals from 39 and 43 yards and as the Giants came back from a 21-13 deficit he seemed ready and able to send his team home a winner. Eli Manning directed the Giants on a drive that advanced to the Seattle 25-yard line, with Tiki Barber getting the final three yards to position Feely for a 40-yarder.
With four seconds left in regulation, the Giants were poised for a celebration as Feely struck the ball. He hit it solidly but it carried wide left. Michael Strahan, who had drifted onto the field to rejoice, gently tapped Feely on the helmet after the miss.
“The first kick I hit it pretty much where I wanted do, I thought the wind was gonna blow it a little right and it blew it a little left,” Feely said.
With 10:43 remaining in overtime, coach Tom Coughlin surprisingly sent Feely out to attempt a 54-yard field goal.
“We had the wind,” Coughlin explained. “The field goal was an aggressive call.”
Feely felt he hit his second try well but it fell far short and drifted wide right. With 6:15 to go in OT, Feely incredibly got another shot, this time from 45 yards after Plaxico Burress failed to hold on to a catch that would have made it a chip-shot kick. This one was not hit well by Feely, sailing short and wide right, as Burress went out to console his kicker.
“They say it’s a team game and people say the right thing, but the fact of the matter is you got to come through when you have one opportunity much less two good opportunities,” Feely said. “It hurts, there’s gonna be times in your life when life kicks you in the gut and you fall down, but you got to get up, you got to keep fighting. I’m not going to come in pouting next week.
“The first kick and the third kick, you got to make those kicks. That’s what I get paid to do. That’s what New York brought me in here for this year. The good thing is it’s not a playoff game, it’s not the end of the year, I get to go back to work this week and try to get better.”