INDIANAPOLIS — Chase Blackburn thought he had already written his storybook tale before he even played a snap last night in Super Bowl XLVI.
It turns out the Giants linebacker had quite a final chapter still left in him.
Barely two months after he was back home in Ohio as a free agent, mulling a new career as a middle-school math teacher, Blackburn was one of the stars of in the Giants 21-17 win over the Patriots at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Blackburn’s leaping (then falling) interception of Tom Brady early in the fourth quarter will go down as one of the most memorable — as well as unlikeliest — plays in Giants history, not to mention also providing the capper to an incredible rags-to-riches tale for a former backup cast off by the team last season.
COMPLETE GIANTS SUPER BOWL COVERAGE
Yes, the same player who couldn’t buy a job in the NFL until rookie Mark Herzlich injured his ankle in late November ended the season with key playoff interceptions against a couple of guys named Aaron Rodgers and Brady.
“It’s unbelievable,” an emotional Blackburn said of his wild individual journey as he stood in the din of the Giants’ postgame locker room. “Only God could draw this up. Nobody else could ever have imagined this.”
Blackburn also could credit Rob Gronkowski’s sprained ankle, because that appeared to be a factor when Blackburn out-jumped the Patriots’ massive tight end for a 50-yard Brady heave at the Giants’ 8-yard line on the second play of the fourth quarter.
The fact that the slow-footed Blackburn was 50 yards downfield in pass coverage was remarkable by itself, and he owed that mostly to Gronkowski being slowed by a bum ankle.
“It was like going up for a rebound in basketball, and I was able to get great position,” he said.
Blackburn also was credited with six tackles to go along with the interception.