BRYANT SPARK
Former Giants kicker finally gets Super shot
HOUSTON — From time to time, it pops up on the screen, the most infamous playoff debacle in Giants history. Matt Bryant, 14 years removed from the kick he never got to attempt, always is sucked back in.
“You sit around and all of a sudden that game comes on, it brings back a whole bunch of … it’s funny, it was [14] years ago and people are like ‘Man, that game was crazy,’ ’’ Bryant told The Post. ‘I’m like ‘Yeah, I was part of that play.’” Yes, he was a part of that play. On Sunday, Bryant takes his place as the Falcons’ kicker in Super Bowl LI, at 41 the oldest player on the field at NRG Stadium. There always are remarkable tales this time of year, and that Bryant still is around — and was selected to his f irst Pro Bowl this season — well, it is quite a feel-good story.
“The Super Bowl was always something I read about, some- thing I watched on TV every year for however long, since I was a kid and getting into the league,’’ Bryant said. “It was always the first weekend of February I seemed to be watching the game. And now at 41, 15 years in the league, I’m finally gonna get to play in it.’’
None could have foreseen this back on Jan. 5, 2003, as Bryant lined up for a 41-yard field goal try. He was a rookie who somehow made his way onto the Giants’ roster, at 26, after working in a pawn shop and as a personal trainer, after getting cut from the Iowa Barnstormers of the Arena League and toiling in NFL Europe.
He was short and balding and his Giants teammates called him Sling Blade, a reference to the movie character played by Billy Bob Thornton.
The Giants had blown a 38-14 lead in an NFC wild-card playoff game against the 49ers at Candlestick Park, but Bryant readied himself to hit the game-winner on the final play. Instead, the snap from newly signed journeyman Trey Junkin was low and wide, rookie punter/holder Matt Allen dove to f ield the errant snap and, on third down, panicked and tossed a pass into the end zone that fell incomplete as time expired.
“In my head, like every other kick, that was gonna be the one you make,’’ Bryant said.
Had he nailed it, perhaps Bryant would have had a long and prosperous career with the Giants. He remained for one more season, got hurt in the summer of 2004, and new coach Tom Coughlin cut him.
“He was kind of that philosophy where if you’re not able to help me physically then … I think I got caught up in that, maybe,’’ Bryant said.
Bryant then spent four seasons with the Buccaneers but was washed out of Tampa Bay when the Jon Gruden regime came to an end. He hooked on with the Falcons in 2008. Bryant hit 34 of his 37 field goal attempts this sea- son and 56 of 57 extra points for a league-leading 158 points.
“He’s one of the more mentally tough competitors we have on our team,’’ Falcons coach Dan Quinn said. “One of the things I most admire about him is he treats every kick the same.’’
Bryant has quirks on his quirks. He drinks a chocolate milk shake the night before every game. He squeezes his size 10 1/2 feet into a size-nine cleat. Often, he looks at a sign or point between the uprights and tries to kick the ball into that exact spot.
It had been a long road for Bryant since landing in the NFL with the Giants so many years ago.
“I would have told you what I still live by today, all I’m worried about is doing good today so they’ll let me come back tomorrow,’’ Bryant said.
Bryant says he never has visualized kicking a game-winning field goal in a Super Bowl.
“I know it’s an element, it could happen,’’ Bryant said. “I’m gonna step up and do what I’ve always done and give it my best shot.’’