I was a junior in HS and I just started to really follow the NFL. Believe it or not, Madden 06 (McNabb cover) was what really got me into following the game. Naturally, my favorite team was the Eagles. A running QB with a player like Terrel Ownes to catch the ball, unstoppable!!!
My great friend, Andrew, at the time just started playing football for his high school and was a HUGE giants fan. We would play madden all the time together and he would give me a ton of shit for being a New Yorker who rooted for the Eagles. At the time I really didn't understand the rivalry or why it was a mortal sin to root for anything Philly in New York, they just happen to be my madden team. Weeks upon weeks or hear it from my friend started to slowly turn me away from the darkness.
Fast forward to x-mas of that year. My HS had a raffle to fundraiser and one of the prizes were two Giants tickets (front row section 107 seats 14 and 15 vs Kanas City Chiefs Week 15 of the 2005 season) and I decided to put my few tickets into the drawing. Keep in mind, I had never been to a football game, yet alone a Giants game. I had my heart set on winning those tickets and seeing what game day was all about.
I ended up winning those tickets and taking my friend Andrew, the huge Giants fan who loved football. I still remember the face value of the tickets, $85 dollars for 30 yard line tickets. 15 rows up from the front row. Andrew's parents drove us down to Giants stadium. I still remember to this day how nervous/excited I was to be going to a football game in the freezing cold December 17th 5PM kickoff game.
We arrived at the stadium exactly 30 minutes before kickoff. Me and Andrew began sprinting to our seats before the game kicked off. Once we got inside the stadium, I just had to peek to see the inner ring to see what the inner stadium looked like. I'l never forget the vibrant and almost unbelievable green glow of the stadium grass, it was truly surreal. When this game was taking place, there wasn't 1080pHP quality picture on the televisions. My family had a shitty zenith television that barely worked at times lol.
That night, Andrew, Tiki Barber and Eli Manning cemented my Giants fandom for life. Larry Johnson was giving the Giants almost all they could handle, but Tiki Barber went off against the Kansas City Chiefs for 29 carries for 220 yards and 5 catches for 29 yards and wrote his name in NYG history with the single game rushing record. I'l never forget that game and the moments leading up to kickoff.
GIANTS FOR LIFE!