Eli Manning

Eli Manning

Eli Nelson Manning is an American football quarterback for the New York Giants of the National Football League. He is the younger brother of NFL quarterback Peyton Manning and the son of former NFL quarterback Archie Manning...

's pass to David Tyree

David Tyree

David Mikel Tyree is a retired American football wide receiver and special teams player. He was drafted by the New York Giants in the sixth round of the 2003 NFL Draft. He played college football at Syracuse University. Tyree has also played for the Baltimore Ravens...

was an American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 play involving the two aforementioned New York Giants

New York Giants

The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

 players in the final two minutes of Super Bowl XLII

Super Bowl XLII

Super Bowl XLII was an American football game on February 3, 2008 that featured the National Football Conference champion New York Giants and the American Football Conference champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League champion for the 2007 season...

 on February 3, 2008. It was instrumental in the Giants' 17–14 upset victory over the New England Patriots

New England Patriots

The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...

. It featured Manning escaping from the grasp of three Patriots defensive players, followed by Tyree making a leaping catch by pressing the ball against his helmet. Steve Sabol of NFL Films

NFL Films

NFL Films is a Mount Laurel, New Jersey-based company devoted to producing commercials, television programs, feature films, and documentaries on the National Football League, as well as other unrelated major events and awards shows...

 called it "the greatest play the Super Bowl has ever produced." The play was also named by NFL Films "The Play of the Decade (2000s)". The play has become known as "The Helmet Catch".

Lead up

Tyree had been used primarily on special teams and had only 4 receptions for 35 yards and no touchdowns during the 2007 regular season. The Patriots, undefeated on the season and heavily favored to win the game, scored a touchdown to take a 14–10 lead with 2:42 remaining in the game. The Giants then faced a 3rd down with 5 yards needed for a 1st down from their own 44 yard line with 1:15 remaining.

Play

Manning called the play "76 Union Y Sail" from the Giants' playbook in hopes of connecting with a receiver downfield. On third-and-5 from the Giants' 44-yard line, Manning took the snap in the shotgun formation

Shotgun formation

The shotgun formation is a formation used by the offensive team in American and Canadian football. This formation is used mainly for passing plays, although some teams use it as their base formation. In the shotgun, instead of the quarterback receiving the snap from center at the line of scrimmage,...

 and immediately faced pressure from the Patriots defensive lineman Richard Seymour

Richard Seymour

Richard Vershaun Seymour is an American football defensive tackle for the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League. He was drafted by the New England Patriots sixth overall in the 2001 NFL Draft...

, Jarvis Green

Jarvis Green

Jarvis Green is an American football defensive end who is currently a free agent of the National Football League. He was drafted by the New England Patriots in the fourth round of the 2002 NFL Draft...

, and Adalius Thomas

Adalius Thomas

Adalius Donquail Thomas is an American football linebacker who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft. He played college football at Southern Mississippi.-Early years:...

. Thomas grabbed Manning by the shoulder while Seymour grabbed him by the back of his jersey and attempted to pull him down for a sack

Quarterback sack

In American football and Canadian football, a sack occurs when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage before he can throw a forward pass, or when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage in the "pocket" and the intent of what he was going to do is unclear...

. Manning however was able to stay on his feet and duck under the arms of the Patriot defenders, before scrambling

Quarterback scramble

A quarterback scramble or scramble is an impromptu maneuver or run in American football and Canadian football by a quarterback. If a quarterback is under pressure by an opposing team's defense, he may run forward, backward, or laterally in an attempt to avoid being tackled behind the line of...

 backwards into space at around the 34 yard line, and throwing the ball down field to Tyree at the 24 yard line of the Patriots. Fox

Fox Broadcasting Company

Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...

 announcer Troy Aikman

Troy Aikman

Troy Kenneth Aikman is a former American football quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys in the National Football League. The number one overall draft pick in 1989, Aikman played twelve consecutive seasons as quarterback with the Cowboys...

 said after the play "I don't know how he got out of there." Had Manning been sacked, the Giants would have faced a fourth down with around 8 yards to go for a first, and would have needed to convert for the second time on the drive to keep their chances to win alive (halfback Brandon Jacobs

Brandon Jacobs

-New York Giants:Going into the 2006 season Jacobs stated that he studied film of famed power running back Eddie George in an effort to refine his running style. George, like Jacobs, was a large, power running back. In the 2006 season, Jacobs carried the ball 96 times for 423 yards and nine...

 converted on a 4th-and-1 three plays earlier in the drive to keep the Giants' drive going).

Due to the Patriots' pressure, Tyree was unable to run his intended route and instead came back towards the line to give Manning an option down the field, stopping at the 25 yard line. As the ball arrived Tyree fell on the ground, along with Patriots defender Rodney Harrison

Rodney Harrison

Rodney Scott Harrison is a retired professional football player of the National Football League. Harrison played safety for the San Diego Chargers and New England Patriots...

 who was attempting to knock it down. Initially, Tyree caught the ball with both hands, but a swipe by Harrison's arm caused his left hand to be knocked off the ball. However, Tyree was able to secure possession of the ball by pressing it against the top of his helmet with his right hand. Harrison pulled him down, and Tyree landed on top of him with the ball still pressed against his helmet.

The play gained 32 yards for the Giants and gave them a first down with 58 seconds left. Four plays later, Plaxico Burress

Plaxico Burress

Plaxico Antonio Burress is an American football wide receiver who currently plays for the New York Jets of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers eighth overall in the 2000 NFL Draft...

 scored the touchdown that won the game for the Giants 17–14.

Nickname

Like other famous plays in the NFL, this play has been given nicknames, but, largely due to two separate unique occurrences in the play, consensus has not been reached on a single name. In 2008, readers of the New York Daily News

New York Daily News

The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....

 voted on nicknaming the play "Catch-42" as the favored name in reference to Super Bowl XLII and the kind of coverage the Patriots deployed against the Giants' four-receiver set. Since then, David Tyree has adopted the "Catch-42" nickname as well as ESPN.com. Bill Simmons has claimed it should be named "The Helmet Catch". Other proposed nicknames include "The Escape and the Helmet Catch", "The E-mmaculate Connection" (a pun on the Immaculate Reception

Immaculate Reception

The Immaculate Reception is the nickname given to one of the most famous plays in the history of American football. It occurred in the AFC divisional playoff game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Oakland Raiders at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on December 23, 1972...

; the 'E' standing for Eli), "The Double Miracle", and "The Reception that Ended Perfection". The blog Kissing Suzy Kolber

Kissing Suzy Kolber

Kissing Suzy Kolber is an NFL-related humor blog run by a group of unsanctioned sports bloggers. The site began in June 2006 when the founders came together as like-minded commenters from the sports blog Deadspin...

 suggested "The Giant Snatch". "The Great Escape" was used by President George W. Bush

George W. Bush

George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

 during the Giants' White House championship visit. "David and Eliath" was also suggested by David Tyree, due to its biblical

Bible

The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...

 reference.

ESPYs spoof

The catch won the 2008 Best Play ESPY Award

Best Play ESPY Award

The Best Play ESPY Award has been conferred annually since 2002 on the play in a single regular season or playoff game contested professionally under the auspices of one of the four major North American leagues or collegiately under the auspices of the National Collegiate Athletic Association...

. The award ceremony featured a spoof by host Justin Timberlake

Justin Timberlake

Justin Randall Timberlake is an American pop musician and actor. He achieved early fame when he appeared as a contestant on Star Search, and went on to star in the Disney Channel television series The New Mickey Mouse Club, where he met future bandmate JC Chasez...

, who "revealed" that he had left gum

Chewing gum

Chewing gum is a type of gum traditionally made of chicle, a natural latex product, or synthetic rubber known as polyisobutylene. For economical and quality reasons, many modern chewing gums use rubber instead of chicle...

on David Tyree's helmet, which helped him catch the pass (since he caught it close to the top of his helmet). During the acceptance speech, David Tyree jokingly stated, "Thanks Justin for the gum." Eli Manning also jokingly thanked his offensive line, "for giving me zero pass protection."