Newsday (N.Y.): Raiders show respect for Eli Manning as they prepare to host Giants

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

ALAMEDA, Calif. — His brother, David, was the backup to Eli Manning on the Giants who rarely played. Now, as fate and fable would have it, Derek Carr of the Oakland Raiders will be the first to play quarterback against the Giants since Manning was replaced as starter.

“I know this about Eli,” Carr said. “He’s a great person. I was able to learn from him a couple of years ago at the Pro Bowl. I was fortunate and blessed to be on that same team as him. Just learn from him, ask questions, all of those things.”

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2017 Newsday. All rights reserved.

Newsday (N.Y.): 49ers humbled by Super Bowl champion Giants

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

SAN FRANCISCO -- The 49ers were waiting for this one. The Giants beat them in overtime in the NFC Championship Game last season on a field goal after a fumble, and the 49ers kept thinking they should have won that game and gone to the Super Bowl.

That's not what they're thinking now -- not after the Giants battered the 49ers, 26-3, at Candlestick Park, where by game's end, it seemed as if the only people left from the announced crowd of 69,732 were blue-shirted fans chanting "Let's go, Giants!''

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2012 Newsday. All rights reserved.

Newsday (N.Y.): 49ers' Kyle Williams wants to atone for fumbles against Giants

By Art Spander
Special to Newsday

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- The words from the 49ers' Kyle Williams had a touch of irony. He was talking about Sunday's game against the Giants at Candlestick Park by referencing the teams' NFC Championship Game there last January.

The game in which Williams had two crucial turnovers that helped the Giants win, 20-17, in overtime.

Read the full story here.

Copyright © 2012 Newsday. All rights reserved.

RealClearSports: Eli: 'This Might Be the Last One'

By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.com

INDIANAPOLIS — The father and two sons, as so many others walking the streets, wore football jerseys — but not those of the Giants or Patriots. These were Green Bay Packers uniforms, the No. 12 of Aaron Rodgers.

A year ago, they were the team. A year ago, he was the man. A year ago.

How quickly the days go by. How swiftly times and teams change.

Read the full story here.

© RealClearSports 2012

SF Examiner: Julian Edelman is everywhere for New England Patriots

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

They didn’t, in the poignant phrasing of New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, “know what the [bleep]” they were going to do with Julian Edelman. But they knew on the day of the 2009 NFL draft they were going to do something.

“We drafted you as a football player,” apparently is what Belichick, in his arrogance and brilliance, told Edelman. “We’re going to have you on the field somewhere.”

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2012 SF Newspaper Company