Super Bowl champ receives star welcome

Guy Whimper had just come from a parade in which thousands lined the streets of Manhattan to honor him and his New York Giants teammates.

But a presentation of his old Havelock High School jersey in front of a couple hundred basketball fans Friday night was just as special.

“It feels good to be home,” said Whimper, a Havelock native who was enjoying celebrity status at his old school Friday night. “My mom and my dad live here, and I have friends here. I always come back after the season.”

But, this season he is returning home as a Super Bowl champion, and he was in high demand Friday night.

Children rushed to get autographs, and others mobbed him to pose for pictures. There were pats on the back and handshakes for the 2001 Havelock High graduate.

The reserve lineman and special teams player does not yet have his Super Bowl championship ring. That will arrive later this year. But, he said he would always keep the memories of New York’s 17-14 victory over the previously unbeaten New England Patriots.

New England scored with just more than two minutes remaining in the game, but quarterback Eli Manning led the Giants on a game-winning drive, throwing a touchdown pass with 35 seconds left in the game.

“That’s our game. We know we can win the game in the fourth quarter,” Whimper said. “It felt really good.”

He said the victory was possible because of head coach Tom Coughlin’s work ethic in Phoenix, site of the Super Bowl.

“We went there with a purpose,” Whimper said. “He kept us outside the city so we could concentrate on football. We had a good game plan and good practices.”

He said many doubted the team, especially after an 0-2 start to the season.

“It was difficult. It took us some time,” he said. “We started off slow, but we really took to what Coach Coughlin was telling us, and we started to believe in ourselves.”

In the playoffs, the Giants defeated Tampa Bay, Dallas and Green Bay — all on the road — to reach the Super Bowl, and Whimper said the team approached the championship game as another road game.

“We started thinking of ourselves as the road warriors, and we took it to heart,” he said.

Still, most of the fans in Phoenix seemed to be cheering for the Giants, something Whimper said he noticed when he ran out on the field for the first time during player introductions.

“It was a rush, an all-time high, seeing all the flashes from the cameras,” Whimper said. “It was a blessing.”

Whimper, an East Carolina University graduate, is in his second season with the Giants. The fourth-round draft pick said he is under contract for next season.

Still, no matter what the future holds, he will always be recognized as a Super Bowl champion.

“It makes me feel good, coming from a small town and playing since I was child,” Whimper said. “It’s like a dream come true.”