JAY Feely anticipates feeling welcome upon his return to the scene of his greatest kicking crime. After all, Seahawks fans owe him a debt of gratitude.
“I expect the Jay Feely fan club there,” the Giants kicker said yesterday.
Why not? Last Nov. 27, three days after Thanksgiving at Qwest Field in Seattle, Feely missed not one, not two, but three field goals, any of which would have won the game for the Giants. Instead, Feely’s foibles opened the door for the Seahawks to escape with a 24-21 overtime triumph that for the Giants was crushing in its bitter disappointment.
“A classic failure,” Feely surmised.
This will be a major story line all week, with the Giants, coming off a stirring 30-24 overtime victory in Philadelphia, seeking to build on that momentum with a visit to the defending NFC champions.
Feely chuckled to himself as soon as the schedule came out and he saw the Giants would again play in Seattle, knowing there would be no calming eye of the storm for him.
“Obviously I want to have the best game I’ve ever had,” Feely said. “Any time you have an opportunity to go back and revisit a failure you had and get a second chance you relish that moment.” How someone handles such a monumental flop is always telling. Some hide, others find excuses, some recoil, others are flippant. Minutes after the worst professional moment of his life, Feely said a prayer at his locker then took his place in front of a barrage of cameras and microphones and bright lights.
“Bring it on,” he said with not a trace of defiance and the interrogation commenced.
Feely, 30, is a man of great faith and intellect, a thinker who likely is headed to politics after he leaves football. He engages in conversation freely and eagerly, always inquisitive. He knew he’d be judged on how he responded to his flameout in Seattle and decided to embrace the aftermath, even after “Saturday Night Live” the following week ran a skit entitled “Jay Feely: The long ride home.” In the segment, the actor playing Feely on the trip back from Seattle took over as the pilot and had to steer the plane between two towers.
“I did,” Feely said, “and the odd part is it went off the runway and crashed.” But Feely did not crash.
“Everywhere I went this offseason,” he said, “whether I was speaking at a school or a church or speaking with senators, that always came up, ‘What about that Seattle game?’ It was an opportunity for me to talk about my faith and endurance and fortitude and being able to get through tough situations.” By now, details of the disaster in the Pacific Northwest are burned into memory. Feely actually hit field goals of 39 and 43 yards as the Giants, often in spite of themselves, rallied from a 21-13 fourth-quarter deficit to pull even. Eli Manning got the ball to the Seahawks’ 25-yard line with 4 seconds left and out came Feely to give the Giants a statement victory. With his teammates braced to explode in celebration, Feely misplayed the wind and deflated his club by sending a 40-yard field-goal attempt sailing wide left.
The afternoon went from bad to worse for Feely. Tom Coughlin had him try a 54-yard attempt in OT that fell far short. Next, Feely trotted out for a potential game-winner, but his 45-yarder never had a chance and also fell far short.
“Honestly, I let the first two misses have an impact on me,” Feely said. “I was hoping to make that kick rather than knowing I was gonna make it.” Afterward, anguish coursing through the veins of the Giants was rampant.
“I remember John Mara saying to me, ‘Now I know why you want to retire,’ ” GM Ernie Accorsi recalled.
Feely likes a quote from Hubert Humphrey that says “A smooth sea never made a good sailor.” Last week, he nailed a 35-yard field goal with 7 seconds left to force overtime in Philly.
He did not do any interviews after that kick; no one asked for him.
