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| Date | February 3, 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Stadium | University of Phoenix Stadium Glendale, Arizona | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Patriots by 12.5 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Mike Carey | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 71,101[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
| TV in the United States | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | Fox | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Joe Buck,Troy Aikman,Pam Oliver, andChris Myers | ||||||||||||||||||
TheHelmet Catch was anAmerican footballplay involvingNew York Giants quarterbackEli Manning and wide receiverDavid Tyree in the final two minutes ofSuper Bowl XLII on February 3, 2008. It featured Manning narrowly escaping asack from threeNew England Patriots defensive players and throwing aforward pass, followed by Tyree making a leaping catch by pressing the ball against his helmet. The play, a 32-yard gain during adrive on which the Giants scored the game-winningtouchdown, was instrumental in the Giants' 17–14 upset victory over the Patriots, who were on the verge of becoming the firstNational Football League (NFL) team to finish a seasonundefeated and untied since the1972 Miami Dolphins, and the first since the NFL adopted a 16-game regular season in1978.NFL Films'Steve Sabol called it "the greatest play theSuper Bowl has ever produced".[2] The play was also named by NFL Films as "The Play of the Decade (2000s)".[3] It was also the final catch of Tyree's NFL career.[4]
Tyree had been used primarily onspecial teams and had only 4 receptions for 35 yards and no touchdowns during the 2007 regular season.[5] Although Tyree was seldom used as a receiver during the regular season, he caught the Giants' first touchdown of the Super Bowl early in the fourth quarter, giving his team a 10–7 lead. On their next drive, the Patriots scored a touchdown on a pass fromTom Brady toRandy Moss to take a 14–10 lead with 2:42 remaining in the game.
On their next possession, the Giants faced a 3rd & 5 from their own 44-yard line with 1:15 remaining. On the previous play, Patriots' cornerbackAsante Samuel dropped what could have been a game-sealinginterception.
Manning was given the play call "62 Sail-Y Union" 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 theshotgun formation and immediately faced pressure from the Patriotsdefensive endsRichard Seymour,Jarvis Green, andlinebackerAdalius Thomas. Green grabbed Manning by the shoulder while Seymour grabbed him by the back of his jersey and attempted to pull him down for asack; had he 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 (halfbackBrandon Jacobs converted on a 4th and 1 three plays earlier in the drive).
Manning, however, was able to stay on his feet and duck under the arms of the Patriot defenders beforescrambling backwards into space at around the 34-yard line (Fox announcerTroy Aikman said after the play, "I don't know how he got out of there."). He managed to avoid getting sacked byMike Vrabel andJunior Seau as he scrambled, then threw a high pass toward the middle of the field just before getting knocked down by Vrabel.
Tyree was thrown off his intended route thanks to tight coverage fromEllis Hobbs, and he moved toward the middle of the field to give Manning a downfield option once he saw the play develop. The ball reached the Patriots' 25-yard line, where Tyree was being shadowed bystrong safetyRodney Harrison. Both men jumped for the ball, with Tyree getting both hands on it first. Harrison was able to jar the ball loose, but Tyree secured the ball against his helmet using his right hand while keeping his left hand on it; he was able to maintain possession as the two men landed on the playing surface, gaining 32 yards and giving the Giants possession in Patriots territory with :58 remaining in the fourth quarter. Four plays later, Manning would findPlaxico Burress in the end zone to give the Giants a 17-14 lead, and the defense stopped the Patriots on the next series to secure the victory, spoiling the Patriots' attempt to finish the season undefeated at 19-0.
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 was not reached on a single name for some time. In 2009, readers of theNew York Daily News 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.[6] Since then, David Tyree has adopted the "Catch-42" nickname as well as hasESPN.com.[7] Other proposed nicknames include "The Escape and the Helmet Catch", "The E-mmaculate Connection" (a pun on theImmaculate Reception; the 'E' standing for Eli), "The Double Miracle", and "The Reception that Ended Perfection".[3] "The Great Escape" was used byU.S. PresidentGeorge W. Bush during the Giants'White House visit. "David and Eliath" was also suggested by David Tyree due to thebiblical reference.[8]Bill Simmons named it "The Helmet Catch" five days after the game, and as time passed by, this became the consensus name for the play.[9]
The catch won the 2008Best Play ESPY Award. The award ceremony featured a spoof by hostJustin Timberlake, who "revealed" that he had leftgum on David Tyree's helmet, which helped him catch the pass (since he caught it close to the top of his helmet).[10] During the acceptance speech, Tyree jokingly stated, "Justin, thanks for the gum." Eli Manning also jokingly thanked his offensive line, "for giving me zero pass protection."
Tyree would never catch another pass in the NFL. He missed the following season with a training camp injury and played just 10 games in 2009, recording no receptions, before announcing his retirement in 2010.
In anNFC Divisional playoff game against the defendingSuper Bowl XLV championGreen Bay Packers on January 15, 2012, Manning threw aHail Mary pass at the end of the first half, which was caught in the end zone byHakeem Nicks, giving the Giants a 20–10 lead. Nicks caught the ball by cradling it against his head, which prompted commentatorsJoe Buck andTroy Aikman to note the similarity to Tyree's catch. Coincidentally, Buck and Aikman were also the commentators of Super Bowl XLII. The Giants would go on to beat the Packers 37–20,[11][12] as well as winanother Super Bowl against the New England Patriots (whereMario Manningham made a sideline catch compared to Tyree's grab).
"It’s probably the luckiest play in NFL history. No one really blocked anybody, I’m almost sacked, just kind of rolled out, throw it up for grabs, and David Tyree catches it off his helmet. That’s how we drew it up in practice. I never thought it would work, but sure enough, it did."
Fox Sports lists Eli Manning's pass to David Tyree as the greatest play in Super Bowl history; editor Adrian Hasenmeyer called the play "an insult to physics andAlbert Einstein".[14]NBC Sports and NFL.com have also listed the play as the greatest Super Bowl play of all time.[15][16]NFL Films founderSteve Sabol compared Manning toFran Tarkenton and said that the play "defied logic, history, gravity and just about anything else you care to mention".[17]
For the NFL’s 100th season, the play was declared #3 in greatest 100 plays in NFL history.[18]
In 2025, the play was named as the #1 sports moment of the 21st century byThe Ringer.[19]
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