Giants safety Sash embraces rookie role in Super Bowl 46
by Avi Zaleon
IU Super Bowl Student News Bureau
It was clear who the rookie was.
Sports journalists mobbed individual booths labeled for Giants veterans including quarterback Eli Manning, defensive end Justin Tuck and wide receiver Victor Cruz. As they took a barrage of questions from the army at Super Bowl Media Day, safety Tyler Sash seemed just to fathom the experience. The six-foot, 215 safety stood alone, Super Bowl cap turned backwards atop his head.
“I still don’t believe I’m at the Super Bowl right now,” Sash said, in a daze after the NFC championship game.
“It’s pretty crazy. I don’t think it’s going to kick in until after the game on Sunday, just because as soon as the game was over, the next thought was, ‘OK, we got New England. We need to start preparing for those guys.’’’
Sash, who decided to forgo his junior season at Iowa and enter the NFL Draft, is one of 11 players on New York’s active roster who will conclude their rookie seasons in the NFL Championship. He follows in the footsteps of a fellow Hawkeye, offensive tackle Bryan Bulaga, who started for the Packers in last year’s Super Bowl.
“There’s guys who play in this league for 10 years, 12 years, whatever it is, and they’ve never been here to the Super Bowl, so I’m just so blessed to be here,” Sash said.
“I started my year off here in Indy at the combine, and I’m finishing it here in Indy again, so it’s awesome.”
But before Sash — who said he felt fine despite a concussion in the NFC Championship — arrived in Indianapolis, he was climbing the ranks of great defensive backs at Iowa. Through three seasons in Iowa City, Sash racked up 217 tackles and 13 interceptions, ranking him fifth in career interceptions. He also held the Hawkeye record for interception return yards with 392.
Iowa defensive backs coach Phil Parker said his team misses its starting safety, but the timing was right for Sash to enter the draft a year early.
“He might have felt like he accomplished as much as he could accomplish in college ball at that time and wanted to give it a shot,” Parker said. “To me, if you have a kid that’s on the fence, and that’s what he wants to do, it’s got to be his decision.”
“I think it was good timing for him, getting with a team who was probably looking for safeties … and now obviously, he has a chance to participate in the Super Bowl this year.”
This season, Sash has been utilized primarily on Giants special teams, recording 17 tackles in the regular season and seven in the playoffs, including five in New York’s opening-round win against Atlanta. The last time Sash faced New England, he forced a fumble and made two tackles in a 24-20 win.
In a game where any play can make the difference between champion and runner-up, Sash said he is keeping his focus.
“I think that’s a good thing, just keeping things in perspective and realizing — I know it is the biggest game in the world, most media-oriented event in the world,” Sash said. “I just have to keep things on an even keel.”
“I know it is another game, but at the same time, there’s a lot at stake.”
On Sunday night, a kid from Oskaloosa, Iowa, will be on one of the biggest stages in professional sports. His timing couldn’t have been better.
“Boy,” he said. “The odds of that happening — wow.”
