Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • 56

-t- 3C WEDNESDAY. JAN. 30, 2008 DETR01T FREE PRESS I WWW.FREEP.COI, NFL POPE I liOJcsuit crad Burress: zets chance with Giants Brad) From Page 1C Ines Gomez-Mont, a reporter from TV Azteca in Mexico City, wears a wedding dress as she is carried by Patriots center Lonie Paxton while interviewing him during Super Bowl media day Tuesday. Gomez-Mont wore the dress to ask Patriots quarterback Tom Brady to marry her. He said no, as did others she asked.

bluffing Ex-AfSU, C7-Af stars don't agree i (. SUPER BOWL NOTEBOOK By NICHOLAS J. COTSONIKA IRI I I'KI SS SPORTS Ril Pope walked into University of Phoenix Stadium for media day Tuesday wearing his No. 33 jersey, holding a video camera, taking it all in. "It's been a roller coaster for me," he said.

He grew up in Detroit, raised by his grandmother, Eunice, and mother, Elaine, a Detroit police officer. He played mostly on special teams his junior year at U-D Jesuit. He said he wasn't sure what he wanted to do athletically play football or run track. But then he committed to football. "His senior year, he was just like a new kid," Merchant said.

"He always had speed. But I would say earlier in his career he was more of a track guy playing football than a football player that ran track; and his senior year, he became a football player." Eastern Michigan gave Pope a scholarship. But later the Eagles hired a new coach, Jeff Genyk, and Pope said he "got into it" with Genyk and at Howard. Despite running a blazing 4.29-second 40-yard dash at the school's pro day, he wasn't drafted. The Dolphins signed him as a free agent, but they cut him and didn't even invite him onto their practice squad.

The Giants signed him to their practice squad, attracted by his speed. Their plan was to let him develop. It wasn't for him to play. But then they ran into injury trouble. "All of a sudden he's in the playoffs playing in a game," Giants general manager Jerry Reese said.

"It was startling for us." The Giants were even more startled when Pope, who was just supposed to play special teams against the Cowboys, had to come in at corner. First play, Tope lined up against veteran wide receiver Terry Glenn. Pope stuck with Glenn and even shouted: "That's all you got for me?" "It felt good to DB somebody like that, somebody I watched growing up," Pope said. It felt good to play at Green Bay, too. It felt good to ring the bell at the stock exchange, amid a whirlwind day of appearances and interviews arranged by his business manager.

And when this is all over, it will feel good to come home. "I'm coming back home to Detroit as soon as the Super Bowl is over," Pope said. "I'm going to do a big party. I'm going to go home after this opportunity and share everything with everybody." Contact NICHOLAS 3. COTSONIKA of or ncot-soniku a freepress.com MICHAEL CHOWAssotiated Press mez-Mont to media day.

She tual news at media day was the condition of Brady's right ankle GLENDALE, Ariz. The Michigan-Michigan State rivalry rages even at Super Bowl media day. Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who played at Michigan, called the Giants "probably the hottest team in the NFL right now" on Tuesday, as hundreds of reporters interviewed, the teams at University of Phoenix Stadium in advance of Sunday's game. But Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress, who played at Michigan State, didn't buy Brady's claim. Uh, the Patriots are 18-0.

"That's a bunch of crap," Burress said. "He doesn't believe that. He's a Michigan guy. He's supposed to say things like that." HAMMER TIME: Gemara Williams was hanging out with some Patriots teammates when John Salley suddenly sat next to him and did an offbeat group interview for "The Best Damn Sports Show Period" on FSN. Salley is a former Piston.

Williams grew up a Pistons fan in Oak Park. "I didn't know he was that cool," Williams said. Williams once played at Birmingham Brother Rice. Now he plays cornerback on the Patriots' practice squad and is soaking up the Super Bowl scene. the training staff about how to rehab a torn quad.

Pope said Genyk told him he would never be good enough to play at that level. (Genyk did not respond to a phone message.) So Pope transferred to Howard. "I definitely didn't want to leave home because Eastern Michigan's 30 minutes from Detroit," Pope said. "My whole family, friends, you name it, is in Detroit. So I didn't want to leave, but I was kind of like, 'I've got to That was probably one of the biggest decisions I made in my life." Pope started for two years wore a skimpy wmte wedding dress.

She also wore red pumps to be, as she said, "more sexy." She came to propose to Bra- dy. Told Brady already had a girlfriend, model Gisele Bund-chen, Gomez-Mont held up a T-shirt that said: "I'M THE REAL MISS BRADY." Told Brady had a bad ankle, she said: "Yeah, but I'm going to take care of him. Don't worry." Brady turned her down. So she tried Giants quarterback Eli Manning and others. Struck out with them, too.

ANKLE UPDATE: About the only ac- Brady suffered a high ankle sprain in the AFC championship game and didn't practice last week, but he went through a full workout Monday and said he thought he threw only one in-completion. He is expected to practice today. "I'm glad we had the week off and I had the chance to rest a little bit," Brady said. "I really feel that by the game it's going to feel great and there will be no issues. Not that I can run, anyway, but hopefully I'll be able to skirt around some of those guys who are trying to tear my head off." "It's exciting," Williams said.

"Just being able to live out your dream and play professional football as a whole, that's great. But experiencing this right here, I mean, this is crazy." Gemara Williams: Pistons fan INDECENT PROPOSAL Mexico City's TV Azteca sent Ines Go- ROSENBERG I Burress is tough enough Wz Jiur'ir From Page 1C ar" "st -st ress, one of the Giants' starting receivers. If you asked most frt nnl.iflAn Va-c' --F--'' S3SeEEt 1 Giants wide receiver and former Spartan Plaxico Burress, shown during Super Bowl media day, has not missed a game this season despite leg and hand injuries. "It's been real tough for me," he said. i 1 DBSTBFUE PlfiCiDO WILLIS MtANCIS limbs, wouldn't you think about that stuff? Nobody wants to hear this, of with "Plaxico Burress," I bet you'd hear that he is a tall, talented receiver; that he has a big ego; and that he has a big mouth.

There is some truth to all of that. (Just this week, Burress said he expects the Giants to beat New England, 23-17, which created the inevitable stupid overblown media hubbub. I don't fault Burress in the least, but most players know that the media specializes in stupid overblown hubbubs, especially Super Bowl week, and they refrain from predictions.) But I doubt many fans would describe Burress as "tough." In fact, given Burress' occasional transgressions (failing to work out with Giants quarterback Eli Manning one off-season, for example), quite a few fans probably think of him as a prima donna. Burress, in fact, has been dogged by frequent questions about his effort. Well, here is what happened to Plaxico Burress this season: In a September game against the Packers, he suffered a torn ligament in his right ankle.

He 1 i course. Not about the most popular league in this country. And I suspect most people don't want to hear about Plaxico Burress' toughness, either. It's much easier to question LaDai-nian Tomlinson, and to convince ourselves that the players are having as much fun as the fans. Fantasy football, indeed.

"I felt like I was on South Beach," he said. I don't know if Burress, like many former NFL players, will pay the price for his toughness after he retires. But this is why some players, more than we'd like to think, are just hoping to reach their fourth year in the league to allow their pension to kick in. Sometimes backup quarterbacks are OK with being the backup because they know they can play a few years and walk not limp away from the game. I can't fault them for that, either.

If your job required you to keep punishing your injured IBCCL'E r.EEiuniA JOI.ES I I I Contact MICHAEL ROSENBERG at or mrosenberg a freepress.com. CP51TIS 4 --V i im it said last week that he tore it "off the bone." He could not practice from September to December. His left ankle is also sore from off-season surgery. And according to the Newark Star-Ledger, Burress' left knee swelled to twice its normal size in November. Oh, he had a torn tendon in his pinky, too.

Just to clarify: The man's job basically involves running, which tends to involve ankles and knees, and catching, which most of us do with our hands. "It's been real tough for me," fill IV i HI. fo. 1, 8 pm I hiidisson Hotel-Livonia I I (f-rmmty Holiflny ino) I I Thur 17 ft Fn 1(1 A Ci-H A Add All-Stars Miguel Cabrera, Dontrelle Willis, Edgar Renteria, plus all the other Tigers stars and what does it all add up to? One of the most explosive lineups in baseball. Season tickets as low as $297! Packages include: Discounted parking Saturn, M.

2, '84 Vgm I S-' crrrr he said after the Giants clinched their Super Bowl bid. "I really wasn't able to do some of the things that I would be able to do." Yeah, it was real tough for Plaxico Burress. Yet he somehow played every game and finished the regular season with TO 111 AltholtV (iorporation First priority for playoff tickets Great intcrleague matchups Dodgers, Cardinals, Rockies and more! The Trusted Name For GoM-Silver-Rare Coins Since 4 Call 3I3-47I-DALL or visit tigers.com catc hes for 1,025 yards and 12 touchdowns. Then, in the NFC title game against Green P.ay, Burress was simply the best player on the field. lie caught 11 passes for I'd yards in sub-zero temperatures and did not complain a bit on the or afterward.

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