Pitarresi: Who missed Garcon? Good for Will Smith

Pierre Garcon, a Division III player in college, catches 11 passes for 151 yards and a touchdown as the Colts get the best of the Jets in the AFC championship game.

 

Who missed that guy? Garcon played at Norwich University, not a small college power in recent years, then Mount Union, which certainly has been. But still, how did a guy with such obvious physical gifts get missed by 120 or so major college programs and a couple hundred more in I-AA and even Division II?

 

Whatever. Garcon is terrific. Not that it hurts to have Peyton Manning throwing the ball to you. The Jets had Manning rattled early, but the Colts offense managed to pull everything together. Garcon and Austin Collie, another receiver with a modest pedigree – a rookie and fourth-round draft choice from Brigham Young – who caught seven passes for 123 yards and a touchdown, were the stars of the game. That is, if you don’t count Manning, who is one of the all-time greats, no matter what happens Feb. 7 in Miami.

 

 And how about Utica’s Will Smith and his New Orleans Saints going to the Super Bowl? Good for Will, who played a sold second half, and made a huge play stripping the ball from Percy Harvin, in his team’s overtime victory over the Vikings. I feel bad for Brett Favre, who I’ve generally admired for his toughness and all-out style, but he is the NFL’s all-time leader in, not just interceptions, but stupid interceptions. Throwing the ball across your body and across the field in desperation, no matter how much of a rocket arm you still have, getting picked off, and killing your team’s chance for a winning field goal is just crazy. And he had played very well up till then. Inexplicable. You can’t do that.

 

Favre is, like Manning, one of the best ever at his position, but his sometimes self-destructive propensity to gamble came back and bit  him hard Sunday.