INDIANAPOLIS — Salem native Peter Giunta loves the Boston Bruins. While we're at it, he loves the Red Sox and Celtics, too.
"I had so much fun following the Bruins last season," said Giunta, a former backup goalie at St. John's Prep. "They won three Game 7s; that doesn't happen very often. In fact my daughter, Christina, and my brother, Gerry, and his wife, Donna, got to drink from the Cup."
As for the New England Patriots, well, there was a time Giunta (pronounced JUN-ta) felt the same affinity for the region's professional football team.
Unfortunately, though, his job forced him to root elsewhere.
Giunta is in his sixth season as defensive backs coach for the New York Giants. He was part of the incredible Super Bowl XLII four years ago when the Giants stunned the then-undefeated Patriots, 17-14, in Glendale, Ariz. It has been called one of the great defensive game plans in of the decade, rivaling Bill Belichick's work of art against the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI.
Let's just say he wasn't a popular guy in the North Shore for some time after that stunner. "I realize not everyone is happy with me back home," he said.
"I tried calling one of my good friends and former classmates at St. John's Prep, Mike Kapnis, from the field after we beat the Patriots," recalled Giunta. "He didn't pick up the phone. I heard later, he saw the caller ID and knew it was me and didn't want to talk."
Well, guess who's in the way of the another Patriots' team chasing history? Giunta and the Giants, who face the Patriots Sunday in Super Bowl XLVI at Lucas Oil Stadium (6:29 p.m.).
"It's amazing," said Giunta. "It was a long, tough season for us. A lot of things happened early and we struggled. But we got healthy and started playing together as a team."
The 55-year-old Giunta, a 1974 Prep graduate, is also building an impressive resume as a football coach and tactician. Sunday will be his third Super Bowl. He was also the co-defensive coordinator of the 1999 St. Louis Rams team that beat the Tennessee Titans, 23-16. His defensive backs were second in the NFL with 29 interceptions that year.
Now in his 34th year of coaching and 21st as an NFL assistant, Giunta ranks among some of the top assistants in the game.
"What a great guy Coach Giunta is," said Giants safety Corey Webster. "He's also a great coach. He's always so prepared, always on top of every detail.
"He's also the neatest writer I've ever seen. Everything he writes on the board is easy to read. I love Coach Giunta."
As for the 2011 Patriots, Giunta says the numbers — New England ranked second in passing with 328.6 yards per game — don't lie.
"They don't have a lot of the same players, but they've got the most important one back, Tom Brady," said Giunta of New England's superstar quarterback. "He really is a special talent, the way he spreads teams out and distributes the ball. He has great vision. He is very comfortable in the pocket. He's a Hall of Famer, one of the best I've ever seen.
"The Patriots deserve to be here. They've won a bunch (10) in a row. We know it's going to be tough beating them twice."
The Giants pass defense did not have a stellar season, finishing 30th in the regular season (one spot ahead of the Patriots' 31st ranked pass defense). But like the Patriots, they improved exponentially the last few weeks of the regular season and playoffs.
Giunta expects the Patriots to continue their season-long theme of trying to get the ball to their tight ends, Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez.
"We have our work cut out for us," said Giunta. "They are two of the best tight ends in the league and they're on the same team. Gronkowski is so big and strong and Hernandez is as fast as a wide receiver, but he's big."
When Giunta isn't facing off against the Patriots in pivotal regular season games and Super Bowls, he admits he is pulling for them.
"My father took me to their first game they played (at Boston University's Nickerson Field in 1960)," said Giunta. "Before I started working in the league, I loved the Patriots.
"I am friends with a few people in that organization. I go way back with Dante Scarnecchia; he was with Patriots when I was coaching at Brown. He was very nice to me and helped me a lot."
There will be no help this week. The Patriots and Giunta are on their own until Sunday night.
"I understand a lot of people I know are rooting for the Patriots," said Giunta.
Does he understand that beating the Patriots twice, getting in the way of this "dynasty" thing, could cost him on future annual trips to Salem?
"Yes, I do," he smiled. "But I'm with the Giants."
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You can email Bill Burt at bburt@eagletribune.com.
Peter Giunta's coaching resume
1978-1980Swampscott High
1981-1983Penn. State (asst.)
1984-1985Brown (TE/WR coach)
1986-1987Brown (Off. coordinator)
1988-1990Lehigh (TE/WR)
1991-1994Philadelphia Eagles (DB coach)
1995-1996N.Y. Jets (DB coach)
1997St. Louis Rams (DB coach)
1998-2000St. Louis Rams (Def. coordinator)
2001-2005Kansas City Chiefs (DB coach)
2006-presentN.Y. Giants (DB coach)
The Giunta bio
Born: Aug. 11, 1956
High school: St. John's Prep ('74)
College: Northeastern University ('78)
Family: Wife, Cindy; children, Christina, John and D.J.
