Shortly after the New York Giants had upset the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII, team ownership, quarterback Eli Manning, wide receiver Amani Toomer and center Shaun O’Hara were given the task of coming up with a ring design.
Following several weeks of debate and work, the group had come to an agreement on a ring design and presented the concept to the team.
Defensive end Michael Strahan was having none of the original design, telling the team that created the concept to head back to the drawing board.
As part of a group that included ownership, coach Tom Coughlin, receiver Amani Toomer and offensive lineman Shaun O’Hara, Super Bowl XLII MVP Manning helped design the ring. Manning remembers they were all set with a classic design, something that wasn’t too big and could be worn around. But then defensive end Michael Strahan showed up to give his opinion. “All I care about is I want a 10-table ring!” Strahan said. Nobody knew what that meant. Strahan explained that when he went into a restaurant, he wanted the ring to be seen from 10 tables away. “We kind of threw out everything we’d done and started over,” Manning said. Strahan’s final version, a 1.72-carat ring, was all about size and was significantly bigger than what they originally agreed upon.
“When ownership or somebody asked [Strahan], ‘what do you want in the ring?’ he said, ‘I don’t care what you do, just make sure it’s a 10 table ring,” former defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo told NFL Network in 2018. “I’d say they did a pretty good job.”
The 1.72-carat rings were handed out to the players on May 29, 2008.
“As a kid you always think about winning a Super Bowl, winning a championship,” David Diehl told NFL.com. “When you have that ring you are in a unique class. It is something that we will remember for the rest of our lives and something no one will be able to take away from us.”
“It’s a 10-table stunner,” Strahan said.
13 years after the Giants finalized the Super Bowl XLII ring design, the alternate concept remains buried, likely never to be seen.
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