The Giants’ Invisible Hand in Super Bowl LX

The New York Giants aren’t playing in the Super Bowl on Sunday. But if you watch closely, you’ll see former Giants all over the field and on both sidelines.

From the communication in the secondary to the violence in the trenches… from the quarterback room on one sideline to the headset chatter on the other… pieces of Big Blue are embedded in this game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots.

Four former Giants — Julian Love, Leonard Williams, Drew Lock, and Tommy DeVito — arrive at Super Bowl LX via very different paths, but share a common origin in East Rutherford. Some are central figures in a championship defense. Others are depth pieces whose journeys speak to resilience and survival in the NFL.

For Giants fans, this game hits differently. Because while the logo at midfield isn’t NY, the fingerprints absolutely are.

How Love and Williams Anchor Seattle’s Super Bowl Push

At the core of Seattle’s dominant defense are two former Giants draft picks who have evolved into championship-level difference makers: Julian Love and Leonard Williams.

Love, drafted by the Giants in 2019, was always intelligent, versatile, and steady. In New York, he was asked to do everything — slot coverage, deep safety help, box defender, communicator. That versatility is now the backbone of Seattle’s secondary. He’s no longer the glue guy. He’s the

Every time the Seahawks disguise coverage, rotate late, or bait a quarterback into a mistake, you’re watching the evolution of a player who learned how to survive in a chaotic Giants defense and turned that education into mastery.

When the Giants traded for Williams years ago, the expectation was disruption. Pressure. Violence at the point of attack. What Seattle has unlocked is the fully realized version of that promise. Williams is no longer just a powerful interior lineman — he’s a game-plan wrecker. Double teams don’t neutralize him; they create opportunities for everyone else.

On a Super Bowl stage where games are won in the trenches, Williams’ ability to collapse the pocket from the inside may be the single most important defensive factor in the game.

Together, Love and Williams represent something Giants fans know well: high football IQ paired with trench toughness. Seattle didn’t just acquire talent. They acquired players forged in one of the league’s most demanding environments — and refined them into championship pillars.

Lock and DeVito Now Meet on Opposing Sidelines

The quarterback subplot is quieter, but just as compelling.

Drew Lock, now back with Seattle, and Tommy DeVito, with New England, both survived the Giants’ turbulent quarterback carousel in recent years. DeVito, the hometown favorite, was thrust into action in the 2023 season and won three games, including being named NFC Offensive Player of the Week for his play in the Giants’ 24-22 win over the Green Bay Packers.

The two flip-flopped on the depth chart in 2024 when the Giants moved on from Daniel Jones, and Lock ended up starting five of the final seven games for New York. His signature moment was accounting for five total touchdowns and a near-perfect 155.3-rated game against the Colts in Week 17. Although the win took the Giants out of the first pick, it ended up resulting in Jaxson Dart being drafted instead, along with Abdul Carter with the third pick.

Neither of the quarterbacks is starting in the Super Bowl. That’s not the point.

Lock provides veteran calm in Seattle’s quarterback room as Seattle’s backup, a player who has seen enough chaos to remain composed in the NFL’s loudest moment. DeVito, a former fan favorite in New York, has earned trust in New England as the Patriots’ third-string option through his preparation and professionalism.

Their friendship, formed during a difficult Giants season, now carries an ironic twist: they’re on opposite sidelines of the Super Bowl. Two quarterbacks shaped by the same environment, arriving at the same destination through different doors.

Prepared depth like this doesn’t make headlines — but it often helps win championships.

Who Giants Fans Are Rooting For

This is where it gets complicated for Big Blue supporters.

Do you root for Love and Williams — homegrown Giants who became stars elsewhere and are now central to Seattle’s title hopes? Or do you lean toward DeVito — the underdog who won hearts in New York — standing on the Patriots sideline, living a story nobody could have predicted?

There’s no wrong answer. Because for Giants fans, this isn’t really Seahawks vs. Patriots. It’s pride mixed with frustration. Recognition mixed with what-if. Do the two Super Bowl wins over New England take precedence over the common hatred for the Patriots due to their nearly two-decade run of dominance? Does that hatred even come back with New England fielding an entirely different team, or are the Seahawks too dominant anyway?

Either way, on the biggest night in football, Giants fans will be watching — seeing familiar faces, familiar traits, and realizing that even in absence, Big Blue still has a presence on the NFL’s grandest stage. Even if there is no rooting interest, New York can be proud that their former players, both starters and reserves, will have an impact on the outcome of this Super Bowl.