There is a great story in today’s New York Times about Super Bowl hero David Tyree.

Tyree, who caught the desperation pass from quarterback Eli Manning in the final two minutes of the Super Bowl, had struggled with drugs and alcohol prior to his success with the Giants.

The first time he can remember vomiting after drinking alcohol was in eighth grade. By his junior year at Montclair High School, he celebrated the same way after every football game — drinking a 40-ounce bottle of malt liquor and a half-pint of Jack Daniel’s whiskey, and smoking a blunt, a skinny cigar hollowed and filled with marijuana.

Tyree’s mother, Thelma, tolerated drug use in her home. She also smoked marijuana. Her philosophy, according to Tyree: “She would rather us be at home, acting the complete fool under her watch, than out on the streets, doing the same things and finding trouble that was definitely waiting for us. My house was a free-for-all.”

Tyree is now a born-again Christian who has started a non-profit organization that counsels teenagers.

Just one more reason why the Giants winning the Super Bowl made for a better storyline over the Patriots going 19-0.

You can read the entire article here.