Canty's proclamation — in which he told Giants fans to prepare for a Super Bowl parade Tuesday — caused a number of different reactions from the Patriots. Branch, though, had the most humorous response.
"They've got a parade?" Branch said. "I don't know, man. Anybody can throw a parade. I can throw a parade if I want to. I think anybody can throw a parade."
But it's a Super Bowl parade. And it's Tuesday. And it will be in New York.
"It's on Tuesday?" Branch replied. "I'm going to be busy on our Tuesday."
Patriots left guard Logan Mankins, who will line up against Canty in the Super Bowl, said the talking won't mean anything come Sunday.
"The game is on the field," Mankins said. "It's not through the media. It's on Sundays in that three-hour block, so we'll see who does the talking that day."
If nothing else, Canty's confidence in his team is a mentality the Patriots could relate with.
"I feel the same," Patriots linebacker Brandon Spikes said. "I mean, he's confident. He should be confident. It's a big game. First of all, talk is cheap, and at the end of the day, we've got to show up and play the game. The best team is going to win, so we'll see."
For some, Canty's words could inspire a little extra motivation.
"I like to prove people wrong," Patriots defensive tackle Kyle Love said. "When I hear stuff like that, it just makes me want to show people like, 'You basically told me I can't do what I'm going to show you I can do.' I take stuff like that in stride and keep on playing hard. It actually makes me play harder."
At the end of the day, the trash talk doesn't really mean anything. It will be thrown on a proverbial bulletin board for all of the Patriots to see, and head coach Bill Belichick might even incorporate the parade route into Saturday night's speech, as he did prior to Super Bowl XXXIX.
"We've heard [about parades] before, though," Branch said. "We heard that with Philadelphia, and we heard that with Carolina. They both said the same thing."
And neither team got their parade. The Patriots will attempt to keep that streak intact.
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