EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Fifteen years old, with Burkitt's Lymphoma churning in his stomach, there was Adam Merchant, stepping out after Friday's practice in front of the New York Giants, his favorite team and Make-a-Wish first choice. Coach Tom Coughlin had charged him with the task of offering a few final words after a week of preparation and the kid didn't hold back, coming strong before concluding with a most simple message.





"Play like the world champions you are," Adam told his heroes.

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Around that practice field the words hit hard and hit true, rocking all these big strong football players. The kid was getting emotional, the Giants players said, understandably overwhelmed by the moment. "It can be kind of nerve-racking to come talk to your favorite team," Eli Manning said. But the message was pointed and powerful.

The teenager from Barre, Vt. is a fighter, NFL-tough. That much they could all see and respect. His disease is already in a hopeful remission, although the battle has hardly grown easy. You go through all of that and suddenly you aren't too scared to speak the truth to your team, to hammer home the advice they keep hearing over and over, from Coughlin to every fan they run into around town.

Enough of the uninspired play and November swoons, it's long past time for the Giants to play like the best team in the NFL, which they most certainly can be.

"Certain people can say that," defensive lineman Justin Tuck said later, "but when you see this innocent kid say you've got to play like a champion … I told him he needs to get into motivational speaking because he inspired us."

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New York 38, Green Bay 10 – the Giants powered by five touchdowns, five sacks and one Adam Merchant channeling of Vince Lombardi.

"It just came out," Merchant explained after the game in the Giants' locker room, clad in a Jason Pierre-Paul jersey, a Giants ski cap and seated next to his new buddy Tuck.

The Giants (7-4) had lost two consecutive games and were facing a critical moment against the dangerous Packers. New York has won two Super Bowls in the last five years but also earned a reputation for sporadic play, varying effort and maddening slumps. Just a year ago they were 7-7, almost kicking away what would be a championship season. When they play, they really play. When they don't, they don't.

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