Shortly thereafter, McKenzie — who is 6 feet 6 inches, played at 327 pounds and was known as Big Bear or Big Mountain with the Giants — returned to his locker to find a new friend. “I would not confirm this, but I know it came from Richie and I sense it had something to do with how much hair I have on my body,” McKenzie said in a telephone interview. “I didn’t fight it, though. I embraced it.”

By his own admission, McKenzie was relatively inexperienced when it came to the quirky but rewarding world of stuffed animal care. Initially, he was not sure what to do with Little Bear. When the Giants won three road playoff games and the Super Bowl that season, for example, Little Bear traveled to every site — but in steerage, with the team’s equipment.

“Imagine if he had a frequent-flier number,” Pizzano said. “He went everywhere. He’d have enough for a free flight.”

Over time, McKenzie said, he and Little Bear developed a real rapport. As the relationship developed, McKenzie felt comfortable storing rolls of tape or even his cellphone atop Little Bear’s formidable back. And after the Giants won a championship in his first season, Little Bear’s stock in the locker room grew exponentially.

“I know it’s important to those guys,” defensive end Justin Tuck said. “The D-line tried something like that once; we had a bobblehead. But after we got it, we lost a bunch of games and went into a slump where we didn’t have any sacks, so I ripped off its head and we won the next game.”

Tuck added, somewhat ruefully, “I guess you could say it’s worked out better for the O-line.”

Some questions about Little Bear’s future developed after his second Super Bowl title because the Giants cut ties with Big Bear — McKenzie — last spring. During the off-season, Little Bear lived, mostly alone, in the locker room at the Giants’ training center, though the equipment director, Joe Skiba, said he occasionally checked on Little Bear when he worked in the equipment room nearby.