As fans all over the country speculate on whether future Hall of Fame NFL quarterback Peyton Manning will sign with Tennessee, Denver, or some other team, Nissan North America has just sweetened the deal by offering to “… make Manning a Titan.”

But in this case, the automaker, which is based in Franklin, Tenn., a suburb of Nashville, where the Tennessee NFL franchise plays, is offering to “make,” or rather, “build” Manning a 2012 Nissan Titan Pro-4X pickup truck.

On its website and Facebook page, Nissan extended the offer in an open letter to Manning. In an effort to remain neutral, Nissan indicates it will make Manning a Titan regardless of the NFL team he chooses.

Tennessee has been the corporate headquarters for Nissan’s operations covering all of North, Central and South America since 2006 when the company moved to Nashville from California. The company, now based 15 minutes south in the suburb of Franklin, Tenn., is one of the state’s largest employers. Nissan operates technical and design centers in California, Arizona and Michigan, two assembly plants and one power-train plant in Tennessee, as well as a third assembly plant in Canton, Miss.

“The Nissan Titan V-8 engine is built in Tennessee,” said Brian Carolin, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Nissan North America. “And even more poetically for Mr. Manning, the Titan itself is assembled in a place called Canton.”

Manning played college football for the University of Tennessee. He is expected to be a first-ballot Hall of Fame inductee when he becomes eligible after retirement. The NFL Hall of Fame is located in Canton, Ohio.

An Open Letter to Peyton Manning

Dear Peyton,

We hope it’s okay to be informal and call you Peyton. You’ve been like one of the family to sports fans, especially Tennesseans, since your record-setting college days at the University of Tennessee.

Like you, we at Nissan North America were not all born to Rocky Top. But it is now home to our corporate headquarters and three manufacturing facilities employing more than 6,000 Tennesseans.

At Nissan, we too have fans all over the U.S.A. and we appreciate them all. And like all of your fans, we’re awaiting your decision on where to play next season. While we are in no position to sign you to any particular NFL franchise, we at Nissan North America want to make you a Titan – a 2012 Nissan Titan – as a gesture of gratitude recognizing your great accomplishments and philanthropic contributions to our national community.

We extend this offer on behalf of a nation of football fans and Nissan fans, not necessary to influence your decision.  So next time you’re in Nashville, give us a call and we’ll bring the keys.

Sincerely,

Nissan North America

Image Courtesy of   http://www.flickr.com/photos/tnjn/

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It has been a few years since the New York Giants and New England Patriots met in the unforgettable Super Bowl XLII, but the bitterness was still there. In a game that was hyped as a duel between Tom Brady and Eli Manning, fans were not disappointed.

Manning watched Brady march down the field for the score to put the Patriots up 20-17 with less than two minutes in the fourth quarter, Manning finished off a drive with a one-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jake Ballard with only a few ticks left on the clock to give the Giants the victory at Foxboro Stadium. The win improved their record to 6-2.

“I knew we would win,” Giants running back Brandon Jacobs said. “It definitely took me back to the Super Bowl.” Just like the Super Bowl, when Manning found David Tyree over the middle for the most improbable catch by an unknown receiver, Manning found Ballard for a 28-yard gain in which he leaped up and caught it through two Patriot defenders.

“If it was thrown anywhere else, I wouldn’t have caught it,” Ballard said. “You dream about making catches like that.” And just to add to the eeriness of the drive, Ballard wears 85. That’s the same number worn by Tyree that season. ”I’d rather be down by three with a minute-thirty [left] than up by four with a minute-thirty with Tom Brady, with their offense on the field,” Manning said.

“You like those situations where you have an opportunity to go win the game.” Spoken like an elite quarterback, Manning got the chance to win it and came through. He had another good game, going 20 of 39 for 250 yards two touchdowns and one interception. This was a big win keeping the Giants two games ahead of the Dallas Cowboys who beat the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.

The Patriots fall to 5-3 and, more importantly, fall into a three-way tie for the AFC East with the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets, whom they face next week for AFC East supremacy. ”We’ve got half the season to go,” Brady said. “We’ll see what our team’s made of this week.”

The loss ended two very impressive streaks: 20 regular season home game wins for the Patriots and 31 straight regular season home wins for Brady. At one point, it looked like the Patriots were going to win behind a Brady comeback when he connected with Rob Gronkowski for a 14-yard score to put the Patriots up 20-17 with a minute and a half left.

The key play was a 20-yard pass interference call on Sergio Brown that put the Giants on the one-yard line with 30 seconds left. ”I was looking at the ball the whole time,” Brown said. “I was surprised. They come and tell us as long as we’re looking at the ball, we can play the ball.”

Manning found Ballard in the end zone for the win three plays after that. All points were scored in the second half as the game was deadlocked at 0-0 going into the half. The Giants took a 10-0 lead on a 10-yard Jacobs run. The Patriots responded with 13 unanswered points, and Stephen Gostkowski made a 45 yard field goal to put the Patriots up 13-10.

Manning answered that with a 85-yard drive capped by a Mario Manningham 10-yard touchdown with just over three minutes left. The Giants defense came up big and helped the offense overcome injuries to center David Bass, running back Ahmad Bradshaw, and wide receiver Hakeem Nicks. They got to Brady twice, and forced two picks as well as a fumble.

Brady finished the day 28 of 49 for 342 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions, and a fumble. At one point the fans started booing after Brady threw an incompletion on third down. They cheered up quickly as Aaron Ross muffed a punt on the next play that the Patriots recovered.

The Patriots had scoring opportunities, but an interception by Brady and a missed 27-yard field goal left them with zero points in the first half. The Giants face another tough test as they head west to face off with the San Francisco 49ers and the Patriots travel to MetLife Stadium to face the New York Jets.

Image Courtesy of   http://www.facebook.com/newyorkgiants

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