01/30 — Kareem McKenzie looked the same as he did in his four Jets seasons. Dapper, even though he was wearing his game jersey at the Giants' Super Bowl media session. Studious, with his half-frame glasses and the book he brought with him to his interview riser. Directorial, as the videocamera he also brought with him suggested.

"Part of my focus this week is to make sure I take it all in," McKenzie said of the Super scene. "This is such a quick-paced week. I want to make sure I enjoy it."

The Giants will enjoy XLII much more if they post the huge upset of the undefeated Patriots that they insist is in them. But either way, the changeover for McKenzie has been a successful one as he went from the Jets' starting right tackle for the last three of his four seasons in green and white to the Giants' starting RT for the past three seasons.

"It's going very well. You can't argue about that," said McKenzie, who grew up in South Jersey and played his college ball at Penn State. "Staying in the same market and playing in the same stadium, not having to transplant myself thousands of miles away, made the transition so much easier. I'm Eastern seaboard all the way."

Needless to say, the Jets aren't the same team he left after the '04 season. But McKenzie still remembers his time with them fondly and had words of encouragement for their future.

"It was a great situation over there for me. I appreciated the opportunity I got, their ability to make me feel comfortable starting in my second year of pro football and developing into the player I am.

"And I do feel the Jets will resurge and will come back and play some playoff games again. Every team has a year like they had this year, some bad luck or injuries that take them out of the running. But there's always next year."

The Marshall Plan

When the season started, Giants RB Ahmad Bradshaw was an unheralded junior-eligible seventh-round rookie. Now Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs comprise a thunder-and-lightning backfield that has helped carry Big Blue to within a game of the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

And Bradshaw credits two college "coaches" for some of his confidence in entering the draft early and blooming as a playmaker — Chad Pennington and Randy Moss.

Pennington and Moss, of course, were Marshall University's big-play passing connection in the late Nineties. And the Jets QB and the Patriots WR returned to their alma mater in 2006 to help coach in the Thundering Herd's spring game. That was the last spring game Bradshaw played in, before his junior season.

"Both of them were coaching my team in the Green & White game," Bradshaw recalled. "They actually called a couple of plays for me to see what I had, and they were really excited after I broke one.

"I ended up talking to Randy and he told me to keep fighting, that I'd be in these shoes one day. I kind of took pride in that and I tried to take advantage of my opportunities."

So far, so good.

And Speaking of Moss ...

The record-breaking wideout, who can become an unrestricted free agent after this season, was asked his future at the Patriots' media availability this morning and he gave the rest of the AFC East teams and their fans just a hint of hope that he'll be one-and-done with the Pats.

"I’m still loving what I do and being here, being a New England Patriot, I think this is where I do want to be," Moss said. "Hopefully, we can work something out after this season is over. The sky is the limit. I really don’t know if I’m going to be a New England Patriot, but to answer your question, I would love to retire a Patriot, yes."