Eli Manning and Tom Coughlin Surprise Family Who Lost Young Son to Cancer with Super Bowl Tickets

The family of Colin Flood bonded with the two Giants greats before the 8-year-old boy's death from leukemia in 2014

Eli Manning and Tom Coughlin won two Super Bowls together for the New York Giants. But this year, the retired quarterback and coach teamed up to provide something even more meaningful for the big game.

In early September, the pair gifted two tickets to this year’s Super Bowl in New Orleans to the parents of Colin Flood, an 8-year-old boy they met through Coughlin’s Jay Fund charity, who passed away from leukemia in 2014.

The tickets came as a surprise, given after the two Giants greats had lunch with Colin’s family at the Giants' practice facility. The lunch cemented a bond forged during Colin's final days alive: About two weeks before the boy died, the Jay Fund — which helps families of children with cancer — invited Colin to MetLife Stadium for its annual ice cream social event, with the plan for Colin to meet his favorite player, Manning.

But that day had been a tough one for Colin, an avid Giants fan who kept a team flag by his hospital bedside. He was running a fever and needed a blood transfusion, so he and his family spent hours at the hospital. Manning waited at the Giants' home stadium long after the meeting time, but with no word about Colin, he got into his car and began the short drive home.

Minutes later, Coughlin called him. Despite Colin’s exhaustion, he'd shown up. Manning turned around immediately and headed back to the stadium.

Related: Eli Manning and Tom Coughlin Surprise Families with Kids in Treatment for Cancer by Paying for Groceries

“It was a no-brainer,” Manning, the two-time Super Bowl MVP who is heavily involved in the New Jersey-based Tackle Kids Cancer charity, says now.

Manning and Colin talked and connected — and the connection with the Flood family remains to this day. Colin's father, Kevin Flood remembers, “When [Colin] saw Eli, it was like he got all this energy.”

After his conversation with Manning, Colin got a tour of the stadium and practice facility. After a depleting day, he was too tired to walk, so Coughlin arranged for him to be given a wheelchair, and Colin was wheeled around by several Giants players in an unforgettable experience.

“For a couple days after, it gave him a boost,” says Kevin a retired New York City firefighter. “But then the sickness took its course.”

Related: How a Super Bowl-Winning Football Coach Is Teaming with Celebrities to Tackle Childhood Cancer

Colin died about two weeks later, just shy of his 9^th birthday. But that day at MetLife Stadium gave the Floods a memory they cherish to this day.

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Kevin, who grew up in Queens as a Giants fan, describes Colin as “a sports kid” who was passionate and talented, especially in baseball. During his illness, when a bone marrow transplant required him to wear protective padding, Colin was still hitting the ball as hard as anyone his age — Kevin still vividly recalls the sound the ball made off his bat.

He was also funny, say his parents, recalling the goofy faces he’d make in the hospital to lighten the mood. “He had really good comedic timing,” says his mother, Jennifer Flood. “He was the type of kid who really knew a good line.”

Related: Eli Manning Teams with Former Coach Tom Coughlin to Help Families of Children with Cancer

Every fall, when Giants season starts up again, the memories of their day at the stadium come back. “Everything with the Giants is a connection with Colin,” says Kevin.

When the family got an email from the Jay Fund inviting them to lunch at the Giants' facility, saying that Manning and Coughlin were asking how they were doing, they realized the connection with the organization was mutual: “It was like, ‘They still think about us,’” says Kevin.

Related: Eli Manning and Tom Coughlin Bring Super Bowl Teamwork to Fight Against Childhood Cancer

Colin’s two brothers, 16-year-old Brody and 11-year-old Ryan, are also athletes: Brody plays high school football and Ryan plays baseball. Brody was just 5 years old when his brother met Manning, and he only has vague memories of the day. But he sees the pictures.

“Seeing a two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback who’s coming to meet my brother? Insane,” he says.

But Manning and Coughlin believe the real honor was theirs.

“Eli and I were deeply moved by the stories Kevin, Jennifer, Brody and Ryan told us about Colin's passing and how they continue to keep Colin and his memory with them,” says Coughlin. “I know we invited the Floods to surprise them with Super Bowl tickets, but what they gave to us was far more significant.”

For more information on the Tom Coughlin Jay Fund Foundation visit tcjayfund.org. For more information on Tackle Kids Cancer, visit tacklekidscancer.org.

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