David Bundy for The New York Times  Troy Coach Larry Blakeney with the jerseys of his three former players who will be in Sunday's Super Bowl with the Giants.  TROY, Ala. — Culturally, this cordial college town could not be more disparate from New York City.  Among its famous sons are Clarence (Pinetop) Smith, who is often cited as the creator of boogie-woogie music. On the infamous side: Joseph Pinkney Parker, who erected a monument, much to the locals’ dismay, a century ago to honor the presidential assassin John Wilkes Booth.  A main street is called George Wallace Boulevard, and it runs next to Troy University. The lunch crowds gravitate toward eateries that serve barbecue, including the Piggly Wiggly grocery, an occasional stop for the Troy football coach, Larry Blakeney.  On Super Bowl Sunday, Troy will go against type — and against the New England Patriots. The city will resonate with chants of “Go, Giants!” in a Southern drawl.  The reason becomes apparent in the recruiting lounge at the university’s football offices. That is where the first two framed jerseys in sight are the Giants’ No. 9 (placekicker Lawrence Tynes, who played at Troy from 1997 to 2000) and No. 72 (defensive lineman Osi Umenyiora, a Trojan from 1999 to 2002). A Giants pullover bearing the No. 12 of the rookie receiver Jerrel Jernigan is newly arrived and ready to be mounted. For now, it sits under the desk of the football secretary Judy Morgan.  She and the offensive coordinator Kenny Edenfield have Giants T-shirts they could wear to the coaches’ viewing party Sunday. Other residents will root in concert, though not in sports bars like those to which many New Yorkers will flock. By law, alcohol-pouring establishments in Pike County are closed on Sundays.  The community is accustomed to following its own in the N.F.L. Seventy-eight players have been drafted or signed by N.F.L. teams, even though Troy, whose former coaches include the Buffalo Bills’ Chan Gailey (1983-84), has been affiliated with the Football Bowl Subdivision only since 2003. The program stays close to home in recruiting, usually drawing players from Alabama, Florida and Georgia.  Ten Troy alumni have been signed or drafted by the Giants. The first was Bubba Marriott, a never-used backup to Y. A. Tittle, in 1962.  Matt Allen was a rookie punter out of Troy State during the 2002 season when he threw a wobbly incompletion after an errant snap on a field-goal attempt in the waning seconds of a postseason loss to San Francisco. It was Allen’s last play as a Giant.  Blakeney has been Troy’s coach for 22 years. He said the number of players the program had sent to the N.F.L. was a product of the talent in the region and the welcoming attitude the team presented to scouts and coaches from the league.  “We may be the most liberal with the N.F.L. in the country” regarding access to observing and interviewing players, Blakeney said. “We want you here. They all know they can come as often as they want or need to.”  Neither Tynes nor Umenyiora drew much interest from scouts when they were seniors, and they had intrigued few college recruiters while in high school. Tynes was a walk-on, and Blakeney and his staff first passed over Umenyiora before deciding to take a chance on him.  Tynes was hardly the stereotypical kicker. He relished contact and was considered a team leader.  At a meeting of coaches and seniors the day after a loss, Blakeney determined that the Trojans had to win the rest of their games to secure their league title. Blakeney recalled that Tynes adjourned the session by slapping the table, declared that the coach clearly stated the mission and walked out of the room.  “Tough as a nickel steak,” Blakeney said of Tynes.  Tynes has stayed in touch, returning to Troy last year to fire off zingers at a roast for Blakeney attended by more than two dozen former players.  Umenyiora, a work in progress when signed when he was barely 17, was redshirted, then had two undistinguished seasons as an interior defensive lineman. He was transformed as a junior, when he was moved to defensive end, becoming a standout on the field and a leader in the locker room.
When the Super Bowl kicks off on Sunday, a sleepy part of the South will have a strong rooting interest for a New York team.