When Madison Hedgecock was a young boy growing up in North Carolina, he dreamed of playing in the Super Bowl. That dream will come true Sunday.

A former UNC player, Hedgecock is the starting fullback for the New York Giants and one of a handful of players with local ties in this year's Super Bowl. Others include Giants defensive tackle Fred Robbins (Wake Forest), Giants offensive tackle Guy Whimper (East Carolina) and New England Patriots tight end Ben Watson, who played at Duke before finishing his college career at Georgia.

"When you grow up as a football player at a young age, everybody dreams about playing in the NFL, but they figure out pretty quick that the odds are against them," Hedgecock said. "I always looked one level higher. When I was in middle school, I wanted to be a high school football player. When I got to high school and had some success, then I looked at the college level. When I got to college and figured out that I might have a chance to play in the (NFL), everything kinda just snowballed into that."

Hedgecock, a product of Ledford High in Thomasville, has received some flattering attention from television analysts during the Giants' playoff run. New York coach Tom Coughlin prefers a balanced run-pass approach that includes the fullback as a regular part of the offense, and Hedgecock also appears on several of the Giants' special teams.

"After every game, I have 14 or 15 text-messages, congratulating me on the game," Hedgecock said. "Then they leave me messages about who said what (on television) and when. So I do hear about (the compliments), just indirectly."

During his time with the Tar Heels (2001-04), Hedgecock drew the praise of his coaches when he agreed to move from fullback to defensive end. At the time, UNC was setting records for defensive futility.

"It's tough to jump from one side of the ball to the other," Hedgecock said. "I just felt like, if that's what it was going to take to win, and that's what's best for the team, then that's what I had to do. I went over there (to defense) and played hard and had a little success. But we had gotten into trouble with our recruiting. We had about four guys (at defensive end) that we had recruited, but they didn't really pan out or didn't get into school right away. So they were pretty desperate on defense at that time. I knew all that, so I told them if that's where they wanted me to be, then I would go over there."

While Hedgecock is a constant on the Giants' special teams, his play as a fullback varies depending on the opponent, the game plan and other factors. He said he has a pretty good idea about what his role will be against New England, but that he doesn't want to give away any secrets or make any assumptions.

"At this time of year, I look at the sky, and that pretty much will dictate how long I'm in there," he said. "You can just look at the weather and tell. If it's really windy or rainy or snowy or whatever, it's probably going to be a lot more traditional, old-school football with the fullback leading the way. But it's game-planning, too. You look at the game plan, and then you see how much you have to change because of the weather or the field conditions.

"We've played in some tough situations in Buffalo and Chicago and Green Bay. Some people don't like that stuff, but I do because I get to play more. Here (in Arizona), people talk about it being cold, but it feels pretty good to me. But we're not thinking about that anyway. Now it's all about focusing on beating the New England Patriots, whatever the weather is."