No-one would touch Ahmad Bradshaw. Not with a 10-foot pole, not even with a late-round draft pick.

So Bradshaw waited - and boy did he wait - until the New York Giants finally took a chance on the talented but troubled running back with the 250th overall pick in last April's NFL draft.

"Bradshaw was still on the board, and we had that middle-round grade on him," Giants general manager Jerry Reese said.

"We felt like he had the skill set to be a change-of-pace back. We thought he had some magic about him."

Why did it take so long for a team to finally select Bradshaw? Simple - despite rushing for over 1,500 yards and 19 touchdowns as a junior at Marshall, Bradshaw carried the NFL's version of the Scarlet Letter - the "character issues" label.

In an off-season when Commissioner Roger Goodell cracked down on his players for off-field transgressions, drafting Bradshaw seemed like a substantial risk with little reward.

But nine months later, the Giants certainly are reaping the benefits of their late-round gamble.

After spending the majority of the season on special teams, the 5ft 9in Bradshaw has emerged as one of the only big-play threats on an increasingly conservative Giants offence.

"I think, as a defender, you look forward to coming up and trying to pound Ahmad," Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride said.

"But all of the sudden, he makes a move and he's gone."

That was exactly the case at Buffalo in Week 16, when Bradshaw enjoyed his breakout game by rushing for 151 yards in New York's play-off-clinching victory over the Bills.

With the Giants clinging to a three-point lead and backed up in their own territory midway through the fourth quarter, the brash Bradshaw demanded the ball, promising he would go all the way for a touchdown.

Surprising words from a rookie who had barely contributed anything to New York's first nine wins.

But even more surprising was that Bradshaw came through, breaking two tackles before racing 88 yards for a score.

"The Buffalo game gave me a lot of confidence," he said. "More importantly, it gave the coaches a lot of confidence in me."

Ever since that day, Gilbride and Giants head coach Tom Coughlin have had no problem giving the ball to Bradshaw, who has rushed for 163 yards this post-season while providing a speedy alternative to the bruising Brandon Jacobs.

"We're totally different," said Jacobs.

"He's real quick and runs hard and low to the ground. I go in and I pound them and pound them - then he goes in with a lot of quickness."

Bradshaw's quickness evidently has caught the attention of the undefeated New England Patriots, who will look to complete their perfect season against the Giants in Super Bowl XLII.

"Bradshaw runs like he (weighs) 220, and he's a smaller guy - maybe 195 pounds," New England safety Rodney Harrison said.

"He's very explosive, a cutback runner, runs screens, catches the ball out of the backfield. So he presents a few challenges for us."

The assessments of Bradshaw were not nearly so glowing as recently as a year ago, when he was red-flagged by NFL scouts for his size, mid-major collegiate background and, most damagingly, his chequered past.

A top-flight recruit out of high school, Bradshaw had signed to play at the University of Virginia before being arrested for underage alcohol possession.

Following his dismissal from Virginia, Bradshaw turned to Marshall, where he again ran into trouble prior to his junior season when he was arrested again, this time for stealing video game equipment from a fellow student.

Two arrests in less than three years - not exactly the type of rap sheet which correlates with the NFL's hard-line behavioural policy.

But in an age when athletes can be linked to drugs, violence, sexual misconduct and gun charges, the Giants opted to overlook Bradshaw's legal run-ins.

"The two incidents he had, it wasn't awful stuff with him," Reese said.

"He was just sticking out on the board. We thought about it and we made some extra phone calls with him and did some extra work on him, and we said, 'Let's take a chance on this guy, we could hit big with this kid'."

"We certainly were aware of the circumstances," Coughlin added.

"We had a discussion with Ahmad when he came in. Ahmad was very much aware that he would have to prove himself in a lot of different areas, not only on the field but off the field."

It definitely took a while, but Bradshaw ultimately has proved a lot to all of his doubters.

"We always knew he was good, we just had to get him ready," Jacobs said. "We couldn't just throw him in there.

"We think he is ready to play now."

Reese added: "We had a quick conversation when he first came in.

"I said, 'Ahmad, you will be on a short leash here. Do you understand that?' He said, 'Mr Reese, I won't let you down.'

"That was good enough for me."