Growing up in Alabama, Justin Tuck had virtually no exposure to the NHL. After the Giants drafted him in 2005, that changed fast. Tuck was introduced to the Broadway Blueshirts.

"My rookie year, I got the opportunity to watch the Rangers play in a playoff game," Tuck remembers. "It was my first time watching hockey live, and you can imagine what playoff hockey looks like. So I'm sitting on the ice, right behind the glass and I'm literally watching these guys on skates and it looks they are going 80 miles per hour and they are getting hit by three different people that look like they are my size, and they are staying up. Not only are they staying up, they are staying going fast, they're staying handling the puck, they are making shots off one leg. I was just in awe of the athleticism of hockey players, the toughness of hockey players and the atmosphere in Madison Square Garden was just crazy, so I was hooked."

Tuck, who last played in the NFL in 2015, now resides in New Jersey and often makes the easy trip to Madison Square Garden. Seeing Tuck on the arena videoboard has become an expected sight for fans. Tuck says his favorite player is goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who was a Rangers rookie the same fall Tuck debuted for the Giants.

His favorite game?

"Well, I hope it hasn't happened yet, because I haven't seen them hoist the Stanley Cup," Tuck says. "That would be my favorite. Opposed to that, my second favorite game would be the day they sign me to just go out on the ice and fight. I would love that. I would literally just run out on the ice without a stick and take out Sidney Crosby.

"I'm just running out there to fight. That's all I'm doing. I'll have like three seconds of ice time every game. If you see me check in, it's to fight."

Justin Tuck

As for Tuck's favorite game that has actually happened, former Rangers coach John Tortorella might have a clue.

"The overtime win in the playoffs, with like two seconds left, where I literally lost my mind, and ran up and down, banging on the glass," Tuck says. "[Tortorella] looked at me like I was crazy because I was literally banging on the glass and he was right up on it."

For what it's worth, the Rangers had a number of dramatic, overtime playoff wins during the Tortorella era, and Tuck could not pinpoint which exact game this was.

That probably speaks to how big of a fan Tuck has become. He's been at too many games to keep count.

But if the Rangers ever lift the Stanley Cup -- or let Tuck fight Sidney Crosby -- he'll remember the details.

Tuck spoke to ThePostGame on behalf of DraftKings, where he hosted his own fantasy league in Week 1.

-- Follow Jeff Eisenband on Twitter @JeffEisenband. Like Jeff Eisenband on Facebook.