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New York
Giants, professional football team and one of five teams in the
Eastern Division of the National Football Conference (NFC) of
the National Football League (NFL). The team plays at Giants
Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and wears uniforms of
blue, red, and white. The club was named after the New York
Giants baseball team, which moved to San Francisco, California,
in 1958. The Giants appeared in 15 NFL Championship Games from
1927 to 1963, winning four league titles. (The Super Bowl was
not played until 1967.) For 23 seasons of this time, head coach
Steve Owen led the team. His clubs captured eight division
crowns and two league titles. Starring on the dominant New York
squads of the 1950s and early 1960s was Frank Gifford, one of
football’s most versatile players. New York also built powerful
teams during the 1980s and early 1990s, winning two Super Bowls
and making seven playoff appearances from 1981 to 1993. Lawrence
Taylor, the dominant defensive player of these Giants, became
one of the most feared linebackers in NFL history. In 1925 New
York City sports enthusiast Tim Mara paid $500 for an NFL
franchise, which he named the Giants.
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The team played its home games at the
Polo Grounds, which was also the home of
the baseball Giants. Legendary halfback
Jim Thorpe was recruited to join the
team, which earned its first league
title in 1927 under head coach Earl
Potteiger. The Giants shut out 9 of 12
opponents and surrendered only 20 points
during the entire season. Steve Owen was
an innovative offensive coach who also
designed the platoon system, in which
separate players fill offensive and
defensive positions. He guided the
Giants to the NFL Championship Game
eight times from 1933 to 1946. The team
came away with victories in 1934 over
the Chicago Bears and in 1938 over the
Green Bay Packers. New York fielded the
league’s toughest defense five times
during that period. Owen had many
offensive stars as well, including end
Red Badgro, center Mel Hein, and
halfback Tuffy Leemans—all future Hall
of Fame members. Hein, who was also a
defensive lineman, earned player of the
year honors in 1938. Owen left the
Giants in 1953, having posted just six
losing records in 23 seasons. |
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In
1952 the Giants chose Frank Gifford in the
first round of the NFL draft. Gifford, who
played as a halfback and a defensive back,
was one of the NFL’s last stars to play both
offense and defense. With Gifford and a new
home in New York’s Yankee Stadium, another
Giants dynasty was born. The team appeared
in six NFL Championship Games from 1956 to
1963, collecting the league crown in 1956
before losing five title contests over the
next seven years. Gifford led the team in
both rushing and receiving from 1956 to
1959, earning player of the year honors in
1956. In addition to Gifford, New York
produced four other future Hall of Fame
members during that era: offensive tackle
Rosey Grier, linebacker Sam Huff, defensive
end Andy Robustelli, and defensive back
Emlen Tunnell. The passing combination of
quarterback Y. A. Tittle to receiver Del
Shofner keyed New York’s offense in the
early 1960s. |
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Shofner broke the 1000-yard mark in
receiving yardage in 1961, 1962, and
1963, and Tittle’s 36 touchdown passes
in 1963 stood as an NFL record for 21
years. (It was broken by Dan Marino of
the Miami Dolphins in 1984 when he threw
48 touchdown passes.) New York failed to
reach the playoffs from 1964 to 1980.
During this time the Giants played in
the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut,
and Shea Stadium in New York City before
moving to Giants Stadium in 1976. After
several losing seasons in the 1970s, the
Giants rebounded during the 1980s. The
club reached the second round of the
playoffs in 1981, 1984, and 1985. |
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In
1987 the Giants defeated the Denver Broncos
in the Super Bowl to capture their first
league title in 31 years. Lawrence Taylor
was named player of the year, Bill Parcells
earned top coaching honors, running back Joe
Morris set a team rushing record, and
quarterback Phil Simms compiled his third
consecutive 3000-yard passing season. New
York and Parcells won their second Super
Bowl four years later, defeating the Buffalo
Bills. Simms won the NFC passing title, and
the Giants defense held 15 of 16
regular-season opponents to 21 or fewer
points. The Giants played inconsistently
during the 1990s after Simms and Taylor
retired and Parcells left the team. The
Giants returned to prominence in 2000,
posting a 12-4 regular-season record and
reaching the 2001 Super Bowl, where they
lost to the Baltimore Ravens
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