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Thursday, May 26, 2011
The New York football Giants play in the big lights of the city that never sleeps and do it with pride. They are one of the most historic franchises in football and also one of the most successful. Lets get it started for the G-Men.
"The Big Tuna" makes the cut as the best head coach in Giants history. The passion and attitude Parcells coached with helped lift the Giants from a zero to a hero in the NFL. When Parcells took over in 1983, the Giants had only one winning season in the past ten years. One of the biggest mistakes Parcells ever made as a coach was benching QB Phil Simms, which helped lead the Giants to a disastrous 3-12-1 season. When Parcells made the switch back to Simms, the team improved as they made the playoffs in consecutive years for the first time since 1961-1963. Parcells helped coach the Giants in 1986 to a 14-2 record. His stifiling 4-3 defense (known as the Big Blue Wrecking crue) helped Parcells destroy teams like the 49ers (49-3) and the Redskins (17-0). When the Giants won Super Bowl XXI 39-20 over the Broncos, Parcells became the first head coach to get Gatorade dunked on him after a Super Bowl. This was fitting, considering how legendary a coach Parcells was. Parcells second trip with the Giants to the Super Bowl wasn't as easy as the first in 1990. The Giants finished with a 13-3 record, but lost Simms for the playoffs due to injury. The Giants had to play with back up QB Jeff Hostetler and a 33-year old running back named Ottis Anderson. Despite being great underdogs, the Big Blue Wrecking Crue stomped the Bears in the divisional round of the playoffs 31-3. In the NFC Championship Game, the Giants came back against the defending Super Bowl champion 49ers and won 15-13. In Super Bowl XXV against the Bills, the Giants smart ball control helped (and a missed field goal by Scott Norwod at the end of the game) lifted New York to a 20-19 win and a second Super Bowl championship. Parcells retired after the Super Bowl victory due to health reasons and in his tenure as head coach, the Giants won three division titles (1986, 1989, 1990) and had only two losing seasons. Parcells has one of the best winning percentages as coach of the Giants (.611) and a 8-3 playoff record.
The original "L.T." was known as Superman to players and fans alike, but is also the greatest Giants player of all time. Lawrence Taylor was drafted second overall in the 1981 Draft and impressed right at the start of training camp. In his rookie season, Taylor was named the Defensive rookie of the year after he recorded 9.5 sacks and his rookie season is considered one of the greatest ever. Although the 1982 season was shortened due to a player strike, it was one of Taylor's most memorable seasons ever. On a Thanksgiving day game against the Detroit Lions, Taylor jumped in front of a Gary Danielson pass and returned it for 97 yards. Taylor was again named the Defenive Player of the Year thanks in big part to that memorable play. When Bill Parcells became the coach in 1983, Taylor played more inside linebacker due to the injury of Harry Carson. Parcells was under deep criticism for this after the Giants finished the season 3-12-1, but Taylor would eventually make it back to outside linebacker to terrorize enemy QB's. In 1984, Taylor was again was voted an All-Pro as the Giants rebounded with a 9-7 record, but the team lost to the eventually Super Bowl chamion 49ers. Taylor led a Giants defense in 1985 which accounted for the most sacks in the league with 68. That year one of the msot infamous plays in NFL history happened. On a Monday night game against the Redskins, Taylor's sack of QB Joe Theisman resulted in a compoud fracture in Theisman's right leg. After the play was over, Taylor knew something was wrong and called for the paramedics. To this day, Taylor has still not watched that video. Who can blame him? Neither would I. In the playoffs, the Giants were able to strike revenge on the 49ers in the divisional round, but lost to the eventual champions, the Bears. In 1986, Taylor not only had one of his most successful seasons, he had one of the greatest seasons ever by a defensive player. In the season, Taylor had 20.5 sacks and won the NFL's MVP and was also named Defensive Player of the Year for a third time. The Giants finished the season 14-2 and went to Super Bowl XXI and defeated the Broncos 39-20. In a shortened season in 1987, Taylor's consecutive game streak of 106 ended, but it would sure not be the end for the greatest Giant ever. After a drug related season in 1988 and a injury plagued season in 1989, the Giants and Taylor returned to success in 1990. Taylor signed a contract before the season began that made him the highest paid defensive player in the league. Taylor rode this big money to a second Super Bowl Championship in 1990 after a 20-19 over the Bills. After his second Super Bowl title, Taylor's career started on a steep decline and he eventually retired in 1993. Even though he wasn't always consitent or the best model citizen, Taylor was an animal on the football field and is the greatest member of the G-Men ever. Click here to look at Taylor's stats.
Its hard to get recognized when he play along side a Hall of Famer like Lawrence Taylor, but Harry Carson tried his best. Carson was the 105th pick in the 1976 Draft and would prove to ever team that did not pick him that it they made a big mistake. Carson was most notably apart of the Giants "Big Blue Wrecking Crue" which was composed of Taylor, Brad Van Pelt, Brian Kelly, and himself. That group is considered one of the greatest linebacking corps in NFL history and it led the NFL in sacks in 1985. In Carson's 13 seasons, he made nine Pro Bowls, two first-team All Pro Selections, and four second-team All Pro Selections. Carson was also one of the first players to give a coach a "gatorade shower" after the team had won a game. Bill Belichick, a former assitant coach for the Giants and the current coach of the Patriots, said Carson is the best all around linebacker he had ever coached. After critisim of the Hall of Fame voting process in 2004, Carson was finally inducted into the hall of fame in 2006. For good reason to, he is the greatest draft Gem in the history of the Giants. Click here to look at Carson's stats.
Its time to go from really famous Giants players, to a really infamous Giants player. Ron Dayne was the 11th overall pick in the 2000 Draft, a pick the Giants soon realized would be a mistake. Dayne's rookie season actually went really well when he paired up with Tiki Barber to create a tandem that would be become known as "Thunder and Lightning." The Giants rode that tandem all the way to Super Bowl XXXV, where they lost to the Ravens 34-7. When Dayne was stubborn with head coach Jim Fassel about lossing weigh, his carries started to diminish. Fassel also did not like Dayne's running style as a running back and tried to use him as goal line back only. After Fassel was fired and Tom Coughlin was hired, Dayne did have a nice 2004 but was sidelined again for unknown reasons, despite losing 40 pounds. Dayne was then let go by the team after the season had ended. Dayne has played for two different teams since the Giants and is still listed as a free agent, but don't expect him to get signed anytime soon. The Giants really missed out on a great running back in Shaun Alexander, who fell to the Seahawks at #19. Five Pro Bowlers were actually taken right after Dayne including Julius Peterson and John Abraham. The Giants, like most teams in the draft, missed out on the 2000's draft ulimate prize: Tom Brady. Fortanetly the biggest draft bust in Giants history didn't set the orginazation back to far because another #27 is in New York doing a pretty good job carring the ball.
Before the 1981 Draft, there was a poll asking general managers which player they would take with the number one overall pick. 26 of the 28 GM's in the league said they would take Lawrence Taylor. Ironically, one of the two GM's that said no was the Saints GM. He would go on to select South Carolina Running Back George Rogers, while the Giants would go on to select to select Taylor from North Carolina. One would go on to have a decent Pro Bowl career, while the other would go on to become one of the greatest players of all time. Can you guess which one it is? Hint: its the guy who went second. I already covered most information about Taylor's career in the "Best Player" section, but here are some things I might of missed. Taylor was a 10 time pro bowl selection, was a nine time first team All Pro selection, and his #56 was retired by the Giants. In 2010, NFL Network aired a program about the top 100 NFL Players and Taylor was voted third by fomer NFL players, coaches, etc. If the Saints would of taken Taylor with the number one overall selection, the Giants probably would be without two of their three Super Bowl trophies. So I'm sure that every Giants fan wants to send a thank you card to the Saints GM. I'm even more positive that drafting Taylor is a moment that defined all the Giants stand for: Defense... Defense.... Defense...
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