Centenary Giants - Part 2

By Peter Mann

A place so good that they named it twice and, as the New York Giants celebrate their centenary, we at The Touchdown UK will also double up, with a pair of features on a franchise that is amongst the oldest in America – here, and having looked at the famous, Crunch Bunch, which would soon to become the Big Blue Wrecking Crew, we take a look at the history of Giants themselves.

NEW YORK: A BRIEF HISTORY AT THE BIRTH OF THE GIANTS

New York in the 1920s was soon as a boom-time in the history of the city, the ‘Roaring Twenties’ as it became known, thrust the city into the limelight, into the psyche of everybody. It was the age of jazz music, and the era in which glamour and wealth came to the fore.

New York’s financial sector was dominant, and the construction industry was immense; it was the time of the Harlem Renaissance, and the emergence of Wall Street, as well as a boom in media and communications, be it in radio, newspapers, or magazines, New York was, for a time at least, the place to be.

From a sporting perspective, it would see the construction of the world-famous, Yankee Stadium, opening in 1923, and the emergence of the legendary, Babe Ruth, whilst in 1925, Tim Mara made a $500 investment and founded the New York Giants.

The Formation of the New York Giants

The history101.nyc website mentions the formation of the Giants, and the presence of founder, Tim Mara, in their ‘Timeline of New York City: 1920-1925’ which said that; “Tim Mara founded the New York Giants with an investment of just $500, marking the inception of one of the NFL’s cornerstone franchises…..

“The addition of a professional football team created a new community focal point, rallying support and enthusiasm among New Yorkers, and enhancing the local sports landscape with a fresh and exciting competitive spirit.

“The Giants’ introduction to the city had a profound impact on New York’s sports history and its broader cultural fabric. As the team established itself, it cultivated a devoted fan base, contributing to the local economy through game days and related events…..

“The Giants’ enduring presence and success highlight the city’s influential role in shaping the national sports narrative and enhancing the communal and economic vitality of professional sports in America.”

Fat forward to 9 December of that same year and the occasion of a ‘landmark event in the history of professional football’ was witnessed; “The game, featuring the Chicago Bears against the New York Giants, took place at the Polo Grounds and drew an impressive crowd of 73,000 spectators,” stated history101.nyc  

“This significant attendance highlighted the growing popularity of professional football in the United States…..

“The economic impact of hosting such a large-scale event was significant, providing a boost to local businesses and setting a precedent for future sporting events in the city.

“This historic game not only marked a turning point in the acceptance and popularity of professional football but also underscored New York’s vital role in shaping the sports landscape in America.

(As a sidenote, do check out this website https://www.history101.nyc/new-york-city-from-1920-to-1925 it’s brilliant)

There had previously been an attempt at a franchise in the city a few years earlier, the Billy Gibson-owned, New York Brickley Giants (1921), but he wasn’t willing to go back there, but his friend Mara, was interested.

It’s said that, although Mara knew nothing of the fledging game, his friend, Dr Harry March, had had previous involvement with the Canton Bulldogs – Mara became owner, and March, the Giants’ first secretary. March also went on to become the author of the first ever book on what became, America’s Game, ‘Pro Football: Its Ups and Downs,’ published in 1934.

By the time of it’s publication, the Giants were on their way to becoming an early, dominant force in the sport, and, by the time of Mara’s stepping aside, in the late 1950s, the Giants had won four NFL Championships (1927, 1934, 1938, 1956), eight NFL Eastern Division Championships (1933, 1934, 1935, 1938, 1939, 1941, 1944, 1946), and two NFL Eastern  Conference Championships (1956, 1958)

EARLY NFL CHAMPIONSHIPS (1927, 1934, 1938, 1956)

Early championships in America’s Game were decided in a league format, changing to a Championship Game in 1933; having finished in fourth and sixth place in their first two seasons (16-8-1), the Giants pushed through in 1927 to claim their first title, topping an NFL consisting of a dozen franchises, and posting an impressive, 11-1-1 record.

Of those taking part, only Green Bay Packers (second), and Chicago Bears (third) are still in existence, whilst the Chicago Cardinals (ninth) are on their ninth name change, and reside as the Arizona Cardinals – the other eight franchises this season was Cleveland Bulldogs, Providence Steam Roller, New York Yankees, Frankford Yellow Jackets, Pottsville Maroons, Dayton Triangles, Duluth Eskimos, and Buffalo Bisons.

The ‘blots’ on the Giants’ record were against the Cleveland Bulldogs, alongside nine, yes nine, game-winning shut-outs, including five-in-a-row throughout October and November, against Yellow Jackets (13-0, and 27-0), Maroons (16-0), Eskimos (21-0), and Steam Roller (25-0).

Less than a decade later, in 1934, the Giants battled their way to a second, NFL Championship as Head Coach Steve Owen led them through an 8-5 regular season, claiming four shut-out successes along the way, against Brooklyn Dodgers (14-0 and 27-0), Philadelphia Eagles (17-0), and that tightly-fought battle at home to Boston Redskins (3-0).

Those eight victories saw the Giants claim the NFL Eastern Division, whilst in the NFL Western Division, and the opponents for the Championship Game, the undefeated, 13-0, Chicago Bears, led by the legendary George Halas.

The game itself would take place at the Giants’ home, Polo Grounds, in early December, the second Championship contest, and the first for the newly-created, Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy; it was to be a game defined by a stunning, fourth quarter.

The Bears found themselves 10-3 ahead at half-time, and 13-3 to the good at the end of the third, the Giants’ score coming via a Ken Strong, 38yd FG, before the Bears registered a TD via Bronko Nagurski, and two, Jack Manders FGs (17yds and 22yds respectively).

Then came the fourth quarter, and a 27-point demolition by the Giants, on the Bears; Ed Danowksi connected with Ike Frankian (28yd pass) before Strong claimed two, rushing TDs (42yds and 11yds), with Danowksi wrapping up the scoring, and the Championship, with a close-range rushing score.

Known as ‘The Sneakers Game,’ afterwards Nagurski placed their earlier game performance, on their choice of footwear, saying; “We immediately said something was wrong because they suddenly had good footing and we didn’t…they just out-smarted us.”

Four years on and Owen would lead the Giants to a third Championship trophy, topping the NFL Eastern with an 8-2-1 record; the two defeats arrived on gamedays two and three, against Philadelphia Eagles (10-14) and Pittsburgh Pirates (10-13), before embarking on an eight-game, unbeaten run, winning seven which included a pair of stunning shut-outs, against Cleveland Rams (28-0) and Washington Redskins (36-0).

Their opponents in the 1938 Championship Game were Curly Lambeau’s Green Bay Packers, with the game again played at the Giants’ Polo Grounds, on 11 December, the Giants edging themselves to a 23-17 victory, neither franchise registering in the fourth quarter.

A 14yd FG from Ward Cuff afforded the Giants an early lead, before Alphonse Leemans registered a rushing score for a first quarter lead; Carl Mulleneaux collected a 40yd pass from Arnie Herber, and Clarke Hinkle added a rushing score in the second, with Charles Barnard collecting a 2yd pass from Danowski sandwiched between.

Tiny Engebretsen notched a 15yd FG for the Packers in the third quarter to edge them in-front but a Hank Soar TD (23yds from Danowski) and a successful Cuff kick, regained the Giants lead that they never gave up.

That victory for the Giants would see Edward Danowski become the first Giants player to win two Championships, the other to do so was Eli Manning, some seven decades or so later.

The last Championship success for the Giants, prior to the Super Bowl era, arrived in 1956, when HC Jim Howell led them to glory, following up an 8-3-1 NFL Eastern regular season with a gut-busting 47-7 NFL Championship victory, at Yankee Stadium, and Chicago Bears, a game which saw three quarters of shut-outs, and a 21-7 second quarter, giving the ‘host’ their fourth.

Ben Agajanian was on-point with the boot, kicking two FGs (17yds and 43yds), and converting 5/6 extra scores – three of the TDs were rushing scores, from Mel Triplett and Alex Webster (2), Henry Moore recovered a blocked punt in the end zone, and Charlie Conerly connected with both Kyle Rote and Frank Gifford, to seal victory.

In winning their first title for near two decades, the Giants used the same tactic as they had done back in the 1934 championship success, by wearing sneakers.

It would however, take some three decades before the Giants won another title, falling short five times over the late-fifties, early-sixties, when losing Championship games in 1958 (17-23 OT vs, Baltimore Colts), 1959 (16-31 vs. Colts), 1961 (0-37 vs. Green Bay Packers), 1962 (7-16 vs. Packers), and 1963 (10-14 vs. Chicago Bears).   

THE SUPER BOWL ERA (1986, 1990, 2007, 2011)

Fast-forwarding a couple of decades and, with the first two of the championships won by the Giants in the Super Bowl Era, SBXXI and SBXXV having been discussed in the article on the Crunch Bunch/Big Blue Wrecking Crew; here we’ll take a brief look at the two successes since the turn of the millennium, SBXLII and SBXLVI, the last two in which the Giants have claimed.

Both of those most recent Super Bowl successes actually arrived at the expense of the Giants’ former employee, Bill Belichick, and his New England Patriots, the Giants winning 17-14 (2007) and 21-17 (2011), edging two close encounters.

Of the two, the former saw Tom Coughlin’s franchise finish the regular season with 10-6 record, and second place in the NFC East, behind the 13-3 Dallas Cowboys, two of the Giants’ six losses were in fact against their divisional opponents, the Cowboys winning by ten in the season opener (35-45), and by eleven in mid-November (20-31), a six-game winning streak helping the Giants home.

Throughout the playoffs all three successes were close, beating Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24-14 in the Wild Card game in early January, then avenging the Cowboys, 21-17 in the Divisional clash – having been 17-4 down going into the last quarter and, despite chances for the Cowboys, the Giants snatched victory early in the quarter when Brandon Jacobs overpowered the Cowboys to score the game-winning TD, after Robert McQuarters had returned a punt, and Eli Manning took the football withing ten.

Somehow the Giants held on for full thirteen minutes to book themselves a berth in the NFC Championship game, this time being taken to OT by the Green Bay Packers, before claiming a 23-20 victory at Lambeau Field.

After much back-and-forth in OT, it would be an epic FG that would give the Giants their first championship success over the Packers since 1938; Lawrence Tynes claimed the decisive score, from 47yds, with 12:29 left on the game-clock, with a kick that was initially swinging wide but, having caught wind, somehow went just over for the win – now that’s luck.

As for Super Bowl XLII, a fourth quarter rally saw the Giants overturn a 7-3 deficit in what was, initially, a low-scoring clash, both franchises having registered two quarters apiece without scoring heading into the decisive fourth.

Eli Manning would outscore Tom Brady 2-1 in that final quarter, the Giants QB connecting with David Tyree (5yds) and Plaxico Burress (13yds), Tynes converting both, as well as kicking things off with a 32yds FG; Brady meanwhile, his was sandwiched between Manning’s two scores, hitting Randy Moss from close-range.

It was a victory that would see the Manning brothers, Eli and Payton, become the first siblings to win back-to-back SBs and SB MVPs (Payton did so with Indianapolis Colts, 29-17 vs. Chicago Bears, twelve months earlier).

As with previous successes, the Giants’ next, and final success to date, arrived four years later, in 2011, Coughlin again leading them to the NFLs grandest prize.

A 9-7 regular season would, remarkably, see them top the NFC East, ahead of the 8-8 Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys in what was an erratic campaign, the biggest winning margin coming in the finale against the Cowboys, 31-14, at MetLife Stadium, on New Years Day, having beaten the same, by three points (37-34) a few weeks earlier.

Into the playoffs and again the Giants faced a Wild Card match-up, this time with Atlanta Falcons, who were promptly brushed aside, 24-2, at the MetLife; old foes, the Packers, were then defeated 37-20, at Lambeau Field, in mid-January, as the Giants booked their placed in the Championship Game, and a cross-country haul to Candlestick Park, and the NFC West’s San Francisco 49ers.

Again, OT was needed as the Giants, mainly thanks to a ten-point, second quarter, and a seven-point fourth, edged home courtesy of a FG, Tynes notching from 31yds after some back-and-forth between the two franchises.

It was to be another conference game that required overtime to separate the contesting franchises, and the winning margin a field goal score.

Onto SBXLVI, at the Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, the Giants opposed old friends and foes yet again, in Bill Belichick-Tom Brady, and the New England Patriots, narrowly claiming a 21-17 victory.

Both claimed two quarters apiece, the Patriots heading into half-time, and the fourth quarter, with a slender advantage (10-9 and 17-15), Brady on-hand for three TDs to Manning’s one.

The decisive components, Tynes again kicking a pair of FGs (38yds and 33yds), and a close-range score from Ahmad Bradshaw, in the final minute which saw the Giants overturn a 17-9 deficit midway through the third quarter, to claim victory in the final seven minutes of the contest.

Manning registered stats of 296yds, 1TD, completing 30/40 passes, and no interceptions, and was awarded the MVP for a second time, and the first Giants player to claim two awards since Edward Danowski, back in 1938.

LEAGUE’S OLDEST RIVALRIES (Opposing the Bears, Eagles and the Redskins/Commanders)

The New York Giants have been involved in a number of rivalries throughout their century playing America’s Game, these include opposing the likes of Dallas Cowboys, San Francisco 49ers, New York Jets, and New England Patriots, but historically, there’s not much bigger than those against Chicago Bears, Philadelphia Eagles, and the franchise out of Washington (Redskins/Commanders).  

It’s been a couple of years since the Giants and the Bears last faced off, but their first collision dates way back to December 1925, and one of the earliest meetings in franchise history; in the post-season though is where the rivalry has heated up, the two having met eight times between 1933 and 1990.

They’ll meet for the 64th time in this coming season, in early November, with the Giants having won last time out, early October 2022 (20-12).

Against the Eagles, this divisional rivalry dates back to 1933, where the Giants inflicted a 56-0 shutout success in the pairs first meeting; they’ve also met several times (5) in the post-season, between 1981 and 2022, with the Giants having won the first of the five clashes.

They’ve already collided some 186 times, and the next will be in early October as the Eagles look to win three-in-a-row, following their success last season (20-13).

As for the franchise in Washington, the competition between these two, although not quite as storied as others, is just as intense and deep, the two enjoying some exciting tussles down the years.

They first met back in October 1932 when, then known as the Boston Braves, Washington edged a 14-6 game; surprisingly though the pair have only met twice in the post-season, in 1943 (Redskins won 28-0) and 1986 (Giants won 17-0).

Like the rivalry with the Eagles, the matchup with Washington is on the same number, and they’ll collide for the 187th time in early September with Washington looking for their, third successive victory.

Recent seasons, well since the Giants last won the Super Bowl back in 2011, have only reached the post-season twice, losing the Wild Card playoff to the Packers (13-38), in 2016, whilst six years later, and under the guidance of current HC Brian Daboll (2022-present), won their Wild Card at Minnesota Vikings (23-24), before losing the Divisional game at Philadelphia Eagles (7-38) a couple of seasons back.

The upcoming 2025 season, which kicks off in early September, sees Daboll’s Giants on the road at Washington Commanders (7 September) and Dallas Cowboys (14 September), as they look to push towards another, much-welcomed, deep run in the play-offs, and to the Super Bowl itself.  

PETER MANN

NFL ANALYST

PETER IS A LIFELONG SPORTS FAN, JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR BASED IN COUNTY DURHAM. HE HAS FOLLOWED THE NFL AND THE RAIDERS SINCE THE 1980s, AND LOVES BOTH SPORTS AND FAMILY HISTORY. PETER HAS A DEGREE IN SPORT & EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGY, AND CAN BE FOUND ON TWITTER @petermannwriter

 
5/5