The New York Giants, an American football team which currently plays in the National Football League (NFL)'s National Football Conference (NFC), has a history dating back almost 100 seasons, with 4 Super Bowl victories. The Giants were founded in 1925 by Tim Mara in the then five-year-old NFL. Mara owned the team until his death in 1959, when it was passed on to his sons, Wellington and Jack. During their history, the Giants have won eight NFL championships, four of which came in Super Bowls.
In just its third season, the team finished with the best record in the league at 11–1–1 and was awarded the NFL title. In a 14-year span beginning in 1933, New York qualified to play in the NFL championship game eight times, winning twice (1934 and 1938). They did not win another championship until 1956, aided by several future Hall of Fame players such as running back Frank Gifford, linebacker Sam Huff, and offensive tackle Roosevelt Brown. From 1958 to 1963, the Giants played in the NFL championship game five times, but failed to win. The 1958 NFL Championship game, in which they lost 23–17 in overtime to the Baltimore Colts, is credited with increasing the popularity of the NFL in the United States.
The Giants registered just two winning seasons from 1964 to 1980 and were unable to advance to the playoffs. From 1981 to 1990, the team qualified for the postseason seven times and won Super Bowls XXI and XXV. The team's success during the 1980s was aided by head coach Bill Parcells, quarterback Phil Simms and Hall of Fame linebackers Lawrence Taylor and Harry Carson. New York struggled throughout much of the 1990s as Parcells left the team, and players such as Simms and Taylor declined and eventually retired. They returned to the Super Bowl in 2000, but lost to the Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl XXXV. The Giants then won against New England Patriots in Super Bowls XLII and XLVI.
Birth and success: 1925–1930
The Giants were founded in 1925 by original owner Tim Mara with an investment of $500.History of the New York Giants , giants.com, accessed January 12, 2007. Legally named "New York Football Giants" (which they still are to this day) to distinguish themselves from the baseball team of the same name, they became one of the first teams in the then five-year-old National Football League. In 1919, Charles Stoneham, the owner of the New York Giants baseball team, had organized and promoted a professional football team to be called the New York Giants. The team folded before its first game, a casualty of a dispute over the city's blue laws. This early Giants football team would eventually make it to play as the Brooklyn Giants in 1921, playing two games in the NFL before dropping out, and eventually folded in 1923 after two years as an independent.Complete record of the Brooklyn Giants. LuckyShow.org. Retrieved December 27, 2018. When the NFL sought to return to New York City, it approached one of the Brooklyn Giants' owners, promoter Billy Gibson, about reviving the team; he instead referred the league to Mara, who paid a $500 franchise fee and accepted a place in the NFL, keeping the Giants name.
The New York Football Giants played their first game, an exhibition against All New Britain, in New Britain, Connecticut, on October 4, 1925.New York Pro Eleven Takes Opening Game, The New York Times, October 5, 1925, accessed March 16, 2007. Their first regular season NFL game took place a week later, on October 11, 1925, in a 0 to 14 loss against the Providence Steam Roller."Steam Rollers Win From Giants, 14–0; Open Pro Football Season at Providence", The Boston Globe, October 12, 1925, p.8
Although the Giants were successful on the field in their first season, going 8–4–0,NFL History: New York Giants, NFL.com/history, accessed January 23, 2007. their financial status was a different story.Pervin. pg. 6 Overshadowed by baseball, boxing, and college football, professional football was not a popular sport in 1925. They were in dire financial straits until the 11th game of the season, when Red Grange and the Chicago Bears came to town, attracting over 73,000 fans.Neft, Cohen, & Korch. pg. 52 This gave the Giants a much-needed influx of revenue, and perhaps altered the history of the franchise.NFL History: 1921–1930 , NFL.com/history, accessed May 13, 2007.Carroll. pg. 126 From 1925 to 1927, former two-time First Team All Pro Doc Alexander played for the team.
New York finished 11–1–1 in 1927.Championship games 1925–1949 , giants.com, accessed January 12, 2007. Their league-best defense posted 10 shutouts in 13 games.Neft, Cohen, and Korch. pg. 68 New coach Earl Potteiger led the team into a late-season game against Chicago with first place on the line. New York won 13–7 in what lineman Steve Owen called "the toughest, roughest football game I ever played."Neft, Cohen, and Korch. pg. 69 Then they won their final two regular season games to secure their first championship.The championship was determined by record in that era; it was not until 1933 that the NFL had a championship game.
Following a disappointing 4–7–2 season the next year, Potteiger was replaced by LeRoy Andrews.Gottehrer. pg. 64 Before the 1929 season, Mara purchased the entire squad of the Detroit Wolverines, including star quarterback Benny Friedman. The Wolverines had finished in third place the year before.Neft, Cohen, and Korch. pg. 78 Led by Friedman, New York's record soared to 13–1–1. However, their lone loss was a 20–6 setback in November to the Green Bay Packers, and by virtue of this win, and their 12–0–1 record, won the NFL title.Neft, Cohen, and Korch. pg. 79 Following the season, Mara transferred ownership over to his two sons to insulate the team from creditors. At the time, Jack was just 22, and Wellington only 14.
In 1930, the quality of the professional game was still in question, with many claiming the college "amateurs" played with more intensity.Neft, Cohen, and Korch. pg. 83 In December 1930, the Giants played a team of Notre Dame All-Stars at the Polo Grounds to raise money for the unemployed of New York City. It was also an opportunity to establish the superiority of the pro game. Knute Rockne reassembled his Four Horsemen along with other Notre Dame legends, and told them to score early, then defend. But from the beginning, it was a one-sided contest, with Benny Friedman running for two Giants touchdowns and Hap Moran passing for another. Notre Dame failed to score. When it was over, Rockne told his team, '"[t]hat was the greatest football machine I ever saw. I am glad none of you got hurt."Gottehrer. pgs. 79–83 The game raised $115,183 for the homeless, and is often credited with establishing the legitimacy of the professional game.Gottehrer. pg. 84
Steve Owen era: 1931–1953
The Giants hired All-Pro offensive tackleSteve Owen player statistics, football-reference.com, accessed October 5, 2010. Steve Owen to be their new player-head coach prior to the 1931 season. He coached the team for the next 23 years, including two NFL championships, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1966.Steve Owen coaching statistics , football-reference.com, accessed October 5, 2010. Owen never had a contract with the Mara family; he coached his entire tenure on a handshake basis.Steve Owen, profootballhof.com, accessed October 5, 2010.
Before the 1931 season, New York acquired center Mel Hein, who also played the linebacker position.Pervin. pg. 8 He would go on to a fifteen-year NFL career in which, as a center, he became an All-NFL First Team selection eight times, and the only offensive lineman ever named league MVP.Gottehrer. pg. 86 Friedman quit the team following the season when Mara denied him an ownership stake, telling him "I'm sorry...but the Giants are for my sons."Eskenazi (1976). pg. 26 New York struggled in 1931 and 1932, finishing with a combined record of 11–12–3.
The Giants acquired University of Michigan All-American quarterback Harry Newman and versatile free agent halfback Ken Strong before the 1933 season.Gottehrer. pg. 102–3 New York finished 11–3, first in the new Eastern Division. Newman led the NFL in passes completed (53), passing yards (973), touchdown passes (11), and longest pass completion (78 yards), with his passing yardage total setting an NFL record.Gottehrer. pg. 107Harry Newman , football-reference.com, accessed December 6, 2010. New York's resurgence was led by some of the league's best linemen, such as Ray Flaherty and future Hall of Famers Red Badgro, and Hein.Neft, Cohen, and Korch. pg. 114 They advanced to play in the league's first official championship game in Chicago's Wrigley Field versus the Bears, where they lost 23–21 in a game which had six lead changes.Gottehrer. pgs. 107–9
In the 1934 NFL Championship Game, the Giants defeated previously unbeaten Chicago 30–13 at the Polo Grounds on an icy field with temperatures peaking at 25 degrees. Before the game, team treasurer John Mara talked with Owen and team captain Flaherty about the field conditions. Flaherty suggested the Giants wear sneakers on the frozen field, as he had played in a game under similar circumstances at Gonzaga, and the sneakers proved to be effective.Anderson, Dave. Sports of the Times; Wellington Mara Looks Back, The New York Times, December 31, 1985, accessed June 4, 2007. Mara dispatched equipment manager Abe Cohen to get as many sneakers as he could get.Blauss, Bill. , Chicago Tribune, October 4, 1986, accessed January 2, 2007. Due to traffic and the inability to find any athletic goods stores open on Sunday, Cohen was unable to return before the game started, and the Giants, wearing conventional footwear, trailed 10–3 at the end of the first half. Realizing time was short, Cohen went to Manhattan College — where he had a key to the equipment and locker rooms — and returned to the Polo Grounds at halftime with nine pairs of basketball sneakers, saying that "nine pairs was all I could get."Gottehrer. pg. 119 Players donned the sneakers and New York, after allowing Chicago another field goal late in the 3rd quarter, responded with 27 unanswered points in the 4th quarter to win their first NFL Championship game. The game would come to be known as "The Sneakers Game", and the 27 points the Giants scored in the 4th quarter set a single–quarter championship game scoring record that stood for decades. After the game, offensive tackle Len Grant expressed his sincere gratitude by stating "God bless Abe Cohen."Gottehrer. pg. 123
The Giants were unable to repeat as champions in 1935, as they fell to the Detroit Lions 26–7 in the NFL Championship game. The Lions staked a 13–0 lead before the Giants were able to cut the lead to 13–7 in the 3rd quarter. However, the Lions defense helped their team score two late touchdowns with a blocked punt and an interception.
The Giants were so successful from the latter half of the 1930s until the United States' entry into World War II, that according to one publication, "[f]rom 1936 to 1941 the New York Giants annually fielded a collection of NFL all-stars."Neft, Cohen, and Korch. pg. 113 They added their third NFL championship in 1938 with a 23–17 win over Green Bay. The Giants blocked two Green Bay punts to establish an early advantage before the Packers came back to take a 17–16 lead. However, in the 4th quarter, Ed Danowski threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Hank Soar, and the Giants defense held the Packers scoreless.