The New York Giants came about in 1925 in New York City. Pro Football Hall of Famer Tim Mara purchased the franchise for $500 and “borrowed” the name from the MLB team, the New York Giants – which was a common thing to do at the time. The Giants won their first NFL championship just three years later in 1927 with a stacked defense led by Steve Owen, who later became the head coach. Owen isn’t the only legendary player to come out of the organization; quarterback Eli Manning has done some great things. Manning led the Giants to two Super Bowl championships in 2007 and 2011 against the Patriots. The Giants have four Super Bowl championships total and four other championship titles from wins prior to the announced 1966 merger of the NFL and AFL.
The Giant Greats
Behind every great football team is a great running back. Tiki Barber is the Giant’s all-time leading rusher with 2,217 rushes for 10,449 yards and 55 touchdowns. Barber was selected to the Pro Bowl three times and was awarded First Team All-Pro in 2005. Before the NFL and AFL merger, there was Hall of Famer Frank Gifford. Gifford – eight-time Pro Bowl selection and four-time First Team All-Pro – helped lead the 1956 Giants to an NFL championship.
Amani Toomer is the all-time leading receiver in the franchise’s history. Toomer caught 668 passes for 9,497 yards and 54 touchdowns. He played his entire career of 13 seasons with the Giants.
A team can’t succeed without its quarterback. Phil Simms was one of the greatest in Giants history. The two-time Pro Bowler helped to lead the Giants to two Super Bowl winning seasons in 1986 and 1990 (although Jeff Hostetler played in the Super Bowl due to Simms incurring an injury during the 1990 regular season) . Simms ended up playing his entire career of 14 seasons in New York City with the Giants, throwing for 33,462 yards and 199 touchdowns. Another great Giants quarterback is Hall of Famer Y.A. Tittle. Tittle played the final four seasons of his career with the Giants and, during that time, was selected to the Pro Bowl three times. He was also a two-time First Team All-Pro quarterback.
When it comes to defense, some say that Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor is the best linebacker of all time. Taylor – a 10-time Pro Bowler and eight-time First Team All-Pro selection – contributed to the victories of two Super Bowls with the Giants.
Today’s Giants
As mentioned, Eli Manning, like Phil Simms, has given the Giants two Super Bowl wins as a two-time Super Bowl MVP. The four-time Pro Bowler has thrown 3,920 completions for 46,668 yards and 306 touchdowns with the Giants thus far.
The Giants’ current primary wide receiver is Odell Beckham Jr., who two years ago had an incredible one-handed catch into the end zone against the Cowboys. Beckham made the Pro Bowl in his first two seasons and won the 2014 NFL AP Offensive Rookie of the Year award. Another productive Giants wide receiver is Victor Cruz. Cruz has been one of the most consistent receivers in recent years. Known for his salsa dance touchdown celebration, he made the Pro Bowl in 2012 and was a part of the 2011 Super Bowl championship team.
Evolution of the New York Giants Logo
The current logo has a blue, block lowercase “ny” outlined in red. The logo is somewhat controversial because the team plays in East Rutherford, New Jersey, not New York. Close enough, right? Let’s look at the many different logos of the New York Giants.
1945: The Giants use the New York City skyline as the backdrop for the logo with a picture of a quarterback throwing a football. The logo is in a circle with “New York Football Giants” written around it.
1950: The logo becomes a lot cleaner with a similar image and wording – modernized to fit the time.
1956: The wording is completely taken out, and the quarterback is placed against what is now known as Yankee Stadium, which is the stadium they play in.
1961: The logo is entirely replaced with a stylized lowercase “ny” in blue block letters.
1975: The team switches to a blue and white uppercase “NY.”
1976: The team switches to a bold and italicized uppercase “Giants.” The font changes to blue outlined in red. The change is sparked by the team moving to the Meadowlands in New Jersey.
2000–2016: The team goes back to the lowercase “ny” but keeps the color scheme of blue outlined in red. This is the logo used by the Giants today.
Now that you’ve learned about the evolution of the many different Giants logos, head over to Fanatics.com so you can rock the logo yourself!
Sources
- http://sportsteamhistory.com/new-york-giants-logo-history
- http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1990-12-27/sports/1990361088_1_fracture-simms-cracked-rib
- http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/C/CruzVi00.htm
- http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BeckOd00.htm
- http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/M/MannEl00.htm
- http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/T/TaylLa00.htm
- http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/T/TittY.00.htm
- http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/S/SimmPh00.htm
- http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/T/ToomAm00.htm
- http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/G/GiffFr00.htm
- http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BarbTi00.htm
- http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/nyg/
- http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/nfl-and-afl-announce-merger
- http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nfl/nyg/nygiants.html
- http://www.profootballhof.com/teams/new-york-giants/team-history/
