Often when I conduct an interview for Notinhalloffame.com, I have a fairly good idea where I want to take the interview.  With former New York Giant and current Hollywood actor, Jarrod Bunch, I was able to ask everything I wanted, but as it unfolded our conversation went to places I was not expecting and I received an education on an industry that I had never explored before.

Considering how Jarrod Bunch has been defying stereotypes for decades, I shouldn’t have been surprised.

Jarrod Bunch had a dream to play football for a storied Division One school and make the National Football League, and he did, playing Fullback for the University of Michigan and becoming a first round draft pick of the New York Giants.  That in itself is impressive, and makes him the envy of most armchair warriors, but if you have read other interviews that I have conducted there is far more to Bunch than what he accomplished on the gridiron. 

On a weekend where the world of professional football is celebrating their Hall of Fame and the legends that made the sport great, one of the great ones has passed away.

 

It was announced today that Frank Gifford died of natural causes at the age of 84 at his home in New Haven, Connecticut.  

 

A star at USC, Gifford was drafted in the first round by the New York Giants, the only team he would play for and one that he would suit up for fifteen seasons.  As a player, Gifford would make eight Pro Bowls, and help bring the Giants to five NFL Championships, winning one in 1956.  That would easily be the best year of his career, as not only did he win the NFL title, he was also named the Most Valuable Player of the league.  

 

A testament to his versatility is that Gifford was a Pro Bowler at three different positions and his longevity was that he was a member of the 1950’s All-Decade Team.  Gifford, who would suffer a severe head injury in 1960, would return to the National Football League in ’62, winning the NFL Comeback Player of the Year.  

 

Following the end of his playing career, Frank Gifford would become a very successful broadcaster, notably as a commentator on the iconic, Monday Night Football, where he would work for over two decades.  

 

Frank Gifford is a member of both the College Football and the Pro Football Hall of Fame and this is a major loss for the community of American Football.

 

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to extend our condolences to the family and friends of Frank Gifford at this time. 

 

Oakland Raiders Defensive End, Justin Tuck has announced his retirement from the National Football League after an eleven year career.

Tuck was drafted in the third round by the New York Giants out of Notre Dame in 2005 and was a large part of the Giants Super Bowl wins in XLII and XLVI.  Tuck was a Pro Bowl selection in 2008 and 2010 and holds the distinction of being the only player to record multiple Quarterback Sacks in multiple Super Bowls. 

Tuck would sign with the Oakland Raiders in 2014, but would be forced to sit out 2015 due to injury.  He retires with 66.5 Quarterback Sacks, 510 Tackles and 22 Forced Fumbles.

While he is not likely to earn a place in Canton, he has solidified a strong place in the history of the New York Giants.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to wish Justin Tuck the best in the next stage of his life and thank him for the memories on the field!

Regular visitors of Notinhalloffame.com know that we are slowly working on the top 50 of every major team in the NHL, NBA, NFL and MLB. Once that is done, we intend to look at how each team honor their past players, coaches and executives.  As such, it is news to us that New York Giants co-owner, John Mara, stated in a recent interview that Eli Manning and Michael Strahan will have their numbers retired.

Sort of.

This is what he said about Eli’s number:

“It’s retired.”

When asked to clarify, Mara responded:

“Not yet.  We’ll do Michael’s (Strahan) announcement another day, but Eli’s will be retired.”

As for when that will happen is anyone’s guess.  

Wearing #10, Manning announced his retirement this past Friday.  Playing at Quarterback, Manning threw for 57,034 Yards and 366 Touchdowns, and led the Giants to two Super Bowl Championships, both over the New England Patriots.  He was named the MVP in both of those games, and he is eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2025.

As for Strahan, he has already been inducted into Canton, which occurred in 2014.  Like Manning, Strahan played his entire career with the Giants and he was the 2001 Defensive Player of the Year.  The seven-time Pro Bowl won a Super Bowl in his last game in the league.  He wore #92, which has never been issued since his retirement.

At present, the Giants have retired the numbers of Ray Flaherty (#1), Tuffy Leemans (#4), Mel Hein (#7), Phil Simms (#11), Y.A. Tittle (#14), Frank Gifford (#16), Al Blozis (#32), Joe Morrison (#40), Charlie Conerly (#42), Ken Strong (#50) and Lawrence Taylor (#56).

We here at Notinhalloffame.com are looking forward to these events in the future and are hopeful that the Giants will move on this action soon.

It may be called the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but for all intents and purposes, it only focuses on accomplishments from the NFL and to a lesser extent the AFL.  This is too bad for Herschel Walker who chalked up monster totals in his first three years of Pro Football but did so as a member of the New Jersey Generals of the upstart United States Football League.

Walker would go to the Dallas Cowboys and would forever try to live up to the Play Station like numbers he put up in College and in the USFL.  Walker was still very good and put up good numbers for Dallas in both receiving and running the ball.  He was however the focal point of one of the more lopsided trades in NFL history where the Vikings sent five players and a multitude of draft picks (three of which were Emmitt Smith, Alvin Harper, and Darren Woodson).  Dallas would use this to build a dynasty of the ’90s, and Minnesota coaches took there frustration out on Walker who was not used to the best of his ability while as a Viking.  Herschel was still good, but his stock dramatically went down.

Many entries on this list discuss how you can’t compare offensive statistics from the ’60s and ’70s to today’s inflated numbers.  This is even more accurate when looking at the stars of the 1950s.  Perhaps this is why Charlie Conerly, the Quarterback of the New York Giants during the 50’s was on the final ballot multiple times but dropped off seemingly for good after 1980.

Ottis Anderson had one of the best rookie seasons ever for a Running Back gaining over 1,600 yards on the ground.  Too bad he did for a bad St. Louis Cardinals team that was barely on the National radar.

Anderson would prove he was not a one-season wonder.  Although he would never again equal his rookie numbers he still posted decent ground numbers and was the highlight of a poor Cardinals team.  As it does in football, injuries piled up and he lost his explosiveness.  Anderson was however reinvented as a short-yardage specialist by the New York Giants and he again accumulated impressive tallies.  He was a natural leader and as he rarely fumbled he was a strong key to the Giants ability to control the ball for extended periods of time.  As a Giant, Ottis Anderson twice won the Super Bowl, capped with an MVP performance in Super Bowl XXV.

Phil Simms is a two time Super Bowl Winning Quarterback, though many who watched his first five years of play may not have foreseen it.

Simms may have been inconsistent when he began his tenure in the NFL, but something seemed to click in 1984.  It wasn’t just the influx of talent to the Giants roster, as it was at this time that Simms became their leader and found ways to win.  He wasn’t the quickest or the hardest thrower, but he became a winner and most important he had the belief and trust of his teammates; something that not every Quarterback had.  Because of the Giants stellar defense, many have said that Simms only had to manage the game, but those who played with him always praised his high football I.Q. and his leadership skills.

Although they only won one NFL Championship in the late ’50s and early ’60s, the New York Giants were a loaded team.  Jimmy Patton was a star Safety on this squad, but his exploits have largely been forgotten.

When the Giants won the 1956 NFL Championship, Jimmy Patton was really coming to his own.  He progressively got better and in 1958 led the league in interceptions.  Patton was a big part of the Giants defense and helped them make the NFL Championship game multiple times.

When Tiki Barber retired, it was a decision questioned by many.  It was thought that he had a lot left to give on the field despite the golden path he was given to broadcasting.  The critics may have been proven right as the New York Giants won the Super Bowl the year after he left and he was chastised for criticism of his former players. It is too bad that is what he is known for now, as during his prime he was one of the best Running Backs of the game.