Top 50 New York Giants
In 1925, the New York Giants were one of five teams that joined the National Football League, and of those five, they are the only ones that are still in existence.
The Giants have been in existence for nearly a century and have won eight Championships. The first four as NFL Champions (1927, 1934, 1938 & 1956) and they were a perpetual contender in the early 1960s. In the Super Bowl Era, they won in 1986 (XXI), 1990 (XXV), 2007 (XLII), and 2011 (XLVI).
Eight Championships is impressive regardless of the league and the sport!
This list is up to the end of the 2022 season.
Note: Football lists are based on an amalgamation of tenure, traditional statistics, advanced statistics, playoff statistics, and post-season accolades.
Playing for your dad is hard. Playing for your father-in-law has to be harder. This was life for Chris Snee, a Boston College product who married the daughter of Tom Coughlin, who became the Head Coach of the New York Giants in 2004. That was the same season that the Giants drafted Snee in the Second Round.
Brad Van Pelt was a two-time All-American at Michigan State, thus bringing a successful resume to the New York Giants who drafted him in the Second Round in 1973.
Fran Tarkenton began his pro career with the Minnesota Vikings in 1961, but the Vikes did not have a lot of talent around him. The scrambling Quarterback was a star and was a Pro Bowl Selection in 1964 and 1965, but he grew frustrated and demanded a trade. That wish was granted after the 1966 season, when the Giants, hungry for a…
Leonard Marshall was a massive component of the New York Giants defensive group that would win two Super Bowls.
Undrafted from BYU, Bart Oates found a home in the USFL where he played in all three of their seasons, all with the Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars. Oates won two the two championships there and established himself as a player that should have been selected in the NFL all along. The Giants rectified that when he signed with them in 1985.
Arnie Weinmeister was one of the toughest players in football, and after two seasons with the New York Yankees of the AAFC, Weinmeister made history as the first native of Saskatchewan to play in the NFL when he joined the New York Giants in 1950.
The First Overall Pick of the 1951 Draft, SMU’s Kyle Rote was the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy in 1950. With their selection, the New York Giants believed they had the offensive weapon they thought could lead them to a title.
Ray Flaherty came from Gonzaga and played in the semi-pro Los Angeles Wildcats of the American Football League. The End would later join the New York Yankees of the NFL, but that was short-lived as the squad folded late in 1928. Flaherty then joined the New York Giants, where he would play until 1935.
Playing his entire career with the New York Giants (2003-13), David Diehl was a starter in his rookie season after being drafted in the Fifth Round out of Illinois.
A New York Giant for his entire pro career (1996-08), Amani Toomer was used as a Returner for the first three of his seasons after playing at Michigan. Toomer did fine returning punts, but his calling was to play Wide Receiver at the pro level.
You could never say that George Martin did not make the most of his opportunity in professional football.
At the University of Southern California, Red Badrgo did it all. He was a star athlete in baseball, basketball, and football and was an elite performer in all of them.
One of the most successful football players to come out of Dayton, Jim Katcavage, was drafted by the New York Giants in 1956, which would be the only team that he ever played for on the professional level.
You could argue that Carl Banks is one of the most underrated players in the history of the National Football League.
Ward Cuff was a multi-sport star at Marquette, where he was a boxer, a javelin thrower, and a Back, who competed in the first ever Cotton Bowl. The New York Giants only had use for the latter skill, and they drafted him in the Fourth Round of the 1936 Draft.
Osi Umenyiora is one of the most successful Defensive Ends in the history of Troy University, and the former All-Southland player helped put his old school on the football map.
Del Shofner was a two-time First Team All-Pro in the four seasons he was with the Los Angeles Rams, but the restructuring Rams traded their star to the New York Giants for a First Round Pick in 1961. The Rams would draft Roman Gabriel, but the Giants did just fine with their end of the deal.
Splitting his college career between Northwestern and Michigan State, Ray Wietecha’s NFL career was not divided among teams in the plural as he wore the Giants blue for all of his ten seasons.
Keith Hamilton played his college ball at Pittsburgh, and the New York Giants were happy to land him with their Fourth Round Pick in the 1992 Draft.