58 Fun Facts About Giants

Which 1950s Giants star later spent 27 seasons in the Monday Night Football booth?

Frank Gifford had quit football in 1961 after a hit knocked him out cold, then came back a year later at a new position, flanker, and made the Pro Bowl again.

Where do the football Giants play their home games?

MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. The Giants built it with the Jets as equal partners and opened it in 2010, beside the site of the old Giants Stadium that the two teams had shared.

Which future head coach ran the Giants' defence in their Super Bowl XXV win?

Bill Belichick packed the field with extra defensive backs to smother the opposing passing attack, and the plan he drew up is now kept in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The football Giants' 1934 title win over the Bears on an icy field is remembered as what?

The Sneakers Game: trailing at half-time on a frozen field, the Giants switched to basketball sneakers for traction and scored 27 fourth-quarter points to win 30-13.

The Giants' 1958 overtime championship loss to the Colts is remembered by what name?

The Greatest Game Ever Played: the first NFL title game to reach sudden-death overtime ended when the Colts' Alan Ameche scored the winning touchdown, 23-17.

In 1978's 'Miracle at the Meadowlands', the fumbling Giants only needed to do what?

Kneel on the ball. Joe Pisarcik's botched handoff to Larry Csonka was run back for the winning score, and kneeling out the clock soon became the standard way to end a game.

Lawrence Taylor was drafted by the Giants in 1981 from which college?

North Carolina: Taylor was an All-American linebacker for the Tar Heels; New Orleans passed on him for Heisman winner George Rogers, so the Giants took him second overall in 1981.

In 1986 Lawrence Taylor won which award, rare for a defender?

NFL Most Valuable Player: Taylor had 20.5 sacks that season, and he was so hard to stop that rival coach Joe Gibbs redesigned Washington's offence around a second tight end just to block him.

Which Giants quarterback completed 22 of 25 passes to be named MVP of Super Bowl XXI?

Phil Simms's 88% completion rate set a Super Bowl record, and he then became the first champion to film Disney's 'I'm going to Disney World!' advert.

Which Giants defensive coordinator, promoted in 1983, led the team to two Super Bowls?

Bill Parcells, promoted from defensive coordinator in 1983, survived a 3-12-1 debut season and went on to win Super Bowls XXI and XXV.

The Giants won Super Bowl XXV by a single point over which team?

The Buffalo Bills: Scott Norwood's 47-yard field-goal attempt sailed wide right in the final seconds, preserving the Giants' 20-19 win.

Which quarterback did Michael Strahan sack for his disputed 2001 record?

Brett Favre slid down as Strahan closed in during the 2001 season finale, an easy sack that took him to 22.5 and past Mark Gastineau's 1984 record of 22.

Which team drafted Eli Manning first overall in 2004 before trading him to the Giants?

The San Diego Chargers: they took Manning first overall, then swapped him for fourth pick Philip Rivers plus draft choices after Eli refused to play for them.

The Giants' Super Bowl XLII win ended which team's bid for a perfect 19-0 season?

The New England Patriots arrived 18-0 and 12-point favourites, but the Giants won 17-14 with a touchdown 35 seconds from the end.

Which receiver made the 'Helmet Catch' in Super Bowl XLII?

David Tyree pinned the ball to his helmet with Rodney Harrison draped over him, a 32-yard gain that kept the winning drive alive.

Eli Manning twice won which honour, first won twice by Bart Starr?

MVP of the championship game: Manning was named Super Bowl MVP after XLII and XLVI, each time capping a go-ahead touchdown drive in the final minute.

Which running back did the Giants take second overall in the 2018 draft?

Saquon Barkley, the Penn State back, went second overall behind Baker Mayfield; in 2024 he joined the rival Eagles and ran for 2,005 yards on the way to a Super Bowl title.

Which of these is a nickname of the football Giants, a mangled contraction used by New York tabloids?

The Jints: a deliberately mangled headline contraction, said to have been handed down from the baseball Giants' New York days; 'Big Blue' and 'the G-Men' are the team's other nicknames.

What corporate name do the football Giants use to stand apart from the baseball club of the same name?

New York Football Giants, Inc.: the legal name was chosen when the baseball Giants shared the city, and it stayed on the books after that club left for San Francisco.

After a long feud with his uncle Wellington, Tim Mara sold his half of the Giants in 1991 to whom?

Preston Robert Tisch, the Loews Corporation chief and former US Postmaster General, bought the stake weeks after Super Bowl XXV; uncle and nephew had barely spoken for years.

The baseball Giants were founded in 1883 under what name?

The New York Gothams: the club joined the National League in 1883 and became the Giants in 1885, supposedly after its proud manager hailed his players as giants following an extra-inning win.

Through the 2025 season, the baseball Giants held which all-time MLB record?

Most wins of any franchise: the Giants reached 10,000 victories in 2005 before any other club, a lead built up in New York, where they won 17 of their 23 pennants.

The New York baseball Giants played most of their home games at which ballpark?

The Polo Grounds, beneath Coogan's Bluff in upper Manhattan, kept the name of the club's first home, a converted polo field beside Central Park; its bathtub shape gave it short foul lines and a vast centre field.

Bobby Thomson's 'Shot Heard 'Round the World' in 1951 was hit off which Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher?

Ralph Branca surrendered the three-run homer in the ninth inning of the deciding playoff game; the Giants had won 37 of their last 44 to catch Brooklyn.

Willie Mays's famous over-the-shoulder catch in the 1954 World Series robbed which Cleveland batter?

Vic Wertz: Mays ran down his drive to deep centre in the eighth inning of Game 1, and the Giants went on to sweep the 111-win Indians.

The Giants' first game in San Francisco, in April 1958, was an 8-0 win over which team?

The Los Angeles Dodgers: both clubs had just left New York together, so their old rivalry opened big-league baseball on the West Coast, with Ruben Gomez pitching the 8-0 shutout.

Which rival owner persuaded Horace Stoneham to move the Giants to San Francisco?

Walter O'Malley steered Stoneham away from Minneapolis, home of the Giants' top farm club, and the league then let both clubs go west on condition that they moved together.

The Giants played at which windy ballpark from 1960 to 1999?

Candlestick Park, on a point jutting into the bay, was so gusty that the wind made pitcher Stu Miller sway into a balk during the 1961 All-Star Game.

The 1989 World Series between the Giants and Athletics was interrupted by what?

The Loma Prieta earthquake struck minutes before Game 3 on 17 October 1989; the series resumed ten days later and Oakland completed a sweep.

Whose single-season home run record did Barry Bonds break in 2001?

Mark McGwire's three-year-old mark of 70 fell when Bonds hit 73, even though wary pitchers walked him 177 times, itself a record at the time.

The stretch of San Francisco Bay beyond Oracle Park's right-field wall is nicknamed after which Giant?

Willie McCovey, the left-handed slugger, gave his name to McCovey Cove, where fans wait in kayaks to fish out the home runs known as 'splash hits'.

Who in 2024 became the first right-handed batter to hit a 'splash hit' into the Cove?

Heliot Ramos: right-handers must drive the ball the opposite way to reach the water beyond right field, which is why his 2024 homer was the first in the ballpark's 25 seasons.

Which manager led the baseball Giants to World Series titles in 2010, 2012 and 2014?

Bruce Bochy took over in 2007 and three years later ended a title drought dating back to 1954, before the club had left New York.

Which Giants pitcher threw the franchise's first perfect game, striking out 14 Astros?

Matt Cain retired all 27 Houston Astros, striking out 14 to tie Sandy Koufax's perfect-game record, after Gregor Blanco's diving catch saved the bid in the seventh inning.

Which Giants pitcher struck out Ruth, Gehrig, Foxx, Simmons and Cronin in succession at the 1934 All-Star Game?

Carl Hubbell let the first two batters reach base, then struck out five future Hall of Famers in a row with his screwball, the pitch that carried him to 253 wins.

Which Giants pitcher threw three shutouts in six days in the 1905 World Series?

Christy Mathewson's shutouts came a year after the Giants had refused to play the 1904 World Series against a league they dismissed as inferior; it was the first of five titles won in New York.

Which team did the baseball Giants beat in both the 1921 and 1922 World Series?

The New York Yankees: the Giants beat them in 1921 and 1922, then lost all five later World Series between the two clubs, the last in 1962.

Which Dodgers great was traded to the Giants in December 1956 but retired instead of reporting?

Jackie Robinson had already agreed to leave baseball for an executive job at Chock full o'Nuts, so the trade to his club's fiercest rival was never completed.

Which celebration did the football Giants popularise during their 1986 title season?

The Gatorade shower began as nose tackle Jim Burt's revenge on a coach who had ridden him hard all week; Harry Carson then made it a sideline ritual as the wins piled up in 1986.

Which two managers faced off in the Giants-Athletics World Series of 1905, 1911 and 1913?

John McGraw and Connie Mack: McGraw ran the Giants from 1902 to 1932 and Mack the Athletics for 50 seasons; the A's won the 1911 and 1913 meetings after the Giants' 1905 triumph.

Which college star's 1925 visit with the Chicago Bears drew a crowd that eased the Giants' money troubles?

Red Grange had turned professional straight after his last college game, and his visit packed the stands at a Giants home game, giving founder Tim Mara's struggling first-year club the money it badly needed.

Which head coach led the football Giants to Super Bowl wins after the 2007 and 2011 seasons?

Tom Coughlin, a receivers coach on the Giants' 1990 title staff, won both as an underdog: with a wild-card team that won three road playoff games in 2007 and a 9-7 division winner in 2011.

The football Giants beat which team 23-17 to win the 1938 NFL Championship?

The Green Bay Packers: Ed Danowski's touchdown pass to Hank Soar put the Giants ahead 23-17, and they held on for the franchise's third NFL title.

The football Giants' 7 November 1943 game against Detroit was the last NFL game ever to end how?

In a scoreless tie: no NFL game since that 0-0 draw in Detroit has finished without a point, and overtime, added to the regular season in 1974, makes a repeat far less likely.

Which two future legendary head coaches were assistants on the football Giants' 1956 championship staff?

Vince Lombardi and Tom Landry: head coach Jim Lee Howell left the offence to Lombardi and the defence to Landry, who between them went on to win seven championships as head coaches.

Which Giants quarterback threw a then-record 36 touchdown passes in 1963 and was named NFL MVP at 37?

Y. A. Tittle had been written off as washed up when he was traded to New York at 34; his 36 touchdown passes stood as the record until Dan Marino passed it in 1984.

The football Giants spent most of 1973 and 1974 at which college stadium?

Yale Bowl in New Haven: shut out of Yankee Stadium by its reconstruction, the Giants moved to Connecticut in 1973 and won just once in twelve games there before a 1975 stopover at Shea Stadium.

Which Eagles defender returned the 1978 'Miracle at the Meadowlands' fumble for the winning touchdown?

Herman Edwards, later head coach of the Jets and Chiefs, returned the fumble 26 yards for the 19-17 win; Giants offensive coordinator Bob Gibson was fired the next day.

Whose career ended when a Lawrence Taylor sack broke his leg on Monday Night Football?

Joe Theismann never played again after the compound fracture; a distraught Taylor waved at once for medical help, and Theismann never blamed him.

Whom did the football Giants beat 39-20 in Super Bowl XXI?

The Denver Broncos: the Giants scored 30 second-half points at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, overturning a 10-9 half-time deficit against John Elway's side.

Which career backup quarterback, starting only after a late-season injury, led the Giants to victory in Super Bowl XXV?

Jeff Hostetler had started only two games in seven seasons when the first-choice quarterback broke his foot in December 1990; he then won every game through the 20-19 Super Bowl.

Which Giants running back reluctantly fell over the goal line for Super Bowl XLVI's winning touchdown?

Ahmad Bradshaw realised the defence was letting him score to get the ball back with time left, tried to stop at the goal line, and tumbled backwards into the end zone with about a minute to play.

Which team beat the football Giants 34-7 in Super Bowl XXXV?

The Baltimore Ravens never let the Giants' offence score: the only points they gave up came on Ron Dixon's 97-yard kickoff return, which Baltimore answered with a return touchdown on the very next kickoff.

Which two-time defending champions did the Giants beat 15-13 in the 1990 NFC Championship Game?

The San Francisco 49ers were chasing a third straight Super Bowl when Matt Bahr kicked his fifth field goal, a 42-yarder as time expired, to end the bid.

In December 1930 the Giants played Notre Dame All Stars in a charity game for whom?

New York's unemployed: Knute Rockne reunited his Four Horsemen for the Depression benefit, but his Notre Dame stars failed to score against the Giants.

Which general manager did the football Giants hire in January 2022, a week before Brian Daboll?

Joe Schoen was hired on 21 January 2022 after five years as an assistant general manager; in his first season the Giants won a playoff game for the first time since Super Bowl XLVI.

Where did the baseball Giants play their first two seasons in San Francisco?

Seals Stadium, home of the minor-league San Francisco Seals until the Giants' arrival sent them to Phoenix, hosted the club in 1958 and 1959 and was demolished soon after.

Which Giants first baseman had his number 22 retired by the club in 2022?

Will Clark announced himself in 1986 by homering off Nolan Ryan with his first big-league swing; the Giants retired his 22 in 2022.