59 Fun Facts About Giants

Of the five teams that joined the NFL in 1925, how many never folded?

Just one: the Giants. The other four 1925 newcomers, such as the Detroit Panthers and Pottsville Maroons, had all disappeared from the league by the early 1930s.

Where do the football Giants play their home games?

MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, which the Giants share with the Jets; it replaced the original Giants Stadium on the same Meadowlands site.

How many NFL championships have the Giants won, including four before the Super Bowl era?

Eight: NFL titles in 1927, 1934, 1938 and 1956, plus Super Bowls XXI, XXV, XLII and XLVI; only two franchises have won more.

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 Colts' 23-17 sudden-death win, the first NFL title game decided in overtime, drew a huge national television audience.

Which Giants quarterback's fumble was returned for an Eagles touchdown in the 1978 "Miracle at the Meadowlands"?

Joe Pisarcik's botched handoff to Larry Csonka was scooped up and returned for the winning score; the Giants had only needed to kneel out the clock.

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

North Carolina: Taylor was a consensus All-American linebacker for the Tar Heels before the Giants took him second overall in 1981, behind only George Rogers.

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

NFL Most Valuable Player: Taylor's 20.5 sacks in 1986 made him the first defender to take the AP award since Alan Page in 1971.

Phil Simms set a Super Bowl record in the 1986-season title game by completing what share of his passes?

88%: Simms went 22 of 25 for 268 yards and three touchdowns in Super Bowl XXI, the Giants' first championship since 1956.

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 as time expired, preserving the Giants' 20-19 win.

Michael Strahan set the NFL single-season sack record in which year?

2001: Strahan's 22.5 sacks broke Mark Gastineau's 1984 mark of 22, the last of them a disputed takedown of Brett Favre in the season finale.

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 Patriots came in 18-0 and 12-point favourites; the Giants won 17-14.

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 won which honour twice, matching Bart Starr and Terry Bradshaw?

MVP of the championship game: Manning was named Super Bowl MVP after XLII and XLVI, joining Bart Starr and Terry Bradshaw as two-time winners.

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

Saquon Barkley, the Penn State back, went second overall after the Giants' 3-13 season in 2017; only Baker Mayfield was picked ahead of him.

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

The Jints: a tabloid headline contraction inherited from the baseball Giants' New York days; 'Big Blue' and 'the G-Men' are the team's other nicknames.

Under what corporate name was the NFL team incorporated to distinguish it from the baseball club?

New York Football Giants, Inc.: the corporate name adopted in 1937, when the baseball Giants were the city's better-known club, and kept after the baseball team left for San Francisco.

The feud between Wellington Mara and nephew Tim ended in 1991 when Tim sold his half of the team to whom?

Preston Robert Tisch, the Loews Corporation executive and former US Postmaster General, bought Tim Mara's half of the team in 1991; uncle and nephew had long since stopped speaking.

The baseball Giants were founded in 1883 under what name?

The New York Gothams: the club joined the National League in 1883 and adopted the Giants name in 1885 under manager Jim Mutrie.

The baseball Giants hold which all-time MLB record?

Most wins of any franchise: in 2005 the Giants became the first major league club to reach 10,000 regular-season victories.

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

The Polo Grounds, beneath Coogan's Bluff in upper Manhattan, was the Giants' home from 1891 until they left for San Francisco after 1957; its horseshoe shape gave it a 483-foot centre field.

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

Ralph Branca, wearing number 13, 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: Ruben Gomez pitched the 8-0 shutout on 15 April 1958, the first major league game played on the West Coast.

Walter O'Malley talked Giants owner Horace Stoneham out of moving the team where?

Minnesota: Stoneham had planned to move to Minneapolis, home of the Giants' top farm club, until O'Malley persuaded him that two clubs on the West Coast made sense.

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

Candlestick Park, on the bay at Candlestick Point, was notorious for cold wind and fog; the Giants left for Pacific Bell Park after the 1999 season.

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

The Loma Prieta earthquake, magnitude 6.9, struck minutes before Game 3 on 17 October 1989; the series resumed ten days later and Oakland completed a sweep.

How many home runs did Barry Bonds hit in 2001 to set the single-season record?

73: Bonds broke Mark McGwire's three-year-old mark of 70 and finished that season with a .863 slugging percentage; he ended his career with 762 homers, 586 as a Giant.

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

Bonds hit 35 of the first 109 'splash hits' into it and is the only player with two in one game.

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

Heliot Ramos: his 2024 homer over the right-field arcade was the Giants' first 'splash hit' by a right-handed batter; every earlier one had come from a left-hander.

The Giants ended a 56-year title drought by winning the World Series in which three years?

2010, 2012 and 2014: under Bruce Bochy the Giants became only the second National League club, after the 1940s Cardinals, to win three titles in five years.

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

Matt Cain retired all 27 Houston Astros at AT&T Park, striking out 14 to tie Sandy Koufax's perfect-game record; it was the first perfect game in Giants history.

Which Giants pitcher in 1944 became the first National Leaguer to have his number retired?

Carl Hubbell, the screwball ace who won 253 games, had his number retired in 1944, the year after his final season; Mathewson played before uniform numbers existed.

How many World Series did the Giants win while still based in New York?

Five: in 1905, 1921, 1922, 1933 and 1954, the last of them a sweep of Cleveland; the New York era also produced 17 of the franchise's 23 pennants.

The 1922 World Series saw the Giants sweep which team in four games?

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

After the 2025 World Series, how did the Giants and Dodgers compare in all-time titles?

Los Angeles leads 9-8: the Dodgers' 2025 championship put them one ahead of the Giants, reversing the Giants' big lead from the clubs' New York years.

In a throwback game against the Cubs in 2012, the Giants wore uniforms from which year?

1912: both clubs wore replica 1912 uniforms, the Giants in the style of their National League pennant winners of that year.

Which two Hall of Fame 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.

In which city did the football Giants play their first NFL game, a 14-0 loss on 11 October 1925?

They lost to the Providence Steam Roller at the Cycledrome, then finished a respectable 8-4 in a 20-team league.

The football Giants' 1927 NFL title came with what regular-season record?

11-1-1: with no championship game until 1933, the best record took the title; the 1927 Giants allowed just 20 points all season across 13 games.

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: the 0-0 draw with the Lions in Detroit was the last NFL game in which neither team managed a point, a feat unmatched in later decades.

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

Jim Lee Howell had Lombardi running the offence and Landry the defence in the team's first year at Yankee Stadium.

How many touchdown passes did Y. A. Tittle throw for the football Giants in 1963, then an NFL record?

36: Tittle's total that season stood as the NFL record until Dan Marino threw 48 in 1984; he was named league MVP at the age of 37.

In which year did the football Giants move into Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands?

1976: Giants Stadium opened that October after the team spent 1973-74 at the Yale Bowl in New Haven and 1975 at Shea Stadium.

Which Eagles cornerback 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.

Lawrence Taylor's 1981 rookie season took the Giants to their first playoffs since which year?

1963: the Giants had not been to the postseason since losing that year's title game to the Bears; Taylor's arrival lifted them to 9-7 and a wild-card berth.

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.

How many turnovers did the 1990 football Giants commit all season, then an NFL record low?

14: the 1990 Giants turned the ball over just 14 times in 16 games, a record low at the time, on the way to a 13-3 season and Super Bowl XXV.

What was the final score when the football Giants beat the Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI?

21-17: Ahmad Bradshaw's reluctant six-yard touchdown run with 57 seconds left put the Giants ahead, and Tom Brady's final Hail Mary fell incomplete.

How many NFL championship-game appearances do the football Giants have, the most of any team?

19: the Giants reached the NFL title game in every decade from the 1930s to the 1960s, then added Super Bowls XXI, XXV, XXXV, XLII and XLVI, more title games than any other franchise.

Whose field goal as time expired won the Giants the 1990 NFC Championship Game?

Matt Bahr scored every Giants point with field goals in the 15-13 win at San Francisco, the last a 42-yarder as time expired.

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

New York's unemployed: the Giants beat a Rockne team featuring the reunited Four Horsemen 22-0 in a benefit for Mayor Jimmy Walker's unemployment relief fund during the Depression.

Between 1931 and 1947, how many times did the football Giants reach the NFL championship game under Steve Owen?

Eight: 1933, 1934, 1935, 1938, 1939, 1941, 1944 and 1946, winning in 1934 and 1938 with Hall of Famers Mel Hein and Tuffy Leemans.

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 went 9-7-1 and reached the playoffs.

Where did the baseball Giants play their first two San Francisco seasons before Candlestick opened?

Seals Stadium, the Pacific Coast League park at 16th and Bryant, housed the Giants in 1958 and 1959 and was torn down soon after they left.

After Will Clark's 22 was retired in 2022, how many numbers had the Giants themselves retired?

11: Will Clark's 22 joined ten numbers already on the wall, from Bill Terry's 3 to Barry Bonds's 25; the count excludes Jackie Robinson's 42, retired across the major leagues.