60 Fun Facts About Giants

Five new teams joined the NFL in 1925, including the football Giants. How many of those five still exist?

That makes them the league's longest-established team in the Northeast; their first game was a 14-0 loss in Providence.

Where do the football Giants play their home games?

They share it with the Jets, five miles west of New York City; they moved to the Meadowlands in 1976 after years at Yankee Stadium, the Yale Bowl and Shea.

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

Only the Packers and Bears have more; the Giants' 19 championship-game appearances are the most of any team.

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

The Giants changed into basketball shoes at half-time for better traction.

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

The 23-17 defeat is considered a watershed in making pro football a national television sport.

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

Herman Edwards scooped it up; the Giants had only needed to kneel out the clock.

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

Taken second overall, he remains the only player to win Defensive Player of the Year as a rookie.

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

The Giants went 14-2 that year behind the Big Blue Wrecking Crew defence and won Super Bowl XXI.

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

He went 22 of 25 in the 39-20 win over Denver, the Giants' first title since 1956.

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

His first move was benching Phil Simms for Scott Brunner, a decision he admitted nearly cost him his job.

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

The 20-19 win came a week after they had ended the 49ers' bid for a third straight title.

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

He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2014, the most recent Giant at the time.

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

The deal sent Philip Rivers the other way; Manning went on to start 210 consecutive games.

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?

He pinned the ball to his helmet with Rodney Harrison draped over him; Manningham's sideline catch set up the win four years later.

Eli Manning is one of only six players to have been named what more than once?

He took it in both XLII and XLVI, both against New England.

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

The pick came from Penn State after a disastrous 2017 season.

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

'Big Blue' and 'the G-Men' are the others; the tabloid contraction dates from the baseball team's New York days.

The NFL team is still legally incorporated under what name, to distinguish it from the baseball club?

The name was adopted in 1937 and stuck even after the baseball Giants 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?

The two Maras had stopped speaking to each other entirely.

The baseball Giants were founded in 1883 under what name?

They became the Giants within a few years and moved west after the 1957 season.

The baseball Giants hold which all-time MLB record?

They also have the most Hall of Famers of any franchise; their eight World Series titles rank sixth.

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

Its centre field, at 483 feet, was the deepest in the league, which is what made Willie Mays's 1954 catch so remarkable.

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

The three-run homer won the pennant playoff after the Giants had won 37 of their last 44 games to catch Brooklyn.

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

The Giants went on to sweep the heavily favoured Indians for their last title in New York.

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

The two rivals had moved west together, the first major league teams on the coast; the Giants played two seasons at Seals Stadium first.

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

The Mets were born in Queens in 1962 to fill the hole the two clubs left in New York.

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

They moved to Pacific Bell Park, now Oracle Park, in 2000.

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

The quake struck moments before Game 3 and delayed the series ten days; Oakland swept.

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

He finished his career with 762, 586 of them as a Giant, passing Hank Aaron in 2007.

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?

All 104 previous splash hits had come from left-handed batters.

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

Under Bruce Bochy they became only the second NL team to win three titles in five years.

The Giants' annual award for the player who best shows spirit and leadership is named after whom?

The Willie Mac Award has been given since 1980.

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

His number 11 came off the board; Mathewson played before uniform numbers existed.

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

In 1905, 1921, 1922, 1933 and 1954, along with 17 of the franchise's 23 pennants.

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

The two New York clubs met in six World Series in all; the Yankees won the last five.

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

Through 2025 the Giants led 5-1 from their New York era, but the Dodgers lead 8-3 since both moved to California, putting Los Angeles ahead 9-8 overall.

In the Giants' 2012 'Turn Back the Century' game against the Cubs, both teams wore uniforms from which year?

The two old rivals also met in the 1989 NLCS and a 1998 tiebreaker.

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

Both were also majority owners; Mack managed for 50 years, McGraw for 30.

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?

There was no championship game yet; the best record in the league took the title.

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

Between 1931 and 1947 the Giants reached the title game eight times and won twice.

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

The 1944 Giants defence, allowing 7.5 points a game, is ranked the best in NFL history.

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?

He was league MVP that year and the Giants reached the championship game, losing to the Bears.

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

They had bounced between the Yale Bowl and Shea Stadium after leaving Yankee Stadium.

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

The Eagles cornerback later coached the Jets and Chiefs, and the play cost Giants offensive coordinator Bob Gibson his job.

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

Taylor won Defensive Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season, a double nobody has repeated.

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

It was the franchise's first championship since 1956.

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

They went 13-3 and won Super Bowl XXV by a point when Scott Norwood's kick sailed wide right.

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

Eli Manning was MVP again, four years after the Helmet Catch game.

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

Only the Packers (13) and Bears (9) have more titles than the Giants' eight.

How many Hall of Fame players have featured for the football Giants?

They include the MVP winners Mel Hein, Frank Gifford, Y. A. Tittle and Lawrence Taylor.

In December 1930 the football Giants played a Notre Dame All Stars team at the Polo Grounds to raise money for whom?

Knute Rockne reassembled his Four Horsemen for the game, which also served to prove the quality of the pro game.

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

They won twice in that span, led by Hall of Famers Mel Hein, Red Badgro and Tuffy Leemans.

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

The team went 9-7-1 that season and clinched a playoff berth on New Year's Day 2023.

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

It had been home to the Pacific Coast League's San Francisco Seals from 1931 to 1957.

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

The tally includes Jackie Robinson's 42, retired throughout the majors.

How many Giants are in the Baseball Hall of Fame, the most of any franchise?

The roll includes New York-era stars Christy Mathewson, Carl Hubbell, Mel Ott and Willie Mays.