47 Fun Facts About New York Giants

In which New Jersey town do the Giants play their home games?

East Rutherford: the borough has only about 10,000 residents, so on game days its stadium can hold more than eight times the local population.

Which team left Shea Stadium in 1984 to share the Giants' home in New Jersey?

Jets: tenants for a quarter of a century, they became equal partners when the two clubs built MetLife Stadium together, opened in 2010.

Which Bears star's 1925 visit rescued the Giants' finances?

Red Grange: more than 70,000 came to see him, wiping out the new club's losses, and a year later he was back with a rival league and a New York team of his own to fight the Giants.

Through 2025, the Giants' eight NFL titles trailed only the Bears and which franchise?

Packers: the Giants' count could be higher, since from 1958 to 1963 they reached five NFL title games in six seasons and lost every one.

At which New York ballpark did the Giants play their home games for their first three decades?

Polo Grounds: they left for Yankee Stadium in 1956 and won the NFL championship in their very first season there.

Which division rival did the Giants beat 56-0 in the teams' first meeting, in 1933?

Philadelphia Eagles: the rout came in the Eagles' very first NFL game, and the Giants went on to win the first eleven meetings played in New York.

Who founded the Giants in 1925?

Tim Mara: a bookmaker by trade, he was offered the team only after boxing promoter Billy Gibson turned it down and sent the league's president on to him.

The Hall of Fame says the Giants' founder paid how much for the franchise in 1925?

$500: some accounts say $2,500, but either way he is reported to have cleared about $143,000 from a single December game that first season.

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

San Diego Chargers: Manning had said he would refuse to play for them, so they picked him first anyway and traded him to New York later in the same draft.

Which quarterback did the Giants draft fourth overall in 2004 and trade away the same day for Eli Manning?

Philip Rivers: the swap suited both clubs, as he went on to start every regular-season game from 2006 to 2020, an even longer unbroken run than Manning's.

Which quarterback's December 2017 start ended Eli Manning's run of 210 straight Giants starts?

Geno Smith: the benching caused such an outcry that the head coach and general manager were fired the day after the game, and Manning was starting again a week later.

Where did Eli Manning play in college?

Ole Miss: his father Archie was already a folk hero there, and Eli finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting as a senior.

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

David Tyree: mainly a special-teams player, he pinned the ball to his helmet for a 32-yard gain and never caught another pass in the NFL.

Who caught the winning touchdown pass in Super Bowl XLII?

Plaxico Burress: he had barely practised all season because of a bad ankle, yet scored from 13 yards out with 35 seconds left.

Where was Super Bowl XLII played?

Glendale, Arizona: five weeks earlier the same two teams had met in New Jersey, where the Patriots won 38-35 to complete a 16-0 regular season.

Which Giants running back scored the 'reluctant touchdown' to win Super Bowl XLVI?

Ahmad Bradshaw: the Patriots let him through so they could get the ball back, and he tried to stop at the one-yard line but toppled backwards over the goal line.

Which team did the 9-7 Giants beat in overtime to win the 2011 NFC title?

49ers: the 20-17 road win sent New York on to become the first Super Bowl winner outscored over a regular season, 400 points to 394.

Which receiver's 38-yard sideline catch set up the winning drive in Super Bowl XLVI?

Mario Manningham: he kept both feet in bounds by a fraction of an inch between two defenders, on the first play of the 88-yard drive that won the game.

Which Giants receiver set a franchise record with 1,536 receiving yards in 2011?

Victor Cruz: undrafted only a year earlier, he broke Amani Toomer's record in a game where he also took a short pass 99 yards for a touchdown.

Who was the Giants' head coach for both the 2007 and 2011 Super Bowl wins?

Tom Coughlin: the first head coach the Jacksonville Jaguars ever had, he fined Giants players who turned up less than five minutes early for meetings.

Which coach led the Giants to Super Bowl XXI and XXV titles?

Bill Parcells: his first Giants team won only three games, yet three seasons later it went 14-2 and took the club's first Super Bowl.

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

Phil Simms: he completed all ten of his passes in the second half, then starred in the first 'I'm going to Disney World!' commercial.

In 1935 the Giants became the first professional football team to do what with a player's jersey number?

Retire it: the No. 1 belonged to end Ray Flaherty and stayed out of use for 89 years, until his family let rookie Malik Nabers wear it in 2024.

Which kicker's 'wide right' miss sealed the Giants' Super Bowl XXV win?

Scott Norwood: his 47-yard attempt on grass was at the edge of his range, and the miss began Buffalo's run of four straight Super Bowl defeats.

Who started at quarterback for the Giants in Super Bowl XXV after the regular starter was hurt?

Jeff Hostetler: he had started only two games in seven years as a Giants backup before the starter broke a foot that December.

Who was named MVP of Super Bowl XXV?

Ottis Anderson: he ran for 102 yards as the Giants held the ball for a Super Bowl record 40 minutes 33 seconds, keeping Buffalo's quick-scoring offense off the field.

Who sang the national anthem before Super Bowl XXV?

Whitney Houston: sung ten days into the Gulf War, her version was released as a charity single and reached the top 20.

Whose leg did Lawrence Taylor accidentally break with a sack on Monday Night Football in 1985?

Joe Theismann: the Washington quarterback never played again, and a horrified Taylor was the first to wave frantically to the sideline for help.

Which award did Lawrence Taylor win in 1986?

NFL MVP: he led the league with 20.5 sacks and the Giants to their first Super Bowl title, and through 2025 no defender had won the award since.

Which college did Lawrence Taylor attend before the Giants drafted him in 1981?

North Carolina: he did not play organised football until the eleventh grade, and began there as a defensive lineman before being moved to linebacker.

Which quarterback did Michael Strahan sack to set the 2001 single-season record?

Brett Favre: the easy sack took Strahan to 22.5, half a sack past Mark Gastineau's old mark, and some observers accused Favre of going down on purpose.

What distinction did Michael Strahan earn on a 2021 Blue Origin flight?

Tallest person in space: at 6 feet 5 he flew as a guest beside Laura Shepard Churchley, whose father Alan, the first American in space, gave the New Shepard rocket its name.

Which Giants rookie made a famous one-handed catch against Dallas in November 2014?

Odell Beckham Jr.: he caught it falling backwards with three fingers of one hand while being fouled, and the Hall of Fame had his jersey on display within weeks.

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

Saquon Barkley: the Offensive Rookie of the Year left as a free agent in 2024 and at once ran for more than 2,000 yards and won a Super Bowl with a division rival.

Which Giants center, nicknamed 'Old Indestructible', was voted the league's most valuable player in 1938?

Mel Hein: he never missed a game in 15 seasons, having joined the Giants only after writing to three NFL clubs and taking the best offer, $150 a game.

Who was the first African American to play for the Giants?

Emlen Tunnell: no team drafted him, yet he retired with a record 79 interceptions and became the first Black player in the Hall of Fame.

Which Giants star was knocked out by Chuck Bednarik in 'The Hit' in 1960?

Frank Gifford: the head injury made him retire for a year, yet he came back in 1962 at a new position, flanker, and made the Pro Bowl there too.

Through 2025, whose 36 touchdown passes in 1963 were still the Giants' single-season record?

Y. A. Tittle: the Giants had got him in his mid-thirties by trading a guard to San Francisco, and Eli Manning came within one of the mark in 2015.

What name is given to the Giants' 1958 overtime championship loss to the Colts?

The Greatest Game Ever Played: a national television audience saw the first sudden-death finish in NFL history, and the game is credited with starting the league's surge in popularity.

What footwear change helped the Giants beat the Bears on ice in the 1934 title game?

Basketball sneakers: a helper was sent to borrow them from Manhattan College during the game, and the Giants, behind at half-time, scored 27 points in the final quarter.

Which two future legends coached the Giants' offense and defense on the 1956 title team?

Lombardi and Landry: Vince Lombardi ran the offense and Tom Landry the defense, and within four years both had left to build championship teams of their own.

Who returned Joe Pisarcik's fumbled handoff for the winning touchdown in the 1978 'Miracle at the Meadowlands'?

Herman Edwards: the Giants only had to run out the clock, and the coach who called for a handoff instead was fired the next morning.

Which veteran head coach did the Giants hire in January 2026 after firing Brian Daboll?

John Harbaugh: he had been let go only two weeks earlier, after 18 seasons and a Super Bowl title with one club.

Where did the Giants play home games in 1973 and 1974 during Yankee Stadium's renovation?

Yale Bowl: the homeless Giants won only one of their twelve home games in New Haven before moving on.

Which Giants kicker, born in Scotland, won two NFC title games with overtime field goals?

Lawrence Tynes: his overtime kicks decided the NFC title games of the 2007 and 2011 seasons, both away from home, and each sent the Giants to a Super Bowl they won.

Besides the Giants, which NFL team wore helmet numbers on front and back in 2025?

Pittsburgh Steelers: their helmets stand out a second way, with the logo on the right side only, a 1962 trial the club liked enough to keep.

The Giants' only points in Super Bowl XXXV came on a 97-yard kickoff return; which team beat them 34-7?

Baltimore Ravens: Ron Dixon's return for the Giants was the second of three touchdowns scored on three consecutive plays, all inside 36 seconds.