1983 Draft

The last pick of the first round is arguably the best CB ever.

And all those lousy QBs not named Elway picked ahead of Marino.

That is

Kinard won more Super Bowls than Kelly and Marino put together and beat Elway in the Super Bowl

... Terry Kinard was a very good player. Starting safety for 86 champs against Elway's Broncos. Enough said.

Solid pick for Giants in their '83 draft slot.

He never perhaps lived up to his draft status (wasn't he a top 10?) but he was a solid starter for years in a D that asked him to play mostly 1 or 2 high, and as a 1 high he was a very, very, sure tackler and last line of defense in Parcels/Belicek's schemes.

Those Giants' D's didn't give up many big plays, and Kinard was a significant part of that.

Elway, Marino, Kelly, Eason, Blackledge, and O'Brien.

Even Eason made the SB. Blackledge and O'Brien were average, and obviously the others are in the HOF. Funny thing is Marino had a rumor circulating about him partying too much and dropped, he was the last QB taken.

other prospects linked to us that year? Were fans and media receptive of the pick?

nothing special. Was hurt in the '86 playoff run. Herb Welch stepped in and not sure anybody noticed a difference. The front seven was so dominant, you didn't need a great backfield.

Kinard did not play in Super Bowl XXI, due to injury. He was a really good player. Was gone by Super Bowl XXV.

damn that was a good one even minus the QB's. Eric Dickerson, Bruce Matthews, Darrell Green, Roger Craig, Richard Dent, Leonard Marshall, Curt Warner, Jimbo Covert and a few others.

If he hadn't injured a knee so early in his career and Haynes had a better attitude the Giants secondary would have been untouchable combined with the pressure generated. Kinard made a play on Eric Dickerson that was unreal.

Kinnard was really fast for an FS with good size, I think he was a 4.4 guy or close too it, at just over 6 ft and 200 lbs. big for a safety back then.

did what was expected in their defense. He played kind of a monster man position at Clemson. Giants fans envisioned Jack Tatum or somebody similar, maybe Ronnie Lott after the Niners switched him from CB.

Kinard had a game against the Bucs and James Wilder & Jimmy Giles that met expectations. He was allowed to crowd the LOS and smother those guys, both of whom were good players. He was injured against the Skins in RFK. Blew out a knee. Actually stayed in the game for a series as I recall before they realized the ACL was gone. Gibbs respected him. Ditka loved him.

I despartely wanted the Giants to take him, they did not. Its probably best for Marino that the Giants did not take him, his career would certainly have been differant in the Meadowlands with Bill Parcells. On the other hand Marino might have that ring if he were a Giant.

someone went ahead and uploaded it. It's well worth it, one of the best 30 for 30s that I have seen (and for a change, the series is actual great sports programming by ESPN...go figure)

Also, RetroJint. Funny you mention that Ditka loved him. Back in 1988, when Ditka was coaching the NFC Pro Bowl squad, the coaches at the time were able to select a "need" player, and often they'd pick one of their own guys. Ditka selected Kinard as his pick for the Pro Bowl and it was Kinard's only Pro Bowl of his career.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3t-HkEWAwOo - ( New Window )

That hat was one of my favorite 30 for 30's. A lot of insight and very candid responses.

In comment 11617335 wgenesis123 said:

Quote:

I despartely wanted the Giants to take him, they did not. Its probably best for Marino that the Giants did not take him, his career would certainly have been differant in the Meadowlands with Bill Parcells. On the other hand Marino might have that ring if he were a Giant.

I wanted Marino too. Loved him at Pitt and his battle in the Sugar Bowl against Hershal Walker and the Bulldogs.

Kinard, Leonard Marshall, Karl Nelson, Andy Headen, Perry Williams, Kevin Belcher

his draft slot, at # 10? A lot of the comments are that he is a solid player, but shouldn't have he more productive to warrant the 10th overall pick?

(14) and really this was the first draft I payed attention to, primarily because of the quarterbacks.

The big thing to remember is that without the internet you really couldn't get a handle on what types of players were available, and finding guys who wanted to talk draft and knew what they were talking about was difficult. If you read anything about the players available it would give you the writer's impressions but you couldn't go back and watch tape or cut-ups on the guy like we do today, so unless you watched a TON of college football, you were biased by what you read in the paper or remembered watching in the bowl games, etc.

I remember really only knowing a few names from that draft and Kinard was not one of them.

we had Simms and Brunner battling it out, so its not like there was any room for another QB.....

Kinard we would be in very good shape.

In comment 11619551 WideRight said:

Quote:

we had Simms and Brunner battling it out, so its not like there was any room for another QB.....

But in 83, both stunk.

Imagine if the Giants had selected Reggie White. They already had L. Marshall.

In comment 11619582 Giants2012 said:

Quote:

In comment 11619551 WideRight said: Quote: we had Simms and Brunner battling it out, so its not like there was any room for another QB..... But in 83, both stunk. Imagine if the Giants had selected Reggie White. They already had L. Marshall.

Reggie didn't come out of college until 1984