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The Giants first superstar - Benny Friedman

truebluelarry : 6/19/2019 8:17 pm
Benny Friedman is often overlloked and short changed in conversations over who was the "best ever" because statistics were not recorded until 1932 at the end of his palying career. If they had been, there is little doubt he would have dwarfed his peers much in the same way Don hutson did as a receiver.

Aside from Friedman's uncanny ability to throw the oversized pumkin of a ball that was used most of his time in the league (the modern size ball dimensions were established in 1934) but his brash playcalling was revolutionary. Friedman regularly called forward passes on first down and in his own territory - which was unheard of in that era. Many teams often called for a first down punt when backed up in their own end, preferring to play defense and hope to recieve the next punt with more favoroable field position.

Friedman was one of pro football's "Big Three" marquee stars - the others being Red Grange and Ernie Nevers. Whenever one of those players were in town people noticed. One way to guage a players popularity is how frequently a game photo appeared in the local newspaper the day after a game. Newspapers did not print many photographs prior to 1929, and they remained infrequent until the mid 1930s. The one exception was the NY Daily News which pioneered print photography.

I have more newspaper photographs of Benny Friedman with the Giants than any other player until Charley Conerly came along in 1948.

Here's a photographic record the Giants triple threat who lived up the #1 he wore on his jersey:


Giants vs Staten Island Stapletons 10/13/29 (NY Daily News)


Giants vs Frankford Yellow Jackets 10/20/29 (NY Daily News)


Giants vs Geen Bay 11/24/29 (NY Daily News)


Giants vs Green Bay 11/24/29 (NY Times)


Giants vs Chicago Cardinals 12/1/29 (NY Daily News)


Giants at Frankford Yellow Jackets 12/7/29 (Philadelphia Inquirer)


Giants at Green Bay 10/5/30 (Milwaukee Journal)


Giants at Chicago Bears 10/12/30 (Chicago Daily Tribune)


Giants vs Green Bay 11/23/30 (NY Daily News - best version I could find of this one, sorry about the blurryness)


Giants vs Notre Dame All-Stars exhibition 12/14/30 (New York Herald Tribune)


Giants vs Notre Dame All-Stars exhibition 12/14/30 (New York Times)


Giants vs Portsmouth Spartans 11/1/31 (NY Herald Tribune)


Giants vs Chicago Bears 11/15/31 (NY Herald Tribune)


Giants vs Chicago Bears 11/15/31 (NY Times)


Giants vs Green Bay 11/22/31 (NY Daily News)


Giants vs Green Bay 11/22/31 (NY Herald Tribune)


Giants vs Green Bay 11/22/31 (NY Times)


Giants at Brooklyn Dodgers 12/6/31 (NY Daily News)


Giants at Brooklyn Dodgers 12/6/31 (NY Herald Tribune)


Great stuff, thanks for posting.  
Del Shofner : 6/19/2019 8:30 pm : link
Man, the Polo Grounds - I'm too young (hah) to have gone there for football, but I went there for baseball when the Mets played there in '62 and '63 before Shea was built. Looks like it was a great venue for football, and makes sense - it had crazy dimensions for baseball because it was somewhat rectangular (the foul lines were very short and center field was insanely long).
Benny Friedman  
Flash : 6/19/2019 8:57 pm : link
was my coach at Brandeis University. At 55 he was the best pure passer I've ever seen. The Giants bought an entire team just to get Benny and he almost became an owner of the NY Giants. He was a triple threat as he also kicked. He was finally voted into the Hall Of Fame as he deserved. Thank you for those pictures.
.  
Big Blue '56 : 6/19/2019 9:07 pm : link
👍🏿👍. Thanks once again, Larry
Great post  
AcidTest : 6/19/2019 9:30 pm : link
and pictures. Thanks.
Sad Ending  
SirLoinOfBeef : 6/19/2019 9:47 pm : link
to a very accomplished life.
Thank you Larry,  
Red Dog : 6/19/2019 11:00 pm : link
this stuff is great, as are all your GIANTS history posts.
Thanks Larry  
Jay in Toronto : 6/19/2019 11:17 pm : link
Flash what kind of guy was he?

I taught at Brandeis in the 80's but often wished I ould have been there in the 50's and early 60's.
As I recall, Friedman had a unique throwing style which he claimed  
Ivan15 : 6/19/2019 11:38 pm : link
Helped him avoid injury. Kind of chuck and duck. He was very critical of the throwing style of most modern QBs who were injured too often, in his opinion. He was willing to teach his style but no one cared.

Does anyone else recall this?

I think Y. A. Tittle came close to Friedmans style.


RE: Benny Friedman  
truebluelarry : 6/20/2019 5:49 am : link
In comment 14477331 Flash said:
Quote:
was my coach at Brandeis University. At 55 he was the best pure passer I've ever seen. The Giants bought an entire team just to get Benny and he almost became an owner of the NY Giants. He was a triple threat as he also kicked. He was finally voted into the Hall Of Fame as he deserved. Thank you for those pictures.


My understanding is that after the 1930 season Friedman approached Tim Mara about aquiring an interest in the Giants. After being rebuffed he walked away and went to coach at Yale. Midway through the season the Giants had a lot of injuries and had been struggling offensively, and Friedman was talked into returning for the remainder of the season.

Following the 1931 campaign, Friedman left the Giants and was a player-coach for the Brooklyn Dodgers through 1934.
RE: As I recall, Friedman had a unique throwing style which he claimed  
truebluelarry : 6/20/2019 5:52 am : link
In comment 14477459 Ivan15 said:
Quote:
Helped him avoid injury. Kind of chuck and duck. He was very critical of the throwing style of most modern QBs who were injured too often, in his opinion. He was willing to teach his style but no one cared.

Does anyone else recall this?

I think Y. A. Tittle came close to Friedmans style.



I beleive Sammy Baugh had a very similar style, and he discussed it as a big reason for his longevity. Baugh retired with a then NFL record 17 seasons played, which is pretty remarkable for someone who'd played 60 minutes per game for many of those years.
great pictures!  
markky : 6/20/2019 6:07 am : link
thanks for posting this!
Thanks for a nice Giants history lesson  
Ira : 6/20/2019 7:20 am : link
.
Friedmans Wiki bio  
cosmicj : 6/20/2019 7:44 am : link
Lots of interesting info.
Friedman - ( New Window )
There's an interesting trend with Giants and their use of the #1.  
truebluelarry : 6/20/2019 7:47 am : link
Only five players have ever worn it, as it was retired in 1935 in honor of Ray Flaherty, and they are all very notable and significant figures in Giants history.

1925 - Hinkey Haines - the Giants flashiest play-maker and as close to they had as a marquee name their first year. He wore #2 for the next three season spanning 1926-1928.

1926-1928 - Jack McBride - The Giants captain in 1926, signal caller and one of the better passers in the NFL along with Joey Sternaman of the Bears. McBride had worn #16 in 1925; when he returned to the Giants in 1932-1934 after three seasons with the Stapletons he wore #20.

1929-1931 - Benny Friedman - during the first half of the 1931 season when Friedman was coaching at Yale full-time, nobody wore #1 for the Giants.

1932-35 - Ray Flaherty - All Pro end, team captain and assistant coach 1933-1935. Flaherty wore #44 in 1928-1929, after taking a year off to coach full time in college, he wore #6 in 1931. The #1 is officially retired in his honor by the Giants.

1946-1947 - Frank Cope - all pro tackle and team captain. The Giants thought so highly of Cope that they temporarily returned the #1 into circulation for the final two seasons of his career. No Giant player has worn the #1 since. Cope wore #36 from 1938-1945.


I recommend Murray Greenberg's biography of Friedman, Passing Game  
Bluenatic : 6/20/2019 11:46 am : link
I interviewed Greenberg for my blog when the book came out 11 years ago. Link below.

Interview link - ( New Window )
RE: I recommend Murray Greenberg's biography of Friedman, Passing Game  
truebluelarry : 6/20/2019 1:30 pm : link
In comment 14477760 Bluenatic said:
Quote:
I interviewed Greenberg for my blog when the book came out 11 years ago. Link below. Interview link - ( New Window )


I read that book a couple of years ago, it was very interesting. If I recall correctly, Friedman's first appearance for the Wolverines was late in the Michigan-Illinois game where Grange single-handedly put the Illini up 28-0 in the first quarter.
Man the way they wrote the news back then was so weird  
Leg of Theismann : 6/20/2019 2:46 pm : link
arrow indicates point of impact? "the Giants 11" ? Terms and ideas you just never see or hear anymore. It's probably how people back then would feel if they heard the term "on the outside looking in" when people talk about the playoffs.
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