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The Wilderness Years – New York Giants 1964-1978

Eric from BBI : Admin : 3/25/2020 12:37 pm
This was an article Larry wrote back in 2016, but I'm not sure everyone saw it at the time.

I'm going to plug some of his older work this week...


The Wilderness Years – New York Giants 1964-1978 - ( New Window )
That reminder me of Loaded Weapon.  
robbieballs2003 : 3/25/2020 12:48 pm : link
Just reminiscing, but this corresponds to the period I was away from  
Ivan15 : 3/25/2020 1:02 pm : link
NY and Long Island, at college and starting my career elsewhere, so I couldn't follow the Giants on the radio or TV (before cable) and couldn't climb up on the roof and turn the antenna toward Connecticut. I could only get Giant news from out-of-town newspapers (I used to read 7 papers per day in the college library) or Monday Night Football and highlight shows. I call it "the Dark Years".

Histories like this fill in a lot of bare spots.
I'm not sure I can read it  
dune69 : 3/25/2020 1:05 pm : link
it was so hard to live through every Sunday that I prefer not to go back there. Now the '80's is a different story.

I will say that I remember 1962 and 1963 and expected that good ball would continue but (much like the Yankees) the lean years took over.
RE: I'm not sure I can read it  
Sec 103 : 3/25/2020 1:10 pm : link
In comment 14849351 dune69 said:
Quote:
it was so hard to live through every Sunday that I prefer not to go back there. Now the '80's is a different story.

I will say that I remember 1962 and 1963 and expected that good ball would continue but (much like the Yankees) the lean years took over.

I have to agree, there was nothing worth reminiscing about in that time frame, nothing at all.
I was born in 1966  
lugnut : 3/25/2020 1:29 pm : link
I was steeped in Giants loserdom literally my entire childhood (and matching my puberty, the late 70s change wasn't exactly smooth either).

That 1987 SB win was such sweet redemption. And the years of terror that LT brought on other teams. Between that bad period and that good one, the current situation doesn't faze me much.
One Small Detail  
Samiam : 3/25/2020 1:36 pm : link
When the Giants signed Csonka, at the time there was no requirement to give up a draft choice. It was something like the paperwork at the league had not been signed so the agreement was not legally binding but players could be signed. Wellington Mara, on his own, thought it was the right thing to do to offer a 3rd round pick for Csonka. I don’t remember if the pick was just forfeited or went to Miami for Csonka. I dont know if other teams who signed free agents voluntarily agreed to give up draft picks. Maybe someone can weigh in.

What does this team have with throwing away 3rd round picks?
RE: One Small Detail  
Victor in CT : 3/25/2020 1:42 pm : link
In comment 14849393 Samiam said:
Quote:
When the Giants signed Csonka, at the time there was no requirement to give up a draft choice. It was something like the paperwork at the league had not been signed so the agreement was not legally binding but players could be signed. Wellington Mara, on his own, thought it was the right thing to do to offer a 3rd round pick for Csonka. I don’t remember if the pick was just forfeited or went to Miami for Csonka. I dont know if other teams who signed free agents voluntarily agreed to give up draft picks. Maybe someone can weigh in.

What does this team have with throwing away 3rd round picks?


NFL players were subject to the "Rozelle Rule" which awarded #1 draft picks for FAs signed by other teams. Csonka was a WFL refugee with no NFL contract. The Giants were not required to give Miami anything. Wellington thought it was the sporting thing to do.
thanks for reposting Eric. This series by Larry is excellent  
Victor in CT : 3/25/2020 1:45 pm : link
Really well done
The Wilderness Years – New York Giants 1964-1978  
M.S. : 3/25/2020 1:48 pm : link

Oh, boy! I remember this period all too well.

Reminds me of the current franchise:

2012 - ????
The Giants gave up a third round pick in each  
truebluelarry : 3/25/2020 3:00 pm : link
of the 1978 & 1979 drafts to Miami as "compensation" for Csonka.


Link - ( New Window )
Who can forget  
Beer Man : 3/25/2020 3:44 pm : link
The Football protest and the banner "15 years of lousy football, enough is enough" (or something to that effect) flown over Giants stadium? Good times!
I was born in 61, so this is the time I became a Giants fan  
PatersonPlank : 3/25/2020 3:54 pm : link
My dad had season tickets to the Meadowlands when it opened in 1976, that season we started out 0-8 or 0-9. Even when we got good, even during that magical 1986 season, I kept waiting for the bottom to drop out. Losing is a hard habit to break
Started watching NYG around 1976  
LBH15 : 3/25/2020 3:57 pm : link
and that was difficult.

Recall the best weapon the team had for a few years then was actually Dave Jennings.
I remember those years well, especially  
Del Shofner : 3/25/2020 4:08 pm : link
'64-68 and '73-78 (in between, I was in college and it was harder to follow the Giants).

I can recall exactly where I was when the The Fumble occurred in 1978. In an apartment in Manhattan, listening on radio (that was before cable TV, at least for the likes of me in those days, and there was no VHF reception in most apartment buildings in Manhattan).

Just thinking, as always, that it was great to beat the Eagles on any given day, and then ...
Man were those dismal times  
Bleedin Blue : 3/25/2020 4:18 pm : link
We had players that were at the end of their careers, players that should’ve never seen the locker room of any team! Just Hell, sad times, no leadership whatsoever!
RE: I was born in 61, so this is the time I became a Giants fan  
exiled : 3/25/2020 5:08 pm : link
Me too, born in 61. But we never went to a game, just watched—every single loss. Losing is all we knew. It changes your expectations.

I remember that the defense kept them in the games so often, just enough to keep us coming back, week after week. (I don’t know how often they came from behind to lose, but it seems like every Sunday.)

That playoff win against Philly was utterly jubilant. It stands out even more to me the Super Bowl win.
You all are probably right that not being able to watch Giants  
Ivan15 : 3/25/2020 5:15 pm : link
football during those years probably saved My sanity. No excuse for me for the past 8 years.
RE: Who can forget  
liteamorn : 3/25/2020 5:30 pm : link
In comment 14849520 Beer Man said:
Quote:
The Football protest and the banner "15 years of lousy football, enough is enough" (or something to that effect) flown over Giants stadium? Good times!

15 years of lousy football, We've had enough

A week or two after "The Fumble" God they were horrible years, we seemed to find a new way to lose every week.
Born in '59, those were also my formative years as a fan.  
81_Great_Dane : 3/25/2020 10:32 pm : link
(By the way, why does this end in '78? It didn't really end until the 80s...)

It at the very least taught me not to get too angry about it when they're losing. I don't believe in accepting losing, exactly, but if I was angry about Giants losses I'd be in a padded cell by now. Enjoy the winning, but most of all, enjoy the football. And learn that the bad seasons make the good seasons even sweeter.
"The Wilderness Years - NYG1964 -1978"  
rnargi : 3/26/2020 7:43 am : link
Also known as.."Margi's Childhood"
Learned that men yell at tv's  
PA Aggie : 3/26/2020 8:57 am : link
Born in 1965, growing up in a G-men household, and remember my father almost every sunday in the early 70's, helping dad in the kitchen, watching him throw pot holders, yell at the tv, and drain gin and tonics...which only fueled the previous. Ah, the memories.
I was born Dec 1955.  
BlueLou'sBack : 3/26/2020 9:14 am : link
You guys pining about your miserable Giants childhoods, you who were born in the 60s, don't get any sympathy from me!

You suffered as a 3 year old?

My "generation" took it head on!one and the boomers just a bit older than me. Just as we were beginning to truly be fans we had to eat football shit every year except for the brief interlude of Ron Johnson at RB.
I was born in 1948  
bluesince56 : 3/26/2020 12:22 pm : link
Went to games in the late fifties at Yankee Stadium. Saw the great teams that fought for Championships. Then the roof fell in after 1963. What a disaster! One year after another worse and worse. Listen to all the games on the radio. (No TV). Never forget Warner Wolf showing the highlights on Monday night and saying; “Bring back Pro football to NY”
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