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Traditions & things that the Giants and their fans did first

Leg of Theismann : 1/7/2021 8:02 pm
I'm wanting to make a list of all the sports traditions that the Giants and their fans started /did first. I know it's a lot of things.

The DE-FENSE chant by the crowd, right?

Gatorade bath was Harry Carson doing it to Bill Parcells first, right?

Waving the towels was started by McConkey, right? But did the Steelers' "terrible towels" really originally get their idea from Giants' fans doing it after McConkey did it?

Also anyone who knows the deeper and more interesting stories behind these please feel free to share. And/or if there are any that maybe people THINK were started by the Giants (but really someone else was first) feel free to share that info too.

Looking forward to seeing if there are more I am forgetting or don't know about!
The 84 or 85 Bears claim  
SFGFNCGiantsFan : 1/7/2021 8:05 pm : link
They started the Gatorade shower...(rollinb my eyes.)
Sunny Side of the Field  
US1 Giants : 1/7/2021 8:11 pm : link
and they may still be the only one.
The Terrible Towel goes back to the Steel Curtain days  
Greg from LI : 1/7/2021 8:25 pm : link
McConkey was in high school
Homer Jones started the  
Jolly Blue Giant : 1/7/2021 8:28 pm : link
Spike of the football I believe.
Pete Gogolak  
kinard : 1/7/2021 8:38 pm : link
... was the first soccer-style kicker
running a dive play...  
BCD : 1/7/2021 8:41 pm : link
1st play of the game.....stomp them out.
Beating Brady in Superbowls  
Jesse B : 1/7/2021 8:46 pm : link
😀

I dont have any actual things to mention probably some traditions started in the 40s or 50s i dont know about


Interested to see what people can come up with.
Homer Jones with the spike  
The Dude : 1/7/2021 8:51 pm : link
Maybe the defense chant but think that’s hard to pinpoint ?
Wiki says that Tom Landry developed the 4-3 defense  
US1 Giants : 1/7/2021 9:18 pm : link
while coaching as DC for the Giants.
RE: Wiki says that Tom Landry developed the 4-3 defense  
mfsd : 1/7/2021 10:28 pm : link
In comment 15114486 US1 Giants said:
Quote:
while coaching as DC for the Giants.


Good one, and wasn’t he in fact a player/coach at the time?

This is a good brief history of the Gatorade dunk, the story is Jim Burt did it originally after a win over the Redskins in 84, but then it was Carson who made it famous.
Link - ( New Window )
RE: RE: Wiki says that Tom Landry developed the 4-3 defense  
Leg of Theismann : 1/7/2021 10:54 pm : link
In comment 15114533 mfsd said:
Quote:
In comment 15114486 US1 Giants said:


Quote:


while coaching as DC for the Giants.



Good one, and wasn’t he in fact a player/coach at the time?

This is a good brief history of the Gatorade dunk, the story is Jim Burt did it originally after a win over the Redskins in 84, but then it was Carson who made it famous. Link - ( New Window )


Just watched. Thanks . I didn’t realize Parcells got a Gatorade bath after EVERY SINGLE WIN in 1986? Wow. There’s no question that’s what made it catch on everywhere else.

I have a picture of Carson dunking Parcells in the Super Bowl that’s signed by Bill. I also have a Carson signature but separate from that. Kind of want to get him to sign the picture as well and have both of them on there.
cleats? or was it sneakers?  
D HOS : 1/7/2021 11:33 pm : link
flexible athletic shoe?
We were one of the first teams with cheerleaders,but it didn't go well  
Rico : 1/8/2021 12:02 am : link
https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970203711104577199621509380612
Steve Owens  
Grizz99 : 1/8/2021 12:50 am : link
Em Tunnell and The Umbrella defense

Lombrdk introduced the modern tight end and a simplified blocking scheme.
Also "run to daylight" that changed the way running backs hit the hole
Sacks  
GFiLA : 1/8/2021 12:57 am : link
As a stat
The Giants were responsible for use of the V-Formation  
jsuds : 1/8/2021 7:02 am : link
in regular season games thanks to "The Fumble".

The Gatorade Bath was definitely them.

Also because of LT the Single Back Offense was born.

Yelling...  
BamaBlue : 1/8/2021 7:03 am : link
"Down in Front" at home games is a Giants original.
My favorite tradition at old Yankee Stadium that I carried to section  
Spider56 : 1/8/2021 8:59 am : link
110 in the Meadowlands was just before kickoff .... “Goooooooooooooooo Gi - aaaaants .... Beat ‘whoever they were playing’ ”

I still get goosebumps thinking about that sound echoing off the rafters and posts at the stadium.
Giants Defense  
RELICDOA : 1/8/2021 9:42 am : link
set the tone for the leauge that defense was a focus and it just wasnt about Offense.
They invented the  
Pete in MD : 1/8/2021 10:38 am : link
late '70s, they invented the prevent offense.
RE: They invented the  
LBH15 : 1/8/2021 10:42 am : link
In comment 15114795 Pete in MD said:
Quote:
late '70s, they invented the prevent offense.


And dusted it off in 2020
"down in front"?  
Enzo : 1/8/2021 10:43 am : link
.
RE: Sacks  
Leg of Theismann : 1/8/2021 10:51 am : link
In comment 15114585 GFiLA said:
Quote:
As a stat


I don't think the Giants came up with that? Are you implying that LT coming into the league and his rookie year was the reason they started counting sacks? If so I'm not sure I would agree-- I think Deacon Jones had like 23 sacks in a season unofficially sometime before they started counting them so why wouldn't they have started counting them after that season?
Phil Simms saying "I'm going to Disneyland" after winning  
markky : 1/8/2021 12:04 pm : link
SB XXI. That was the first.
RE: Phil Simms saying  
Leg of Theismann : 1/8/2021 12:05 pm : link
In comment 15114964 markky said:
Quote:
SB XXI. That was the first.


Yesssss there was a key one missing! Forgot that one!

Man the Giants really have been pioneers for the NFL in so many instances.
first team to play  
Enzo : 1/8/2021 12:08 pm : link
home games in a location other than what's in the name of the team?
these make me smile.  
D HOS : 1/8/2021 12:17 pm : link
Most of these I knew and makes me feel proud.
the DEEEE-FENCE chant started with Giants fans in the '50s  
Greg from LI : 1/8/2021 12:20 pm : link
If I'm not mistaken
RE: first team to play  
Greg from LI : 1/8/2021 12:21 pm : link
In comment 15114968 Enzo said:
Quote:
home games in a location other than what's in the name of the team?


Nah, the Cowboys played in Irving before the Giants left Yankee Stadium.
Jim Burt started the gatorade shower  
mort christenson : 1/8/2021 12:22 pm : link
And yeah, the Bears recently started claiming they did it first but there is no corroborating evidence so yeah.
Thinking back on some of the less than stellar moments ...  
Spider56 : 1/8/2021 12:39 pm : link
Did any team ask their fans to travel 70 miles to home games ?
Did any team do kneel downs before the infamous ‘fumble’ ?
Were there any walkoffs before the Flipper Anderson TD ?
Were we the first to have a plane fly over the stadium with a banner blasting years of lousy football ?


And ... this i stellar ... Was there ever another starting QB named Eli ?

RE: Thinking back on some of the less than stellar moments ...  
Leg of Theismann : 1/8/2021 1:20 pm : link
In comment 15115017 Spider56 said:
Quote:
Did any team ask their fans to travel 70 miles to home games ?
Did any team do kneel downs before the infamous ‘fumble’ ?
Were there any walkoffs before the Flipper Anderson TD ?
Were we the first to have a plane fly over the stadium with a banner blasting years of lousy football ?


And ... this i stellar ... Was there ever another starting QB named Eli ?


I have to imagine there were other walk-off TDs before Flipper Anderson. I mean, the first one that comes to mind is the Colts scoring a TD in the first OT championship game against us lol (that game had a lot of firsts too I believe).

Great point though, Spider, about the fact that the kneel down was never done prior to "the fumble." So in that sense the Giants are responsible for that tradition as well.

I'm about to edit this Wiki article  
Leg of Theismann : 1/8/2021 1:37 pm : link
Where it says:

"In the ensuing sudden-death overtime, the Giants went three-and-out, which included a controversial third-down run by Frank Gifford that was marked just inches short of a first down. After getting the ball back on a punt, the Colts again drove down the field — this time for a touchdown, to win 23–17."

The run was by Charley Conerly, not Gifford.
Wikipedia: 1958_NFL_Championship_Game - ( New Window )
By walkoff, I'm assuming he means when Anderson ran off the field  
Greg from LI : 1/8/2021 1:38 pm : link
into the tunnel without stopping after his touchdown.
RE: I'm about to edit this Wiki article  
Leg of Theismann : 1/8/2021 1:46 pm : link
In comment 15115105 Leg of Theismann said:
Quote:
Where it says:

"In the ensuing sudden-death overtime, the Giants went three-and-out, which included a controversial third-down run by Frank Gifford that was marked just inches short of a first down. After getting the ball back on a punt, the Colts again drove down the field — this time for a touchdown, to win 23–17."

The run was by Charley Conerly, not Gifford. Wikipedia: 1958_NFL_Championship_Game - ( New Window )


Oh I see. There was a run by Gifford that was a controversial non-1st down call. The Gifford controversial call was toward the end of the 4th quarter and failing to get the 1st down there gave the ball back to the Colts allowing them to tie the game. I guess that was the more controversial call.

But, the 3 and out before the Colts got the ball back in OT (which is what they're referring to here) was Conerly on play action rolling right and coming just inches short of the 1st down. It was less controversial it seems but honestly the Conerly play looks like he was pretty darn close too.

Full game below.
Link - ( New Window )
RE: By walkoff, I'm assuming he means when Anderson ran off the field  
Leg of Theismann : 1/8/2021 1:47 pm : link
In comment 15115109 Greg from LI said:
Quote:
into the tunnel without stopping after his touchdown.


Ah I see. Makes sense.
RE: By walkoff, I'm assuming he means when Anderson ran off the field  
Spider56 : 1/8/2021 2:35 pm : link
In comment 15115109 Greg from LI said:
Quote:
into the tunnel without stopping after his touchdown.


Yes ... I remember standing there in shock as he didn’t hesitate for a second, just ran straight to the tunnel without breaking stride ... obviously before the days of selfies.
he didn't even slow down  
Greg from LI : 1/8/2021 2:36 pm : link
It kind of added to the shock of the moment. I remember being totally stunned from that loss. Ended up riding my bike in circles around the neighborhood for hours, I was so upset.
RE: he didn't even slow down  
Spider56 : 1/8/2021 2:43 pm : link
In comment 15115206 Greg from LI said:
Quote:
It kind of added to the shock of the moment. I remember being totally stunned from that loss. Ended up riding my bike in circles around the neighborhood for hours, I was so upset.


Enjoy ...
Link - ( New Window )
RE: RE: first team to play  
markky : 1/8/2021 8:44 pm : link
In comment 15114989 Greg from LI said:
Quote:
In comment 15114968 Enzo said:


Quote:


home games in a location other than what's in the name of the team?



Nah, the Cowboys played in Irving before the Giants left Yankee Stadium.


Correct. Cowboys played in Irving in '71. The Giants played at the Yale Bowl in 73, 74.
Signing players from the AFL.  
St. Jimmy : 1/9/2021 7:31 am : link
The Giants signed Pete Gogolak when his contract expired from the Bills
It led to the leagues competing to sign players.

NFL revenue sharing was Wellington Mara's idea which is a major reason the league is so successful.
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