Former Giants defensive tackle John Mendenhall passed late last week at the age of 72, according to his family. Mendenhall played eight seasons for the team from 1972-79. Link - ( New Window )
Mendenhall played in 116 games over the course of 9 seasons between 1972 and 1980. He had his best year as a pro in 1977, when he recorded 12 sacks and 7 forced fumbles.
lining up directly over the center , like Curley Culp, but struggled when he lined up otherwise . Very good player, who along with Jack Gregory and Brian Kelly , were pretty much it until Brad Van Pelt and Harry Carson arrived .
Sonny Jurgensen always called John ,”Mendinghall.” RIP John . #64 winning battles with cat-like quickness and leverage .
name from childhood. As I was learning the game he was what I learned a DT was. In the 70s all the Giants had was a strong D and he, Kelly, Carson and Van Pelt were the guys that made you feel proud on a woeful team.
Mendenhall was one of the very first Giant players I noticed and would root for. The defense carried the team in the late 1970s and Mendenhall, along with Harry Carson and Brad Van Pelt were exceptional players stuck on a bad team. In one of my media guides, I can't remember which season, it may have been 1976 or 1977, the Giants unofficially credited Mendenhall with 14 sacks for the year, which is an incredibly high number for an interior lineman. Whether that total is officially recognized or not, that speaks to the high caliber of play he brought to the field every Sunday.
12 sacks and 7 forced fumbles in 1977 at defensive tackle.
He was my Dad's favorite defensive player as Bob Tucker was his offensive player as was mine. He was tough and made plays. Agree with if he was on a winning team he would have been a Pro Bowler a few times
was him anchoring the center of the line yet traveling sideline to sideline with deceptive speed to make the tackle.
Dexter is the first Giant to duplicate that ability.
an excellent player on terrible teams. But he was far from the lone bright spot on those defenses. Van Pelt, Carson, Martin, Kelly, Gregory, Archer, Spider all played with Mendenhall. He was as good a NT/DT as Burt and Howard if not better. He was just born 10 years too soon.
2 first rounders, Larry Jacobson and Eldridge Small were busts. Mendy was the only player in that draft who made it with the Giants. They drafted a C from Lehigh, John Hill, in the 6th round. He became a 10+ yr starter with the Saints.
my first Giants' game, and also Craig Morton's first game as a Giant. He was a beast. I remember watching the team load onto a bus in their full uniforms at games end (who knows where they had to go for showers), and remember thinking he was the widest human being I had ever seen.
Also, he really was one of the few bright spots on that 74 D. A lot of the names set forth above came later.
He was awesome when the Giants didn't have a lot going for them
Its true as mentioned above that he did play with some pretty good players but that was at the end of his career here. For most of his career, he played for the Giants when they were a laughingstock franchise; in my opinion, definitely worse than what we have been experiencing these past few years. For most of his career, he was pretty much the only talent on the defense,
I have no recollection of him playing elsewhere but i just read that his last year in the league was with the Lions. How did that happen?
RIP
RIP
Link - ( New Window )
RIP Mendy
Recall Sheppard announcing his name during games a good bit.
RIP...
Sonny Jurgensen always called John ,”Mendinghall.” RIP John . #64 winning battles with cat-like quickness and leverage .
He was one of my first favorite Giants when I was 10-12, in that range. Man, those teams sucked, but he was always right in there. Tough ball player.
Look up his Pro Football Reference page and it's amazing to see he played DT at 6-1, 255.
Sorry to hear he passed. RIP.
May he RIP and prayers for his family
R.I.P. John. We still miss you.
Just didn't follow the team that close during the 70's. Harry Carson and Mark Haynes(?) got all the headlines for me back then ...
But, once a Giant always a Giant.
RIP Mr. Mendenhall
Best commercial of all time
RIP
RIP
Dexter is the first Giant to duplicate that ability.
Yes, I remember that game he almost won it on his own.
They taught you how to watch defense because, well, there was nothing else of value to watch in those years.
RIP #64
Best commercial of all time
I remember that commercial, too. It was very well done and very funny!
Also, he really was one of the few bright spots on that 74 D. A lot of the names set forth above came later.
I have no recollection of him playing elsewhere but i just read that his last year in the league was with the Lions. How did that happen?
RIP to a great player who was severely underrated by the rest of the league.