Picking up where we left off, there are fewer newspaper photos that aren't already available in digital archives, but I do have lot of good prints from training camps and promotional individual player photos from 1935 and early 1936 to share.
The defending World Champion 1935 Giants had a great season, as they won the Eastern Division for the 3rd consecutive season, many of the games were close and decided in dramatic fashion. The most well known game was the November 3-0 win over the Chicago Bears at the Polo Grounds. Ed Danowski assumed the full-time TB (QB in modern parlance) after leading the Giants to the Sneakers Game win in 1934. While he didn't have the big-play explosiveness of his predecessor Harry Newmann, Danowski was regarded as one of the best passers of his era as he often lead the NFL in passing efficiency. Unfortunately the Giants ran into a buzzsaw in Detroit at the NFL Championship Game as the Lions were a powerful team loaded with talent.
1936 was a transitional year as Ken Strong defected to the New York Yankees and Harry Newmann to the Brooklyn Tigers of the second AFL, while some of the older Giants stalwarts moved on to life after football. Late in the year Cal Hubbard was coerced from retirement to help bolster the team which had been beset by injuries. Rookie Tuffy Leemans - the Giants first ever draft pick - led the NFL in rushing but the Giants finished with a mediocre 5-6-1 record.
Ed Danowski training camp 1935
training camp huddle
the great Mel Hein demonstrating his unparalleled snapping technique
rushing through the point of attack
Mel Hein and the diminutive Willis Smith (5'6" 145lbs)
Smith is the last Giant player to wear the #0 on his jersey
Willis Smith
Giants at Green Bay 9/30/35 from the Milwaukee Journal
practice in the Polo Grounds
the great Ken Strong
Giants vs Brooklyn Dodgers 10/13/35
Harry Newman - and you thought players holding out for more money was a recent phenomenon!
Giants vs Chicago Cardinals 10/27/35
Giants vs Chicago Bears 11/3/35
Giants at Philadelphia 12/1/35
Giants vs Pittsburgh Pirates 12/8/35
Ed Danowski training camp 1936
Danowski & Bob Dunlap practice the placement and hold
Kink Richards demonstrating a textbook-perfect drop kick
Mel Hein, Danowski and Bill Morgan
Steve Owen addresses the rookie class
#19 Ewell Phillips flanked by two other rookies (who apparently did not make the team)
Mel Hein greeting the captain of the Eastern College All-Stars before the exhibition at the Polo Grounds 9/8/36
The Giants starting lineup October 1936
Erstwhile Giant Ken Strong in the rival uniform of the AFL's New York Yankees. Strong would spend a year playing for the Jersey City Giants 1937 as penance for jumping leagues, then returning to the NFL's Giants in 1938.
That's all for now. I'll finish up 1936 and be back with more next week.
can you provide an explanation behind the philosophy behind an unbalanced offensive line. We used to employ one on occasion back in my high school days (early 1970s), and I'm still not sure what it was supposed to achieve.... to get the defense to over-commit to one side?
Can you do something like this?
They moved their training camps around every two or three years. They were in Pompton Lakes in 1933 or 1934, moved up to Bear Mountain at some point, then were in Pearl River on the NY/NJ boarder a couple of years. I have a list of their camps somewhere that I can dig up.
I did see Hank Aaron in his first year play at Ebbets Field.
I did see Hank Aaron in his first year play at Ebbets Field.
Talking about the Polo Grounds of course.
I did see Hank Aaron in his first year play at Ebbets Field.
Very true. From the 1920s through WWII the Polo Grounds was considered a premiere venue for football. Prior to the Giants arrival in 1925 teams like the Canton Bulldogs (with Jim Thorpe) would play a game there to create some buzz. Army would play their biggest games of the year against Navy and Notre Dame there as well. Eventually it fell into disrepair and Yankee Stadium became the stadium of choice, despite not being ideally suited for football.
Or at least be able to buy that jersey style somewhere. I have looked at but never found it. But the 1933 NYG jersey is available:
Product Badges New York Giants 1933 Authentic Football Jersey - ( New Window )
Or at least be able to buy that jersey style somewhere. I have looked at but never found it. But the 1933 NYG jersey is available: Product Badges New York Giants 1933 Authentic Football Jersey - ( New Window )
Contrary to popular beleif, those jerseys were red (so were the helmets).
https://www.gridiron-uniforms.com/GUD/controller/controller.php?action=teams-season&team_id=NYG&year=1935