Worst years of Giants football

vivid memories starting in 1956. The team fell off a cliff after the 1963 championship game loss. Everyone seemed to get old at once, bad, bad trades, terrible drafting, bad management that couldn't figure out how the league and the game was changing. There a few bright spots but the franchise didn't start climbing out of the hole until George Young was hired. The worst moment for me was the 1969 pre-season humiliating loss to the ("Dog-Ass") Jets at the Yale Bowl. My father convinced himself the AFL was a minor league and the Jets were a fluke. The totality of that loss to the Jets broke his heart. Unfortunately, he didn't live to see the resurgence during the Parcells years.

I started attending games with my father in 1966. I specifically remember a game in the Meadowlands were people were trying to sell xtra tickets and there were no buyers. So they left the xtra tickets in the windshield wipers. When they came out there were more tickets than what they left. No lie.

Can be Attributed to Horrendous OFFENSIVE LINE PLAY ! I know this position is Not the Sole Reason they lose games, but it has always been a big reason. I mean really, other than Rosey Brown , name someone that has played offensive line for The Giants that is worth hall of fame Mention. Other than a few years of The Surburbanites of The 80's and The Snee's and Seuberts of the middle 2000s this front has been horrible. Name 3 good right tackles from the 60's to now? I can only come up with karl Nelson, Risenberg, and Mckenzie. Those little Toy football player magnets that moved to vibration on the board of that old football game Blocked better.

When The Giants drafted Evan Neal last year, visions of Francis Peay came to my mind. I hope I'm wrong.

In comment 16125722 SoZKillA said:

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years were the worst. In todays NFL which is a year to year/week to week league, we were absolutely sub professional. Gettleman completely ruined this franchise, 2021 was a downright embarrassment. Jason Garrett's 1995 offense, the Walmart cashiers for players, MIKE FUCKING GLENNON.

Yeah, but....at least we went through all that crap with 4 Super Bowl victories in our back pockets. We didnt have that during the 70's run. Really came to appreciate those victories that much more during the dark years that followed.

Clearly we made a deal with the devil in 2007 and doubled down in 2011 (had to, otherwise 2007 wouldn't feel as special). So.. it was the price we had to pay and it was worth it.

But our ledger is clean now. All good.

during the seventies. Its amazing I didn't become a Cowboys fan but sooooo glad I didn't. The 70's really sucked. I still remember watching the Giants beat the Eagles in the playoffs on the road in 1981 from my college dorm room. Couldn't believe it was actually happening.

but for me, the last 10 years are almost equally bad. The primary reason, aside from the obvious recency bias that I acknowledge is at play, is that this is a salary cap era where there is no reason a team should have sustained ineptitude. To have 7 out of 8 losing seasons where the team is hardly competitive in this day and age is truly pathetic. I see some people talking about the 90's, but at least in the 90's, we had some fun teams in 93 and 97, and even the 94 team that was 9-0 (if you take out the middle 7 games hahaha). In 98 we had the nice end of season run including beating the undefeated Broncos. In 99, they were 7-6 after Collins replaced Graham, so there was some hope going forward. From the perspective of Dallas, Washington, and the Niners winning 5 Super Bowls in a row, obviously that sucked, but the post SB46 Giants are definitely among the worst in franchise history, right up there with the 70's.

Once or twice we managed to rise slightly above mediocrity but almost immediately reverted to cellar from whence we came.
There was some entertainment from the likes of Tarkington and Homer Jones and a few others. There were some really good defensive players sprinkled in at times, but never enough to make a real difference.
Remember 1966 and giving up 503 points, 47 or more in 5 different games? The 'Goodbye Allie' sing-along?

Were to me the worst - a GM who had no idea what to do about free agency, a QB who had no business being a NFL QB, and a head coach that wasn't the first choice of the GM.

It didn't turn around until Kerry Collins became the starting QB.

2021 was the worst Giants football I've ever seen in my life.

In comment 16125658 barens said:

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and even though their record won't justify that, the Dave Brown years, and then having to endure the Cowboys success, was a really hard time for Giant fans.

Post 2012 was way worse than that including the Eagles Super Bowl

Kent Graham era
Danny Jones era

In comment 16125697 Giants61 said:

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continued throughout the 70s. Wellington Mara nice guy and all, but he had a very low football IQ. Only when he was "forced" to go outside his comfort level did the team improve. It's the same with John

It was his nephew Tim who fought with him publicly. The NFL stepped in and forced a compromise which led the hiring of George Young. If Wellington Mara was allowed to continue as before he would have hired an old giant player who had no idea of how to be a GM

It really started there and the 70’s were the last leg of the long stretch of losing

In comment 16125695 PatersonPlank said:

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Never Forget!

Excellent

In comment 16125767 stretch234 said:

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For a lot of time in the 70s you weren’t worried about wins that just scoring. Wins were rare as were touchdowns. Tarkenton had said the Giants were the least talented team he was ever on

this

In comment 16125658 barens said:

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and even though their record won't justify that, the Dave Brown years, and then having to endure the Cowboys success, was a really hard time for Giant fans.

The only bright spot then was the defense. And I also enjoyed watching Hampton at RB. They just had no passing game to speak of, at WR or QB.

You know things are bad when you are sitting at home rooting for Mike Cherry and later Danny Kanell to take over at QB.

I know the old farts love to lecture about how everything they went through is the worst but I went to a Giants/Eagles in 1996 at the Vet and my God that Giants team was just pure trash lol Giants were blanked 24-0. I doubt anyone here was at that game. The only one highlight of the game was Sehorn had a nice INT at the end of the game. If not for that essential play, it would have 31-0 Eagles.

Sure, they had championships, but that was before the "real" NFL. The 70s weren't just bad football. There was a lack of hope that there would ever be good football, and the glory years were far in the past.

I grew up listening to my front-running Cowboy and Rams fans cousins talking crap at every holiday. And what could I say? 1956? Garbage.

The current stretch just appears to be a the time between championships, especially with this admin in place. Hope.

In comment 16125722 SoZKillA said:

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years were the worst. In todays NFL which is a year to year/week to week league, we were absolutely sub professional. Gettleman completely ruined this franchise, 2021 was a downright embarrassment. Jason Garrett's 1995 offense, the Walmart cashiers for players, MIKE FUCKING GLENNON.

Yep.

followed by 2013-2021. I leave 2012 off the list because it was a winning season and we were basking in the post super bowl glory that year.

2017-2021 was bad on a special level.

PS putting it all on DG is way too easy and convenient. HE had a lot of help. Mara hired the coaches.

In comment 16125885 djm said:

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followed by 2013-2021. I leave 2012 off the list because it was a winning season and we were basking in the post super bowl glory that year. 2017-2021 was bad on a special level. PS putting it all on DG is way too easy and convenient. HE had a lot of help. Mara hired the coaches.

Yup. That 2017 was an overall putrid year from OBJ getting injured against the fucking Browns in the preseason to the second the scumbag Eagles won the Super Bowl with BBI cheering them on. The only reason why the Giants were not the number one overall pick the following year was because Cleveland went 0-16.

I don't know how the Giants managed to win 3 games all year with that team. Either way, I was at all 3 of those games. Beating the Chiefs was funny. So was beating the Redskins in 3 degree weather.

Also, the whole "never won a Super Bowl" thing shouldn't factor in here. We should just be debating on what years were the worst teams. Winning in 2011 was nice, but it wasn't exactly helping me get through 2017.

Either way, those Glennon/Fromm games were the worst. I seriously think if that team could have played 200 games in a row with that roster after Jones got hurt, they would've won 0 of them.

Only redeemable thing about those games was the Dallas one because the Cowboys were still "struggling" against the Giants with their healthy roster. Dallas offense kept having to settle for FGs against the loser Giants roster that day.

I gave Judge a lashing behind the Giants bench that day in Chicago. Everyone heard it. My sexy booming voice can carry. I was saying things that were not 2020s appropriate either.

Bradberry was laughing his ass off. I said enough. Enough bullshit.

with everyones' comments about the bad years of Giants' football. I want to particularly highlight the 72-41 loss to the Skins at DC Stadium in, I think, 1967. I was in law school at the time, and a friend whose parents had front row 40 yardline tickets invited me to the game so we could insult each other during the game. I remember our view of the game was incredible but I have never been more embarrassed watching the Giants play. The Skins scored every way possible every time they touched the ball-- long passes, short passes, long rums, short runs, etc.. It was as if the Giants were deliberately not trying on defense. Of course, the ultimate humiliation came when, rather than running out the clock at the end of the game, the Skins chose to kick a field goal as time expired. My friend Richard cackled at me for a week after that. One thing I have learned-- the bad times make the good times that much sweeter. Schoen and Dabol will give us great football again.

In comment 16125697 Giants61 said:

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continued throughout the 70s. Wellington Mara nice guy and all, but he had a very low football IQ. Only when he was "forced" to go outside his comfort level did the team improve.

This. Those teams did have some likable players, though. That said, I agree with whoever said above that 2021 under Judge was the lowest point. I actually stopped watching for a while as the team was just unwatchable.

I still bled BLUE. I can remember during the 1970's when Bob Tucker was our excellent TE, and when Joe Pisarcik was our QB, I still loved rooting for them every week. I was also happy that they were in my home state (NJ) at my all time favourite stadium (Giants Stadium).

and in the 70's I was going to the games as a kid. Driving up to Yale to watch them lose games was just an absolute waste of a Sunday

the worst era in Giants history. If you were there you know Nothing, nothing comes close. We've had enough, we've had enough!
-----
However, instead of kneeling the ball, offensive coordinator Bob Gibson ordered Giants quarterback Joe Pisarcik to run play "pro 65 up", which was designed to hand the ball off to fullback Larry Csonka. Pisarcik never gained control of the ball after the snap however, and gave a wobbly handoff to Csonka. "I never had control of the ball" Pisarcik later recalled. It rolled off Csonka's hip and bounced free. Eagles safety Herman Edwards picked up the loose ball and ran, untouched, for a score, giving the Eagles an improbable 19–17 victory. After the game Giants coach John McVay stated "[t]hat's the most horrifying ending to a ball game I've ever seen." This play is referred to as "The Miracle at the Meadowlands" among Eagles fans, and "The Fumble" among Giants fans.

In the aftermath of the defeat, Gibson was fired (the next morning). New York lost three out of their last four games to finish 6-10 and out the playoffs for the 15th consecutive season, leading them to let McVay go as well. Two games after "The Fumble", angry Giants fans burned tickets in the parking lot. Protests continued throughout the remainder of the season, reaching a crescendo in the final home game. A group of fans hired a small plane to fly over the stadium on game day carrying a banner that read: "15 years of Lousy Football — We've Had Enough." Fans in the stadium responded, chanting "We've had enough...We've had enough" after the plane flew overhead. The game had 24,374 no-shows, and fans hanged an effigy of Wellington Mara in the Stadium parking lot.

In comment 16125939 PatersonPlank said:

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the worst era in Giants history. If you were there you know Nothing, nothing comes close. We've had enough, we've had enough! ----- However, instead of kneeling the ball, offensive coordinator Bob Gibson ordered Giants quarterback Joe Pisarcik to run play "pro 65 up", which was designed to hand the ball off to fullback Larry Csonka. Pisarcik never gained control of the ball after the snap however, and gave a wobbly handoff to Csonka. "I never had control of the ball" Pisarcik later recalled. It rolled off Csonka's hip and bounced free. Eagles safety Herman Edwards picked up the loose ball and ran, untouched, for a score, giving the Eagles an improbable 19–17 victory. After the game Giants coach John McVay stated "[t]hat's the most horrifying ending to a ball game I've ever seen." This play is referred to as "The Miracle at the Meadowlands" among Eagles fans, and "The Fumble" among Giants fans. In the aftermath of the defeat, Gibson was fired (the next morning). New York lost three out of their last four games to finish 6-10 and out the playoffs for the 15th consecutive season, leading them to let McVay go as well. Two games after "The Fumble", angry Giants fans burned tickets in the parking lot. Protests continued throughout the remainder of the season, reaching a crescendo in the final home game. A group of fans hired a small plane to fly over the stadium on game day carrying a banner that read: "15 years of Lousy Football — We've Had Enough." Fans in the stadium responded, chanting "We've had enough...We've had enough" after the plane flew overhead. The game had 24,374 no-shows, and fans hanged an effigy of Wellington Mara in the Stadium parking lot.

This was before cable TV was prevalent and there was no TV reception in the apartment in Manhattan where I was living at the time of The Fumble. So, of course, I was listening on radio. Wanted to barf!

In comment 16125941 Del Shofner said:

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In comment 16125939 PatersonPlank said: Quote: the worst era in Giants history. If you were there you know Nothing, nothing comes close. We've had enough, we've had enough! ----- However, instead of kneeling the ball, offensive coordinator Bob Gibson ordered Giants quarterback Joe Pisarcik to run play "pro 65 up", which was designed to hand the ball off to fullback Larry Csonka. Pisarcik never gained control of the ball after the snap however, and gave a wobbly handoff to Csonka. "I never had control of the ball" Pisarcik later recalled. It rolled off Csonka's hip and bounced free. Eagles safety Herman Edwards picked up the loose ball and ran, untouched, for a score, giving the Eagles an improbable 19–17 victory. After the game Giants coach John McVay stated "[t]hat's the most horrifying ending to a ball game I've ever seen." This play is referred to as "The Miracle at the Meadowlands" among Eagles fans, and "The Fumble" among Giants fans. In the aftermath of the defeat, Gibson was fired (the next morning). New York lost three out of their last four games to finish 6-10 and out the playoffs for the 15th consecutive season, leading them to let McVay go as well. Two games after "The Fumble", angry Giants fans burned tickets in the parking lot. Protests continued throughout the remainder of the season, reaching a crescendo in the final home game. A group of fans hired a small plane to fly over the stadium on game day carrying a banner that read: "15 years of Lousy Football — We've Had Enough." Fans in the stadium responded, chanting "We've had enough...We've had enough" after the plane flew overhead. The game had 24,374 no-shows, and fans hanged an effigy of Wellington Mara in the Stadium parking lot. This was before cable TV was prevalent and there was no TV reception in the apartment in Manhattan where I was living at the time of The Fumble. So, of course, I was listening on radio. Wanted to barf!

Yep - think about the fan reaction:
- Mara hung in effigy in the parking lot
- Public ticket burning in the parking lot
- fans funded a plane to fly a banner over Giants Stadium saying "15 years of football, we've had enough
- 24K+ empty seats

Incredible outrage in 1978, way more than anything seen before or since. But then out of the burnt ashes came Parcells, Perkins, Simms, and LT

While 'The Fumble' sucked, long term...it was a boon for the Giants

'The Fumble' was so bad that my old man-the man who made me a diehard-didn't watch a second of the Giants in '79 because he was so disgusted after that game. & to be fair to him, he was in law school.

In comment 16125804 MOOPS said:

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Once or twice we managed to rise slightly above mediocrity but almost immediately reverted to cellar from whence we came. There was some entertainment from the likes of Tarkington and Homer Jones and a few others. There were some really good defensive players sprinkled in at times, but never enough to make a real difference. Remember 1966 and giving up 503 points, 47 or more in 5 different games? The 'Goodbye Allie' sing-along? Agree MOOPS, those were the worst years for me as a Giants fan!

In comment 16125933 DefenseWins said:

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and in the 70's I was going to the games as a kid. Driving up to Yale to watch them lose games was just an absolute waste of a Sunday

I went to every one of those Yale Bowl games in 73. Do you remember that blizzard they played in getting blown out against the Vikings on the last game of the season? Those were some cold seats.

Silly me, my dad also had tickets to the Jets game so he gave me the choice, and of course I wanted to go to the Giants and wouldn’t even consider the Jets game even though that was the game OK made history and broke 2000 yards for the first time ever in the NFL

In comment 16125671 an_idol_mind said:

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2017, where the team started as playoff hopefuls but McAdoo quickly showed that he was out of his depth. The year Eli got benched, the year the Eagles won the Super Bowl. Worst 16-game record in franchise history. Players dogged it, the coaching was an embarrassment, and ownership humiliated the franchise. A complete top-down embarrassment. 2021, with the horrific last two games. Judge's 11-minute diatribe about old players calling him up and asking to come back, the awful quarterback sneaks. Thank goodness 2022 helped get that taste out of my mouth. 2003, with Fassel's uncanny ability to blow games in stupefying ways. The first games were so ridiculously fluky. The kick out of bounds against the Cowboys, the kick in-bounds against the Eagles, the Dolphins game where Bryant got injured and Fassel decided to trot out Feagles who had never kicked a field goal before. Completely non-competitive in the last eight games, including against a Kurt Kittner-led Falcons. Fassel quit two games before the end of the season but for some reason ownership let him coach as a lame duck...probably because there were no other competent coaches left on the staff.

Can we stop rewriting history. Eli was never benched. They wanted to start him and let the other QBs play the second half. Eli didn't want to do that and he chose to sit. HE took himself out of the lineup.

Regardless of whether or not he starts the game.

Eli could have started to preserve his streak but he had more pride than that.

They were in post Super Bowl season let down mode and 9/11 just overshadowed everything. Our offensive line suddenly got old quick and I really don't remember much about that season other than the big win against Kansas City when the games resumed

In comment 16125957 steve in ky said:

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In comment 16125933 DefenseWins said: Quote: and in the 70's I was going to the games as a kid. Driving up to Yale to watch them lose games was just an absolute waste of a Sunday I went to every one of those Yale Bowl games in 73. Do you remember that blizzard they played in getting blown out against the Vikings on the last game of the season? Those were some cold seats. Silly me, my dad also had tickets to the Jets game so he gave me the choice, and of course I wanted to go to the Giants and wouldn’t even consider the Jets game even though that was the game OK made history and broke 2000 yards for the first time ever in the NFL

I dont remember too many details of those games. I was 7yrs old although was a serious fan at that age going to every game.

I remember we were at the last row at the top of that stadium in Connecticut. Then, when the new stadium opened, we had one of the 50 best seats in the new stadium. Still do.

2017 was a particularly disappointing year. You could practically see the last gasps of a professional franchise the year before in the playoff loss. A few games into the 2017, it was clear the Giants had reached full joke status.

I started following the Giants closely in 1968 as a 8 y.o. They did not make the playoffs til I was 21. They didn't win a playoff game til I was 25. From 68-80, they had a grand total of 2 winning seasons. In 7 of those seasons, they lost 10 games or more (out of 14). Nothing that has happened since approaches that long a period of absolutely sucking. (And yet, like many others, I stayed loyal and have been rewarded with 4 seasons of ecstacy as an adult.)

In comment 16125972 jnoble said:

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They were in post Super Bowl season let down mode and 9/11 just overshadowed everything. Our offensive line suddenly got old quick and I really don't remember much about that season other than the big win against Kansas City when the games resumed

They had a tougher schedule than the year before

Brutal seasons, capped with that fumble game. (I remember my brother punching a hole in the bathroom wall that afternoon.) But, you know, I never knew the Giants as winners until my sophomore year in college. (It’s golden, the memory of that playoff win against the Eagles.)

The recent lost seasons have been somehow worse—especially after the highs of those two championships with Coughlin.

Giants were so bad, we were surprised when then completed a pass 66-78 was really bad. I will always love Phil Simms, George Young, Ray Perkins, Bill Parcells, Lawerence Taylor they broke the jinx

In comment 16125951 Bleedin Blue said:

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In comment 16125804 MOOPS said: Quote: Once or twice we managed to rise slightly above mediocrity but almost immediately reverted to cellar from whence we came. There was some entertainment from the likes of Tarkington and Homer Jones and a few others. There were some really good defensive players sprinkled in at times, but never enough to make a real difference. Remember 1966 and giving up 503 points, 47 or more in 5 different games? The 'Goodbye Allie' sing-along? Agree MOOPS, those were the worst years for me as a Giants fan!

Yep.And there’s nothing even CLOSE to that unless it’s pre-1956.
Drafting an Olympic track star (Henry Carr) and pairing him with a CFL and AFL castoff (Clarence Childs) to stop passes over 15 yards was NOT like having Nolan , Lynch, and Patton in the secondary.. Or even me and my bowling ball body back then.

In comment 16125960 k2tampa said:

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In comment 16125671 an_idol_mind said: Quote: 2017, where the team started as playoff hopefuls but McAdoo quickly showed that he was out of his depth. The year Eli got benched, the year the Eagles won the Super Bowl. Worst 16-game record in franchise history. Players dogged it, the coaching was an embarrassment, and ownership humiliated the franchise. A complete top-down embarrassment. 2021, with the horrific last two games. Judge's 11-minute diatribe about old players calling him up and asking to come back, the awful quarterback sneaks. Thank goodness 2022 helped get that taste out of my mouth. 2003, with Fassel's uncanny ability to blow games in stupefying ways. The first games were so ridiculously fluky. The kick out of bounds against the Cowboys, the kick in-bounds against the Eagles, the Dolphins game where Bryant got injured and Fassel decided to trot out Feagles who had never kicked a field goal before. Completely non-competitive in the last eight games, including against a Kurt Kittner-led Falcons. Fassel quit two games before the end of the season but for some reason ownership let him coach as a lame duck...probably because there were no other competent coaches left on the staff. Can we stop rewriting history. Eli was never benched. They wanted to start him and let the other QBs play the second half. Eli didn't want to do that and he chose to sit. HE took himself out of the lineup.

I mean...okay. I'm good with replacing "Eli was benched" with "Eli refused to follow through with McAdoo's plans to tank and treat every remaining game like it was preseason."

In comment 16125676 JimInKgnNY said:

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Was by comparison, but the 60's were pretty bad too. When the great players from the early 60's teams aged out and left, there wasn't much left. Just Tarkenton to Jones. That's when I came on board.

_____________
I was going to include the late 1960s in the Wilderness Years until I looked ta the record. The mid 1960s were bad but only for a few years, mostly because the championship teams got old, and YAT retired with no real replacement. When they got Morrall and then Tarkenton, the record was okay and team was competitive, especially on offense.

In comment 16125804 MOOPS said:

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Once or twice we managed to rise slightly above mediocrity but almost immediately reverted to cellar from whence we came. There was some entertainment from the likes of Tarkington and Homer Jones and a few others. There were some really good defensive players sprinkled in at times, but never enough to make a real difference. Remember 1966 and giving up 503 points, 47 or more in 5 different games? The 'Goodbye Allie' sing-along?

Ray Perkins doesn’t get enough credit. He turned things around. Parcells’s first year was a big step back.

It was fairly obvious he didn’t know what what he was doing and things wouldn’t really improve until he was removed.

His only saving grace was he constructed such poor teams that he got to pick early in the draft each year and we got a few no brainers.

In comment 16126785 ThomasG said:

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It was fairly obvious he didn’t know what what he was doing and things wouldn’t really improve until he was removed. His only saving grace was he constructed such poor teams that he got to pick early in the draft each year and we got a few no brainers.

Who were the 'no brainers'? Not Barkley, Not Daniel Jones, maybe Dexter, but a no brainer should be just that, something that does not require much thinking at all.

Andrew Thomas? Maybe a no brainer position pick, but I don't think he was the no brainer LT pick at the time. Kadarious Toney?

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Ray Perkins doesn’t get enough credit. He turned things around. Parcells’s first year was a big step back.

I think Perkins get a lot of credit and a free pass for walking out in the Giants, unlike Bill Parcells who left after WINNING 2 Super Bowls.

I will always be thankful to Ray Perkins for leading the Giants to the playoffs in 1981 and beating the Eagles in the playoffs. He also hired Bill Belichick. But the 1982 Giants started the season 0-2 before the strike started and finished 4-5. He left Parcells a mess, not a championship team. I think he was just an average HC.

I think his legacy with the Giants is fair. He ended the playoff drought and is remembered fondly for winning a playoff game. That puts him on a short list of NY Giant HCs in the Super Bowl era.

a laughing stock again. It took the worst record in the NFL for 5 years, the worst GM in their history and a HC in so far over his head that he self destructed on the field and in the media before the other 50% of the ownership finally stepped in and restored some sanity and dignity.

The 2012-2021 NY Giants lost weekend was the same nightmare the 1965-1978 NY Giants was for me and IMO for the same reasons.

The Mara brothers were determined to repeat the mistakes of their father and they did. It was deja vu all over again.

The 65-78 lost weekend ended when the other 50% of the ownership put an end to it. The 12-21 lost weekend ended (hopefully with similar results) when the other 50% of the ownership put an end to it. Deja vu all over again.