Among the many different things Mark Collins raised during our podcast with him was the New York Giants fan reaction after the 1988 loss to the 49ers in Week 2.
Collins had handled Jerry Rice all day, but in the waning seconds, Collins was beat by Rice for a long, game-winning touchdown.
After the game, Collins just sat on the bench for about 20 minutes by himself. But up in the stands, he estimated about 20,000 fans stayed with him until he stood up and they all applauded him.
That loss still bothers me. We win that game & we make the playoffs & SF doesn’t. Who knows what happens if we get into the dance?
You and John are killing it with these guests. Great job men.
Still haunted by that one.
I'm not going to link the video because it still makes me sick. But it's easy to find.
But, you might need to be in your mid-70’s to have seen him in action!
I divide the NFL into BTSBE (Before the Super Bowl era) and the Super Bowl era
In the Super Bowl era I think Mark Collins and Mark Haynes are the Giants two best CBs. With Corey Webster and Jason Sehorn honorable mention.
BTSBE Erich Barnes was probably the Giants best CB. For those not familiar with him:
In his career he intercepted 45 passes and ran seven back for touchdowns. He tied an N.F.L. record for the longest interception return for a touchdown when he picked off a pass by the Dallas Cowboys’ Eddie LeBaron in an October 1961 game and raced 102 yards for a score.
At 6 feet 2 inches and 200 pounds, Barnes had good size for a cornerback of his time.
Barnes was voted to the Pro Bowl with the Bears in 1959, with the Giants each season from 1961 to 1964, and with the Browns in 1968. He was selected as a first-team All-Pro in 1961, when he intercepted seven passes, returning two for scores.
“Barnes was tall and lean, and he had a little mean streak in him,” the famously rugged Giants middle linebacker Sam Huff recalled in “Tough Stuff: The Man in the Middle” (1988), written with Leonard Shapiro. “If you caught a ball in front of Erich Barnes, he would make you pay for it. And when you caught something near the sideline, you’d better get way out of bounds because Erich would come after you.”
Barnes joined the Giants in 1961 via a three-way trade in which they sent cornerback Lindon Crow to the Los Angeles Rams.
Coached by Allie Sherman, the Giants won the Eastern Conference title from 1961 through 1963 but lost every year in the N.F.L. championship game, twice to the Green Bay Packers and then to the Bears.
The Giants teams of that era, featuring Andy Robustelli, Dick Modzelewski, Roosevelt Grier and Jim Katcavage on the line, Huff at linebacker, Barnes and Dick Lynch at cornerback and Jim Patton at safety, turned defensive play into a glamorous part of pro football. Quarterback Y.A. Tittle, obtained from the San Francisco 49ers, became a New York celebrity with his brilliant passing.
Barnes intercepted 18 passes while playing for the Giants, and his block of a Packer punt in the 1962 N.F.L. championship game resulted in an end-zone recovery by Jim Collier, giving the Giants their only touchdown in a 16-7 loss.
One of Barnes’s most spectacular plays came when the Giants played the Philadelphia Eagles at Yankee Stadium in November 1961.
Pete Previte, a clubhouse attendant, suggested to the Giant coaches that, when the time was ripe for a long pass, they put some of the fastest players who weren’t normally used on offense into a formation.
Late in the first half, Sherman inserted Barnes and Patton as slot receivers, replacing two running backs, while keeping his regular pass-catchers, flanker Kyle Rote and ends Del Shofner and Joe Walton, in the game. All five headed downfield, and Tittle threw a 62-yard touchdown pass to Barnes. The Giants won the game, 38-21.
After the Giants’ three conference championship seasons, the core of the team began to depart through trades or retirement. After going 2-10-2 in 1964, the Giants traded Barnes to the Browns in August 1965Barnes joined the Giants in 1961 via a three-way trade in which they sent cornerback Lindon Crow to the Los Angeles Rams.
Coached by Allie Sherman, the Giants won the Eastern Conference title from 1961 through 1963 but lost every year in the N.F.L. championship game, twice to the Green Bay Packers and then to the Bears.
The Giants teams of that era, featuring Andy Robustelli, Dick Modzelewski, Roosevelt Grier and Jim Katcavage on the line, Huff at linebacker, Barnes and Dick Lynch at cornerback and Jim Patton at safety, turned defensive play into a glamorous part of pro football. Quarterback Y.A. Tittle, obtained from the San Francisco 49ers, became a New York celebrity with his brilliant passing.
Barnes intercepted 18 passes while playing for the Giants, and his block of a Packer punt in the 1962 N.F.L. championship game resulted in an end-zone recovery by Jim Collier, giving the Giants their only touchdown in a 16-7 loss.
One of Barnes’s most spectacular plays came when the Giants played the Philadelphia Eagles at Yankee Stadium in November 1961.
Pete Previte, a clubhouse attendant, suggested to the Giant coaches that, when the time was ripe for a long pass, they put some of the fastest players who weren’t normally used on offense into a formation.
Late in the first half, Sherman inserted Barnes and Patton as slot receivers, replacing two running backs, while keeping his regular pass-catchers, flanker Kyle Rote and ends Del Shofner and Joe Walton, in the game. All five headed downfield, and Tittle threw a 62-yard touchdown pass to Barnes. The Giants won the game, 38-21.
After the Giants’ three conference championship seasons, the core of the team began to depart through trades or retirement. After going 2-10-2 in 1964, the Giants traded Barnes to the Browns in August 1965.