The advent of widespread pro football coverage got me hooked on the sport and the NY Giants.
My passion for pro football was born in the winter of 1958, and I remember it well. Inspired by the Giants in the first half, my brother Ted, my cousin John, and I tried to copy the plays of Charley Connelly, the Giants quarterback. John was Alex Webster, and Ted was Frank Gifford, the Giants halfbacks. We then ran the smash-mouth run-driving plays that were so dominant at the time.
I would bend down over an imaginary center, barking out the signal calls of Connelly as my halfbacks lined up to the left and right of me. Hut-hut, I would yell, and then turned to my right, faked a hand-off to Webster as he blocked for Gifford, who got the football stuffed in his breadbasket. Then the three of us would run a few yards, fall on each other to mimic the pile-on, get up, and do it all over again.
It was snowing that day, which made it wet and muddy. John Madden would have been proud of us.
Photo courtesy NY Giants
Back in the house, my father nervously paced the living room. We could see in from the front window that he was trying to coax the Giants to win. I could tell from the quickness of his pace that the Giants were facing a critical point of the game. They were about to win or lose. It was hard to tell the difference.
I didn’t know it then, but I would eventually become all too familiar with that pace and assume it as I grew up a Giants fan. Then television was just beginning to broadcast professional football and the Giants. And that game called “The Greatest Football Game Ever Played” (1958 NFL Championship against the Baltimore Colts) catapulted professional football into what it is today.
It was before cable TV, and my father had to go up on the roof and turn the antenna the other way to get reception. Television and football hooked me to the sport and the Giants. Today, during the season, Giants football has become a cultural part of life in my family on Sunday afternoons.
If the game starts at 1:00 PM, we eat around 5:00 PM. If it starts at 4:00 PM, we eat around 7:00 PM. I prefer the early 1:00 PM start, particularly when the Giants win. The smell of roast beef cooking in the house on a cold autumn Sunday afternoon while the Giants are playing is one of life’s pleasures.
If they win, I can relax, eat, and look forward to enjoying the second game. If they lose so early in the day, the rest of the day is miserable. The second game is also less enjoyable for me because I’m constantly reminded of the Giants’ loss by updates to the other scores during the game.
My brother Ted joins my two sons and me in the “Angst of the Giants Blue.” Together, we have shared the affliction for years. When the boys were young, and the Giants were always losing, it was depressing to be a Giants fan. Ted and I would wish that in those lean years of Giants victories, the Giants could still be in contention for a playoff berth until at least Thanksgiving. We thought it would be great to watch a game during that holiday that would have some meaning.
1962 NFL champion NY Giants
(photo montage courtesy Robert Petszoid on Facebook)
But such was not the case. They would always lose too many games by that time to qualify. Even if they won all the remaining games on the schedule after Thanksgiving, they were always mathematically eliminated. We would suffer through game after game and year after year of losing before the Giants began to win. Ted and I, because of our four-year age difference, didn’t really do much together growing up until we got older, married, and had children. Then we melded and saw each other regularly.
Finally, in the early 1980s, the Giants became respectable. They made the playoffs in 1981 and won Super Bowls XXI and XXV in 1986 and 1990. However, winning didn’t stop the angst. During the road to Super Bowl XXI, when the Giants seemed to be winning at will, Giant fans constantly defended their record. While they were rolling over opponents week after week, critics always questioned their resolve. They were either playing inferior teams, or the ball and breaks were always falling their way.
They maintained that the Giants would certainly fold if they got to the Super Bowl. It didn’t happen. The Giants won convincingly, beating the Denver Broncos 39-20. I was so happy. The angst was gone. The next day, newspapers reported that the Giants won because of an inept Broncos defense. The strong performance of the Giants’ offense in the game was not reported. Reporters chose to focus on the weak defense of the Broncos as the responsibility for the Giants’ victory.
The New York newspapers and media wouldn’t give the Super Bowl champions credit. It was as if the Giants won by default. Regardless, the ebullience of the Super Bowl championship lasted longer than any Giants victory and ended when the angst appeared in the newspapers. The NFL had flourished with its partnership with television. Over the years, certain rule changes and adjustments were made to keep fan interest, which in turn kept sponsor interest and the money in the game.
Giants beat the Bills in Super Bowl XXV (photo courtesy NY Giants)
In the past, fans were becoming bored with the low-scoring defensive struggles that were the hallmark of the old NFL. Touchdowns and more scoring were needed to keep the fans they had and attract new ones. As a result, a new rule allowed wide receivers more freedom to catch passes. The defense could not touch or block a receiver after five yards off the scrimmage line. The rule change led to more catches, which resulted in more offense and touchdowns. Instant replay was introduced to improve officiating so the best team would always win. It was a mistake.
It took too long to make officiating decisions on replay, which added time to a game that was already trying to speed up the process. It was eliminated. Rules to protect the quarterback, rules to protect linemen, and rules to protect running backs were all changed to preserve the game’s safety, integrity, and survival.
Watching and hoping for three hours every Sunday that the Giants will win, I know, has taken years off my life. The euphoria that briefly lasts after the victory never compensates for the long-lasting hangover of the losses. Whether I win or lose, I wish the game that so inspired me to go out and play football instead of watching football on television would have taken control.
