100 Things Giants Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die Book

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction xiii

1 The Duke and his Dad: The Mara Family Legacy 1

2 Lawrence Taylor vs. LT 7

3 Super Bowl XLII: The Perfect Upset 16

4 The Greatest Play in Super Bowl History 25

5 Birth of a Glory Era: 1956 Champs 31

6 "The Greatest Game Ever Played" 34

7 Bill Parcells 40

8 Super Bowl XXV: Wide Right 49

9 Super Bowl XLVI: Super Rematch 57

10 Super Bowl XXI: Return to Glory 72

11 Emlen Tunnell: The "First Black Everything" 76

12 Frank Gifford 83

13 Sam Huff 88

14 Harry Carson: The Captain 92

15 Among the Eli-te: Eli Manning 97

16 Young Saves Feuding Maras, Giants 105

17 Appreciate Tom Coughlin 109

18 Michael Strahan 117

19 Phil Simms 123

20 The Debacle at the Meadowlands I 128

21 No Holds Bahr-ed: Giants Win NFC Tide Fight 131

22 Ice Bowl II: Tynes Backs It Through 136

23 NFC Champs '86: Long-Suffering Fans Cheer 17-0 Win 140

24 Déjà Blue: Tynes Does it Again 143

25 Jack Mara 151

26 Watch the LT/Theismann Play at Own Risk 154

27 Steve Owen: Setting a Giant Tone 157

28 Mel Hein: The Lou Gehrig of the Giants 161

29 Jim Lee Howell 164

30 If You Leave Me Now: Lombardi and Landry 168

31 "You Can't Kick It That Far!" 171

32 Sam Huff vs. Jim Brown: Winning the East 174

33 Andy Robustelli 176

34 Charlie Conerly: The Marlboro Man 179

35 Y.A. Title: The Giant Who Almost Wasn't One 183

36 Ice Bowl I: Lombardi's Return 188

37 No Tide for Title-Again 191

38 Burress: Making Good on a Super Prediction 194

39 Roosevelt Brown, Hall of Famer 198

40 Bednarik/Gifford: "They Thought Frank Was Dead" 202

41 Chant "DEE-fense!" (Your Predecessors Did It First) 205

42 Ernie Accorsi: The Deal of His Career 206

43 Jerry Reese: Super GM, Pioneer 209

44 Check Out the Title Photo 213

45 Burt, Giants KO Montana, 49ers 214

46 Celebrate with Gatorade (Your Team Did So First) 216

47 Forgive Trey Junkin 217

48 Tiki Barber: The Greatest Giant You'll Ever Boo 221

49 Dick Lynch 227

50 Toomer Gets It Right Before He's Done 230

51 The Sneakers Game Or Was It? 234

52 Yankee Stadium: Do Not Invite Mantles and Giffords to Same Event 238

53 Fourth-and-17 240

54 Bavaro Bowls 'Em Over 242

55 Giants Stadium: Leaving New York 246

56 "The Worst Team to Ever Win the NFC Championship" 250

57 Flipper's Still Running 252

58 For Calloway, No Place to Hidey-Hidey-Hidey-Hide 255

59 Marshall, Martin, and a Giant Journey for 9/11 258

60 Sell PCLs at New MetLife Stadium 262

61 The Linebackers: Brad Van Pelt and Carl Banks 265

62 Good-bye Jim Lee, Hello Allie 270

63 Ray Perkins Bridges the Gap 272

64 Beating the 'Boys: Crunch Bunch Giants Reach Playoffs 275

65 Giants Send Romo Back to the Beach 279

66 The Debacle at the Meadowlands II 283

67 Tarkenton Scrambles In and Out of Town 287

68 Spike a Football (Homer Jones Did It First) 289

69 Not-So-Super Bowl XXXV 291

70 Tisch, Maras Unite and Pass Torch 293

71 The USFL and CFL: Keep One Hall of Famer, Lose One 295

72 Landeta, the Wind, and Da Bears: Oh, My! 297

73 Take a Look at Your Official NFL Game Ball 300

74 Simms Goes Down, Hoss Steps Up 301

75 Joe Morris and Rodney Hampton 304

76 Kyle Rote, Alex Webster, and Joe Morrison 308

77 Simms to…LT? Icons Say Good-bye 311

78 Do Not Throw a Snowball 313

79 Remember the Giants Service Men 315

80 The Babe Ruth of Football 318

81 Gogolak: The Kicker Who Changed the NFL-Twice 321

82 Odd Cancer Coincidences 325

83 Oh, Mann-ingham! What a Catch! 327

84 Hail Manning: Nicks' Big Play 332

85 The Rivals: Teams You Love to Hate 335

86 Drive the Bus, Conduct the Train 343

87 Jeremy Shockey 345

88 What to Think About the Jets 349

89 Bob Sheppard: "Welcome to…"??? 352

90 The Return After the Attacks 353

91 Getting in Line: Tuck, Osi, and JPP 356

92 Leemans, Danowski, Hein, Cuff, and Co. Win '38 Title 359

93 Enjoy a Super Week in 2014 361

94 Salsa Like Victor Cruz 363

95 Imitate Bradshaw's Reluctant Touchdown 367

96 Stop Wondering About Jimmy Hoffa 370

97 Check Out the Legacy Club and Ring of Honor 371

98 Special Teamers to Know 374

99 Go to a Parade 378

100 Remember Donald Thum 379

Sources 383