ALL TIME GIANT TEAMS

[jimv]

Maybe BBH has used this subject before.  But, being Giant History buff, I'd to see what posters would pick for their individual all-Time teams.  A couple of provisos I'd like to make:  It should be a 53 man team made up of players who have been on the Giants only since you've been a fan.  Second, don't try to make decisions based on players playing in "different eras."  We'll assume an even playing field.  Remember these are personal choices; nobody's wrong.  But, you should be able to defend your choices if need be.

As a start, here is my team:

QB - Phil Simms                   DT - Arnie Weinmeister
QB - Charlie Conerly            DT - Rosey Grier
QB - Eli Manning                  DT - Dick Modzelewski
RB - Rodney Hampton         DT - Jim Burt
RB - Joe Morris                    DE - Andy Rosbustelli
RB - Tiki Barber                   DE - Jim Katcavage
RB - O. J. Anderson             DE - Leonard Marshall
RB - Frank Gifford                DE - Michael Strahan
FB - Eddie Price                   LB - Lawrence Taylor
FB - Madison Hedgecock     LB - Harry Carson
TE - Mark Bavaro                LB - Harlan Svare
TE - Bob Tucker                   LB - Carl Banks
TE - Aaron Thomas             LB - Sam Huff
WR - Del Shofner                LB - Brad Van Pelt
WR - Kyle Rote                   CB - Erich Barnes
WR - Homer Jones              CB - Dick LyncBill Austin               
WR Amani Toomer              CB - Harmon Rowe
WR - Earnest Gray             CB - Tom Landry
C - Ray Wietecha               S - Emlen Tunnell
C - Bart Oates                    S - Jimmy Patton
OG - Jack Stroud                S - Carl (Spider) Lockhart
OG - Bill Austin                   S - Otto Schnellbacher
OG - William Roberts          P - Don Chandler
OG - Chris Snee                 PK - Pete Gogolak
OT - Rosey Brown              KR - Dave Meggett
OT - Karl Nelson                 ST - Reyna Thompson
OT - Karl Nelson
OT - Jumbo Elliott
OT - Gordon King

Any comments, questions?  How about seeing your team?

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[LennG]

Jim

 You go back a bit farther than me but I would not change many of your choices.

I would put YA Tittle ahead of all the others, and I wouldn't include Eli on any list, not yet anyway.
At RB, I know what OJ did for us in the SB, but he wasn't an all time great Giants player. I would definitely have Big Red, Alex Webster on my list, and even Tucker Frederickson ahead of OJ, but even he is a stretch.
No argument at Te, and WR seems pretty good, though I was never a fan of Grey. I know you listed Gifford at RB, but I would also include him at WR, as he played there at a very high level also, after he got hurt.
I know you only included 6 LBers, but if we could squeeze a few more in there, as that has always been the heart and soul of our defense, I would love to see Pepper's name there as well as Armstead.
I wasn't around to see Landry play defense back, so i would change that and include Mark Collins.
At punter you have Chandler, I might go for Jennings.
After that, can't argue anything.
 Nice list though.

[jimv]

Lenn, I had YA as my third QB.  And, he could really sling the ball.  But, he never won anything for the Giants.  When Eli came up HUGE in XLII, I changed.  Probably a little ahead of myself on that one.  "Chuckin' Charlie" is on because he was a leader & he flat out won games

I just loved OJ.  I had to put him on.  I DID originally have Webster on the squad.  OJ was a RB, Frederickson was a FB.  I had to go with Eddie Price at FB; GREAT runner.  Landry came to the Giants from the Yankees in 1950 when the AAFC gave up the ghost.  So did Rowe & Schnellbacher.  That was the year that Stout Steve put in the famous Umbrella Defense.  I'm sure Landry had a lot to do with setting that up.  Writers always claimed that when Landry was a player, he was like a coach on the field.  BTW, he could really punt too.  Chandler was really the best punter I've seen on the Giants, especially in clutch situations.  But, as I said, none of us are "wrong" because our picks are strictly personal.

Now, Gifford, who I call "Mr. Giant," was a special case.  Yes, I could've named him as WR too.  I could also have put him as CB because he made all Pro at that position too.  And, he was great on the HB option pass.  As a matter of fact, he was basically the 3rd string QB.

[LennG]

As I said, I can't argue with anything you have written. It's all in how you see certain players. As I said, I will always view YA as the best for the Giants as he was my boyhood idol. I really didn't think that winning a championship had anything to do with making you a great player. I like Eli, but I simply cannot put him on any list of great all time Giants.

 Interesting aspect on things though. We have had several of these threads along the line. We get such differences as to the age group involved. Some have never even seen LT play, so how could they possibly know of what the Giants were about years before. Can you image these fans who basically only know winning Giants football with a few bad spurts in between. None of them ever experienced the 20 years of horrible football we have lived thru.

 As you get to know some of our more know ledgable posters, many will contribute to threads like this. We used to have a young fellow, named Chris Allen, who was a complete authority on anything Giants. Was like a walking encyclopedia of them. He passed away a couple of years ago. Too bad, you would have loved him.

[jimv]

Well, Lenn, this History section is dedicated to him.  So, he must've been some guy!  My hat's off to him.  I know I would've gotten along very well with him.  I LOVE Giants history!

[bamagiantfan]

Nice list and I would echo Lenn's comments about Mark Collins, and I wonder how long before Corey Webster's name appears on that list. Some might argue for Jason Sehorn as well. I also think Maurice Carthon deserves more consideration than Hedgecock to this point.

[LennG]

 Good point Bama. I hadn't noticed that. Hedge has been great, but for what, 2 years, Carthon was great for many more.

[jimv]

GREAT point, bama!   As a matter of fact, I just recently took Carthon off & added Hedge.  I certainly can't come up with a huge argument against you.  Leaving Mark Collins off was a problem.  But, I only have so many slots to fill.  Since I watched him, how could I leave off Landry?