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New York Giants |
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It was October, 1925 when the Giants took the field to play against the Frankford Yellow Jackets. The Giants lost their home debut by the score of 14-0, but more importantly, the New York Giants and professional football had arrived. Now let’s skip forward about 45 years to the modern NFL If not for the New York Giants, pro football as we know it might not exist. In 1925, the late Tim Mara, now a member of the Hall of Fame, bought a franchise for $500. Before the Giants' first season had ended, Mara had invested another $25,000 to keep the franchise alive. To the NFL, which was still very new and which desperately needed attention, a team in the nation's largest city was an Just how valuable New York was to the NFL was demonstrated late in the Giants' first season. In December, when the Chicago Bears and the newly-signed Red Grange, the most famous football player at the time, came to town, more than 70,000 fans turned out at the Polo Grounds to see the game. The next season, Grange and his agent formed a rival American Football League and placed their flagship team, the Yankees, in New York to battle the Giants head-to-head. It proved to be a costly battle, but the Giants—and the NFL—won. The AFL lasted just one year. In 1927, the Giants' defense, led by tackle Steve Owen, permitted an all-time low of 20 points in 13 games as New York won its first NFL championship. In 1931, Owen became the Giants' coach. In 23 seasons, he had a 153-108-17 record. He still ranks ninth all-time in coaching victories. The Giants enjoyed some of their finest seasons during the Owen years. Beginning with the start of divisional play in 1933, they won eight Eastern division titles in 14 seasons and two NFL championships, in 1934 and 1938. Ken Strong, a triple-threat halfback and a premier placekicker, and Mel Hein, a center-linebacker who didn't miss a game in 15 seasons, were Giants standouts through most of the 1930's and 1940's. Between 1956 and 1963, the Giants won six NFL Eastern championships and one NFL title. Stars like Y. A. Tittle, Frank Gifford, Roosevelt Brown, Emlen Tunnell and Andy Robustelli led New York's annual title chase. From 1964 until 1985, the Giants were never in serious contention for the title. But with Bill Parcells at the helm, and once again led by super defenders like linebacker Lawrence Taylor and lineman Carl Banks, the Giants returned to the winner's circle. New York capped the 1986 season with a win in Super Bowl XXI and the 1990 season with a win in Super Bowl XXV. From their start, the Giants have been a family enterprise. Founder Tim Mara's sons, Jack and Wellington, succeeded him and Tim Mara II served for many years as the club's vice president. Wellington Mara and Preston Robert Tisch, who purchased 50 percent of the club in 1991, are now co-chief executive officers.
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