New York Giants (Concept)

New York Giants

CONCEPT

The New York Giants are a football team in the National Football League. They are located in the NFC East Division.

The New York Giants were founded in 1925. Of the five teams that entered the league that year, they are the only one still around. They derived their name from the baseball team of the same name, which has since moved from New York to San Francisco. They represent the New York metropolitan area, which includes parts of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Their home stadium, MetLife Stadium, is located in East Rutherford, NJ. They share this stadium with the New York Jets (Concept). The Giants and the Jets are the only two teams in the NFL to share a stadium and along with the Los Angeles Rams and Chargers, the only ones who share a hometown (though neither team plays in New York).

Lawrence Taylor is arguably the greatest player to ever wear a Giants uniform, having played his whole career with NY from 1981 to 1993.

The Giants have won 8 league championships, the third of all time for NFL franchises. Of them are 4 pre-Super Bowl championships in 1927, 1934, 1938, and 1956, and 4 Super Bowls in 1986, 1990, 2007, and 2011. They have made 19 championship appearances, the most of all NFL franchise. They are the only team to have won a Super Bowl in four consecutive decades. The Giants have also won 16 division titles (8 in the NFL East, 8 in the NFC East).

The Giants' biggest rivalry is the Philadelphia Eagles (Concept). The Eagles and the Giants have been rivals since the Eagles' founding in 1933, almost 40 years before the New York Giants joined the Eagles' division in the NFC East. Fueled by proximity (Philadelphia is located 97 miles from New York), passionate fanbases, and similar rivalries in other sports (Mets-Phillies in the MLB and Rangers-Flyers in the NHL), the rivalry is one of the most intense in the entire league. NFL Network ranked it the #1 NFL rivalry of all time.

The Giants also have a heated relationship with the Dallas Cowboys (Concept). It is the only Texas-New York rivalry in American sports. After a dominant period for the Cowboys in the 1970's, the rivalry has been very competitive with neither team taking a significant win streak.

The Giants have 29 former players in the Hall of Fame, the second most for any NFL franchise. Five Giants have won the NFL MVP award while playing for the team, the most recent being linebacker Lawrence Taylor in 1986. LT is also the most recent defensive player to win the NFL MVP.

Since 2004, the team has been lead by Tom Coughlin. Coughlin, who came to first rose through the ranks as a part of the Bill Parcells coaching tree gained nationwide acclaim for his ability to take the Jaguars to the AFC Championship game in just their third year of existence. Quarterback Eli Manning, who was traded to the Giants on draft day after being selected #1 by San Diego, joined the team the same year. He took over as the starter in 2005, and has amassed the third longest start streak in NFL history since then, trailing only Brett Favre and his older brother Peyton.

Manning and Coughlin both drew scrutiny from the ravenous New York media at the outset of their careers with the team. Eli's high interception numbers combined with the fact that he was the younger brother of one of the best quarterbacks of all time made him a punch-line. Coughlin's stern demeanor and rigorous practices didn't do the team any favors. Amid speculation of Tom's firing, the 2007 made the playoffs and ended up pulling off one of the all-time great sports upsets by taking off the then-18-0 New England Patriots in Super Bowl 42. Similar speculation came about in 2011, following several disappointing late-season collapses. That season, the Giants once again met the Patriots in the Super Bowl, and once again came out victorious.

A former soccer player, Beckham practices these types of catches repeatedly before games.

In the 2014 draft the team selected wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. in the first round. After sitting out the first four weeks with an injury, he emerged as the Giants #1 wideout, replacing the injured Victor Cruz. Following an absurdly acrobatic three-finger TD catch on Sunday Night Football, Beckham Jr. quickly rose to super-stardom. The awestruck commentators quickly labelled it the "catch of the year," and even NBA superstar LeBron James gave Beckham props. He would go on to be voted Offensive Rookie of the Year, earned a Pro Bowl selection, and appeared on the cover of Madden 16. Beckham was eventually traded to the Cleveland Browns.

Since winning the Super Bowl in 2011, the Giants have struggled to maintain consistency. They have only made the playoffs once, in 2016, where they were defeated in their first game by the Green Bay Packers. They have had four head coaches in that span as well. The Giants have not won their division since 2011, and in 2017 they suffered their worst 16-game season ever after finishing with a 3-13 record.

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