New York Giants in the Pro Football Hall of Fame: The Complete History

How Many Giants Are in the Hall of Fame?

As one of the oldest franchises in the NFL, the Giants lay claim to one of the largest contingents of Pro Football Hall of Famers of any team. The group includes players, coaches, executives and owners. Including the class of 2020, 33 Hall of Famers have ties to the Giants.

The ties to Big Blue are stronger for some Hall of Famers than for others. Seven players in the Hall of Fame spent their entire careers wearing the Giants uniform. The Hall also includes the founder of the Giants, Tim Mara, and his son Wellington Mara, who likewise spent their entire decades-long football careers with the team they owned and loved.

On the other end of the spectrum, the Hall of Fame roster includes seven players who spent only one season or less with the Giants. The Hall of Fame credentials of these players came primarily from the portions of their careers that they spent with other teams.

And then there are numerous other Hall of Famers who spent substantial portions of their careers with the Giants as well as with one or more other teams. Typically, the Hall of Fame associates them with each team when it lists Hall of Famers by franchise.

No matter how long or how short their tenures in New York, they are all among the best of the best, and the Giants proudly claim all of them as part of the Big Blue family. The following table provides a convenient overview of all the Giants in the Hall of Fame.

New York Giants Hall of Fame List

Who Are the Giants Hall of Famers?

Below are profiles of all the Giants Hall of Famers. Each profile starts with the basic facts and highlights of the Hall of Famer’s career with the Giants and continues with a short discussion of his history and pro football contributions.

My focus is primarily on each player’s time with the Giants and the contributions he made to the team. (For example, the highlights list includes only championships and awards won while with the Giants.) But I’ve also taken a look at the player’s overall career, especially in cases when the Giants were a relatively minor part of it.

The profiles are listed in chronological order by year of induction to the Hall of Fame, beginning with the inaugural class of 1963 and continuing to the most recently elected class.

Mel Hein

• Inaugural Hall of Fame class of 1963
• Position: Center
• College: Washington State University, Pullman, Washington
• NFL career (all with the Giants): 15 seasons (1931–45)
• NFL championships: 2 (1934, ’38)
• Pro Bowl: 4 (1938–41)
• All-Pro: 5 (1934–35, 1938–40)
• Awards and honors: NFL Most Valuable Player 1938, Giants jersey No. 7 retired 1963, Giants Ring of Honor class of 2010

A two-way, 60-minute player who played in 170 games for the Giants, Mel Hein was one of the greatest Giants of all time. He was an excellent ball snapper, a powerful blocker on both sides of the ball and a great defender against the pass.

The Giants had a winning record in 11 of Hein’s 15 seasons. They reached the NFL championship game seven times and won it twice. In the 1938 championship season, Hein won the NFL’s first-ever Most Valuable Player award. He was named to the Pro Bowl four times and was a five-time first-team All-Pro.

After retiring as a player, Hein coached for many years on both the college and professional levels. From 1966 to ’69, he served as the supervisor of officials for the AFL and held the same position with the AFC from 1970 to ’74.

Hein was a very deserving inductee to the Hall of Fame’s inaugural class in 1963. He was also named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 1930s.

Pete Henry

• Inaugural Hall of Fame class of 1963
• Position: Tackle
• College: Washington & Jefferson College, Washington, Pennsylvania
• APFL/NFL career: 8 seasons (1920–23, 1925–28)
• Time with the Giants: 1 partial season (1927)

Wilbur “Pete” Henry signed to play with the Canton Bulldogs on the day that the NFL (then known as the American Professional Football Association, or APFA) was organized. He was a 60-minute player: As a tackle, he was a force on the Bulldogs’ line, and he also punted and kicked field goals.

The Bulldogs won two consecutive NFL championships with undefeated seasons in 1922 and ’23. Henry led the 1923 team with 58 points. He also set an NFL record with a 94-yard punt—a record that stood until 1969. He was a four-time All-Pro with Canton.

When the NFL dropped the Canton franchise before the 1927 season, Henry signed with the Giants. He only played in four games for the Giants, though, as the Pottsville Maroons acquired him in a mid-season transaction. He spent the rest of the 1927 season and the full ’28 season with the Maroons before retiring.

Henry was named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 1920s.

Cal Hubbard

• Inaugural Hall of Fame class of 1963
• Position: End
• College: Centenary College, Shreveport, Louisiana; Geneva College, Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania
• NFL career: 9 seasons (1927–33, 1935–36)
• Time with the Giants: 3 seasons (1927–28, plus part of the ’36 season)
• NFL championship with the Giants: 1 (1927)
• All-Pro as a Giant: 1 (1927)

In 1927, Robert “Cal” Hubbard’s first season, the Giants became a defensive powerhouse. They recorded 10 shutouts and allowed only 20 points in the entire season as they won their first NFL championship. Hubbard played a second season in New York, but he disliked the big city and requested a trade to Green Bay. With the Packers, Hubbard switched from end to tackle and anchored another strong defensive line, helping the Packers win three NFL titles in his first three years with the team. He was named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 1920s.

After his retirement, Hubbard worked as a baseball umpire in the American League. To date, he is the only person who has been inducted into both the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Tim Mara

• Inaugural Hall of Fame class of 1963
• Position: Founder/owner
• NFL career (all with the Giants): 34 seasons (1925–58)
• NFL championships: 4 (1927, ’34, ’38, ’56)
• Honors and awards: Giants Ring of Honor 2010

Tim Mara bought the Giants franchise in 1925 for $500. At the time, college football was a far bigger draw than the professional version. The NFL viewed a New York franchise as key to increasing the league’s popularity. In the Giants’ first season, however, attendance was poor and the Giants were losing money until former college star Red Grange and the Chicago Bears came to town for a December game. That game attracted a huge crowd, and Mara made up his losses.

Although the team lost money again in 1926, the Giants were gaining more fans. When they won their first NFL championship with an 11-1-1 record in 1927, they established themselves as a popular draw in New York.

Mara guided the team for more than three decades, during which the Giants won four NFL championships. As the owner of one of the NFL’s most important franchises, he played a prominent role in building up the league and fighting off several rivals while strengthening the Giants franchise. For the Giants and the NFL, Mara’s legacy lives on.

Jim Thorpe

• Inaugural Hall of Fame class of 1963
• Position: Halfback, coach
• College: Carlisle Indian Industrial School, Carlisle, Pennsylvania
• APFA/NFL career: 12 seasons as a player (1920–26, ’28) and coach (1920–23)
• Time with the Giants: 1 partial season (1925)

Jim Thorpe gained worldwide fame by winning gold medals in the pentathlon and decathlon in the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden. He was the first Native American to win an Olympic gold medal for the United States. In 1913, however, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) stripped his medals from him after he was found to have violated the IOC’s strict rules on amateurism. But this did nothing to diminish his fame.

Thorpe was an exceptionally talented athlete, and he made an easy transition into the professional ranks in both baseball and football. Beginning in 1915, he played football for the Canton Bulldogs in the Ohio League. When the Bulldogs joined the new APFA (later the NFL) in 1920, Thorpe remained with the team as a player-coach. He also served nominally as the league’s first president.

Thorpe signed with the Giants in 1925, their first season, but he played only three games with the team, and no statistics survive. In his eight seasons in the APFA/NFL, he played in a total of 52 games. He was selected to the league’s first official All-NFL team in 1923, and in 1969, he was named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 1920s. He has been consistently listed at or near the top of most lists of the greatest athletes of the 20th century.

Joe Guyon

• Hall of Fame class of 1966
• Position: Halfback
• College: Carlisle Indian Industrial School, Carlisle, Pennsylvania; Georgia Tech, Atlanta, Georgia
• APFA/NFL career: 8 seasons (1919–25, ’27)
• Time with the Giants: 1 season (1927)
• NFL championship with the Giants: 1 (1927)

Joe Guyon, a Native American from the Chippewa Tribe, began his professional football career in 1919 with the Canton Bulldogs in the Ohio League. He stayed with the Bulldogs in 1920 for their inaugural season in the new APFA, which became the NFL in 1922. He then played with five other NFL teams over the next several years before joining the Giants for the 1927 season.

Guyon was a multifaceted offensive threat for the Giants in 1927 as they won their first NFL championship with an 11-1-0 record. Besides being elected to the Hall of Fame, Guyon was named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 1920s.

Arnie Herber

• Hall of Fame class of 1966
• Position: Quarterback
• College: University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin; Regis College, Denver, Colorado
• NFL career: 13 seasons (1930–40, 1944–45)
• Time with the Giants: 2 seasons (1944–45)

Arnie Herber threw a touchdown pass in his first NFL game with the Packers in 1930, and he went on to be a dominant passer for the next decade. He led the NFL in passing in three of the first five years in which the league kept statistics. He also led the Packers to four NFL championships during the decade. He was a first-team All-Pro in 1932 and a Pro Bowl selection in 1939.

Herber retired before the 1941 season, but with NFL rosters depleted during World War II, he came back in 1944 to play for the Giants. He led New York to the championship game, but they lost to his old team, the Packers. He played for the Giants for one more season before retiring again, this time for good.

In his career, Herber completed 481 passes for 8,041 yards with 81 touchdowns. He was named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 1930s.

Steve Owen

• Hall of Fame class of 1966
• Position: Tackle, coach
• College: Phillips University, Enid, Oklahoma
• NFL career: 32 seasons as a player (1924–31, ’33) and coach (1931–53, 1956–57)
• Time with the Giants: 28 seasons as a player (1926–31, ’33) and coach (1931–53)
• NFL championships with the Giants: 3 (1927 as a player, ’34 and ’38 as head coach)
• First-Team All-Pro with the Giants: 1 (1927)
• Honors and awards: Sporting News Coach of the Year 1950

Steve Owen was a Giant for 28 seasons, starting as a player in 1926 and ending as the team’s longest-tenured and winningest head coach in 1953. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a coach, but he was also an excellent tackle in his playing days. He was a first-team All-Pro in 1927, helping the Giants win their first NFL championship with an 11-1-0 record as they outscored their opponents 197 to 20. The Hall of Fame recognized Owen’s prowess as a player by naming him to the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 1920s.

In 1930, the Giants named Owen a co-coach with Benny Friedman. He was named the sole head coach in 1931, although he continued to play that season. Beginning in 1932, he devoted his full time to his coaching duties, except for a one-game return to the field in the 1933 season. The Giants lost the 1933 playoff game to determine the NFL championship, but they won the championship in 1934 in the famous “Sneakers Game.”

Among Owen’s most significant innovations as a head coach were the development of the A-formation offense, the “umbrella” defense featuring four defensive backs, and the two-platoon system. During Owen’s two-plus decades at the Giants’ helm, the team posted a regular-season record of 153-100-17 and won eight divisional championships and two NFL titles.

After his career with the Giants, Owen worked briefly as an assistant coach with the Eagles and a head coach for several teams in the Canadian Football League, but his legacy was as a Giant.

Ken Strong

• Hall of Fame class of 1967
• Position: Fullback, kicker
• College: New York University, New York, New York
• NFL career: 12 seasons (1929–35, ’39, 1944–47)
• Time with the Giants: 8 seasons (1933–35, ’39, 1944–47)
• NFL championship with the Giants: 1 (1934)
• All-Pro with the Giants: 1 (1933)
• Awards and honors: Giants jersey No. 50 retired 1947, Giants Ring of Honor class of 2010

Ken Strong was a multi-talented player who excelled in all aspects of the game: passing, running, catching, blocking, kicking, punting and defense. Many observers called him the greatest football player of his era. In 1928, as a collegiate player at New York University, he led the nation in scoring and was a consensus All-American.

Strong began his NFL career in 1929 with the Staten Island Stapletons, where he was twice named an All-Pro. Joining the Giants for the 1933 season, he led the NFL in scoring and was again selected as an All-Pro. He gained fame in the 1934 NFL championship game when he scored 17 points, including two touchdown runs in the fourth quarter, to lead the Giants to a come-from-behind win over the Bears.

Strong’s career included three separate stints with the Giants. He left the team in 1936 to play in the rival American Football League (the “second” AFL) and was temporarily barred from the NFL as a result. He returned to the Giants as a placekicker for the 1939 season before retiring due to illness in 1940. With wartime rosters depleted, he came out of retirement in 1944 and spent four more seasons with the Giants as one of the top placekickers in the league.

The Giants retired Strong’s No. 50 jersey after his retirement in 1947 and selected him for the Ring of Honor in the inaugural 2010 class. In addition to his Hall of Fame induction, Strong was named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 1930s.

Emlen Tunnell

• Hall of Fame class of 1967
• Position: Defensive back, safety
• College: Toledo University, Toledo, Ohio; University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
• NFL career: 14 seasons (1948–61)
• Time with the Giants: 11 seasons (1948–58)
• Stats with the Giants: 74 interceptions, 1,240 interception return yards
• NFL championship with the Giants: 1 (1956)
• Pro Bowl as a Giant: 8 (1950–57)
• All-Pro as a Giant: 4 (1951, ’52, ’55, ’56)
• Honors and awards: Giants Ring of Honor class of 2010

Emlen Tunnell was the first African American to play for the Giants, and in 1967, he became the first African American to be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Tunnell was a key component of the Giants’ 4-1-6 “umbrella defense” that was designed to shut down the opponent’s passing game. In his 11 seasons with the Giants, he became known as the team’s “Offense on Defense.” He intercepted 74 passes, which he returned for 1,240 yards and four touchdowns. He also recorded 2,206 yards on punt returns and 1,215 yards on kick returns. In 1952, Tunnell gained 924 yards on interceptions, kick returns and punt returns—more yards than the league’s leading rusher.

Tunnell was traded to Green Bay in 1959, and he played for the Packers for three years. When he retired, he held the NFL records for interceptions, interception return yards, kick return yards and punt return yards. After his playing career, he worked as a special assignment coach, scout and defensive backs coach for the Giants from 1963 to ’74. In addition to his 1967 induction to the Hall of Fame and his 2010 induction to the Giants Ring of Honor, Tunnell was selected to NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 1950s.

Hugh McElhenny

• Hall of Fame class of 1970
• Position: Halfback
• College: University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
• NFL career: 13 seasons (1952–64)
• Time with the Giants: 1 season (1963)

Hugh McElhenny spent only one season with the Giants near the end of his time in the NFL, and it is fair to say that he compiled his Hall of Fame credentials earlier in his career. His career began with a phenomenal rookie season with the 49ers in 1952. He was named a first-team All-Pro and selected to the Pro Bowl in both 1952 and ’53, and he added four more Pro Bowls to his resume in subsequent years.

When McElhenny joined the Giants in 1963, he was reunited with Y.A. Tittle, his quarterback from his years with the 49ers. He played well as a backup and realized a lifelong dream by playing in his first NFL championship game. Although the Giants lost to the Bears, McElhenny recorded 107 combined yards via rushing, receiving and punt and kick returns.

In tribute to his success with the 49ers earlier in his career, McElhenny was named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team for the 1950s.

Andy Robustelli

• Hall of Fame class of 1971
• Position: Defensive end, coach, executive
• College: Arnold College, Milford, Connecticut
• NFL career: 14 seasons as a player (1951–64) and coach (1962–64), 5 seasons as an executive (1974–78)
• Time with the Giants: 9 seasons as a player (1956–64) and coach (1962–64), 5 seasons as director of operations (1974–78)
• NFL championships with the Giants: 1 (1956)
• Pro Bowl as a Giant: 5 (1956, ’57, 1959–61)
• First-Team All-Pro as a Giant: 3 (1956, ’59, ’60)
• Honors and awards: Bert Bell Award for NFL’s Player of the Year 1962, Giants Ring of Honor 2010

Andy Robustelli joined the Giants in 1956 via a trade with the Rams in exchange for the Giants’ first-round draft pick. In five seasons with the Rams, he was a two-time Pro Bowl selection and a two-time first-team All-Pro.

Robustelli’s trade to New York helped invigorate the defense, and the Giants won the NFL championship for the first time since 1938. The Giants continued their winning ways for the next seven seasons, winning Eastern Division titles in 1958, ’59, ’61, ’62 and ’63. Robustelli was selected to five Pro Bowls in his first six years as a Giant and was voted a first-team All-Pro in four of those seasons.

Robustelli was smart, fast and strong. He was an exceptional pass rusher. He most likely would have been credited with numerous sacks if sacks had been recorded at that time. He was a team leader with a great work ethic and did not miss a game in any of his nine seasons with the Giants.

In his last three seasons as a player, Robustelli also served as the Giants’ defensive coordinator. He retired as both a player and a coach after the 1964 season, but he returned to the Giants for five years in the mid-1970s as the team’s director of operations. His 1971 induction to the Hall of Fame recognized his outstanding career as a player, but his contributions to the Giants extended well beyond his playing career.

Y.A. Tittle

• Hall of Fame class of 1971
• Position: Quarterback
• College: Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
• AAFC/NFL career: 17 seasons (1948–64)
• Time with the Giants: 4 seasons (1961–64)
• Stats with the Giants: 731 completions for 10,439 yards and 96 touchdowns
• Pro Bowl with the Giants: 3 (1961–63)
• First-Team All-Pro with the Giants: 2 (1962, ’63)
• Honors and awards: MVP awards 1961–63, Giants jersey No. 14 retired 1965, Giants Ring of Honor class of 2010

Y.A. Tittle was one of the greatest quarterbacks in Giants history despite playing only the last four seasons of his long career in New York. He started his career with the Colts in 1948, when they were in the AAFC. After three years in Baltimore, Tittle joined the 49ers. He was a popular and successful quarterback for 10 years with the 49ers, throwing for over 16,000 yards. He was selected to four Pro Bowls and one first-team All-Pro team, but San Francisco never reached the NFL championship game during his tenure.

The Giants traded for Tittle before the 1961 season, intending to platoon him with veteran Charlie Conerly. But Tittle soon established himself as the regular starter. He led the Giants to the Eastern Division championship in each of his first three seasons, but the Giants lost the NFL championship game each time. Tittle had the finest season of his career in 1963 at the age of 37, completing a league-best 60.2 percent of his passes for 3,145 yards and 36 touchdowns. His 36 touchdowns set an NFL record, and the total is still a Giants record.

Title’s play earned him Pro Bowl and MVP honors every year from 1961 to ’63, and he was also named a first-team All-Pro in 1962 and ’63. After a disappointing season in 1964, when his effectiveness was limited by injury, Tittle retired with a well-earned place among the all-time great Giants.

Rosey Brown

• Hall of Fame class of 1975
• Position: Offensive tackle
• College: Morgan State College, Baltimore, Maryland
• NFL career (all with the Giants): 13 seasons (1953–65), plus many additional years as a coach and scout
• NFL championships: 1 (1956)
• Pro Bowl: 9 (1955–60, ’62, 1964–65)
• First-Team All-Pro: 6 (1958–59, 1961–62)
• Honors and awards: NFL Lineman of the Year 1956, Giants Ring of Honor class of 2010

Roosevelt “Rosey” Brown was a starting offensive tackle for the Giants for his entire 13-year career. He was unusually fast and agile for a lineman, relying on speed and technique as well as strength. He was a great blocker who excelled in protecting the pass as well as in leading sweeps for Frank Gifford and the rest of the Giants backfield.

Brown was a key member of the Giants during one of the team’s most successful eras. In the eight years from 1956 to ’63, the Giants put together an overall 73-25-4 record and won their division six times. In 1956, when they won the NFL championship, Brown was voted the NFL’s Offensive Lineman of the Year.

After retiring as a player, Brown joined the Giants’ coaching staff as assistant offensive line coach. He was promoted to offensive line coach in 1969 and later served as a scout. His overall career with the Giants extended for over 50 years. In 1969, he was named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 1950s.

Ray Flaherty

• Hall of Fame class of 1976
• Positions: End, coach
• College: Washington State College, Pullman, Washington; Gonzaga University, Spokane, Washington
• NFL/AAFC career: 8 seasons as a player (1927–29, 1931–35), 11 seasons as a coach (1936–42, 1946–49)
• Time with the Giants: 7 seasons as a player (1928–29, 1931–35)
• NFL championship with the Giants: 1 (1934)
• All-Pro as a Giant: 3 (1928–29, ’32)
• Awards and honors: Giants jersey No. 1 retired 1935

Ray Flaherty spent most of his playing career with the Giants. He was an outstanding end and was named a first-team All-Pro three times. In 1932, he led the NFL in receptions, receiving yards, receiving touchdowns, yards per reception and yards per game. When he retired as a player, the Giants retired his No. 1 jersey.

In 1936, after retiring as a player, Flaherty became the head coach of the Washington Football Team for their last season in Boston. He continued to coach them for six more seasons after their move to Washington and led them to an overall record of 80-37-5, with NFL championships in 1937 and ’42. He is credited with introducing the behind-the-line screen pass and a two-platoon offense with distinct passing and rushing units. His Hall of Fame induction primarily honors his coaching career.

Frank Gifford

• Hall of Fame class of 1977
• Position: Halfback, flanker
• College: Bakersfield Junior College, Bakersfield, California; University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
• NFL career (all with the Giants): 12 seasons (1952–60, 1962–64)
• Career stats: 9,862 total combined yards, including 3,609 yards rushing and 367 receptions for 5,434 yards; 78 touchdowns and 484 total points
• NFL championships: 1 (1956)
• Pro Bowl: 8 (1963–59, ’63)
• First-Team All-Pro: 4 (1955–57, ’59)
• Honors and awards: NFL Player of the Year 1956, Giants No. 16 jersey retired 2000, Giants Ring of Honor class of 2010

Frank Gifford was an exceptionally versatile player who excelled at several positions. In the course of his 12-year career, which he spent entirely with the Giants, he was selected to the Pro Bowl at three different positions. He began his Giants career in 1952 as a defensive back, but beginning in 1954, he primarily played running back under offensive coordinator Vince Lombardi, with some additional time on special teams.

Statistically, Gifford’s best year was 1956, when he led the league with 1,422 total yards from scrimmage. He led the Giants in scoring with 65 points on five rushing touchdowns, four receiving touchdowns, eight extra points and one field goal. He won the NFL MVP Award and was a key player in the Giants’ NFL championship season.

Gifford suffered a severe head injury in a game against the Eagles in the 1960 season and was forced to retire. He missed the entire 1961 season, but in ’62, he rejoined the Giants as a flanker and played for three more years at this new position. Always a great pass-catcher, he was so successful in his new role that he was selected to his eighth Pro Bowl in 1963.

After his retirement, Gifford embarked on a new career as a sports broadcaster. He was part of the ABC network’s Monday Night Football broadcasting team for 27 years. In 1969, Gifford was named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 1950s.

Tuffy Leemans

• Hall of Fame class of 1978
• Position: Fullback, tailback, coach
• College: University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon; George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
• NFL career (all with the Giants): 9 seasons as a player (1936–43) and coach (1943–44)
• Career Stats: 3,132 rushing yards, 2,318 passing yards, 422 receiving yards, 25 passing touchdowns, 20 rushing and receiving touchdowns
• NFL championships: 1 (1938)
• Pro Bowl: 2 (1938, ’41)
• First-Team All-Pro: 2 (1936, ’39)
• Honors and awards: Giants jersey No. 4 retired 1940, Giants Ring of Honor class of 2010

Alphonse “Tuffy” Leemans was a versatile player who compiled great offensive stats as a fullback and tailback and also played outstanding defense. In his eight-year playing career with the Giants, he recorded 3,554 yards from scrimmage with 20 touchdowns and added 2,318 passing yards with 25 passing touchdowns. He also recorded 339 yards on punt and kickoff returns.

In his rookie season, Leemans led the NFL in rushing with 830 yards on 206 carries, with an average of 69.2 yards per game. He was one of the leading players in the league for virtually his entire career, receiving first- or second-team All-Pro honors every year from 1936 to ’42. The Giants reached the NFL championship game four times during his career, winning it in 1938.

Leemans decided to retire after the 1942 season but then opted to come back for the ’43 season as a player-coach. He continued with the Giants as a non-playing backfield coach in 1944 before retiring from football.

In 1969, Leemans was named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 1930s.

Red Badgro

• Hall of Fame class of 1981
• Position: End
• College: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
• NFL career: 9 seasons (1927–28, 1930–36)
• Time with the Giants: 6 seasons (1930–35)
• NFL championships with the Giants: 1 (1934)
• All-Pro with the Giants: 3 (1931, 1933–34)

Morris “Red” Badgro was the starting two-way left end for the Giants for six seasons, from 1930 to ’35. On defense, he was an excellent tackler who made numerous big plays. On offense, not only was he a highly-regarded, dependable blocker, but he was also a sure-handed receiver. In 1934, he tied for the league lead with 16 receptions.

Badgro began his NFL career in 1927 with the Yankees but retired after one game in 1928 to play professional baseball. He returned to the NFL in 1930 as a free agent with the Giants. He became one of the Giants’ most honored stars of his era and was named to All-NFL teams in 1931, ’33 and ’34.

The Giants finished first in the league in Badgro’s last three seasons with the team. In 1933, the NFL adopted a playoff game format to determine the league champion, and the Giants played in each of the first three championship games. Badgro had the distinction of scoring the first touchdown in an NFL championship game when he scored on a 29-yard pass from Harry Newman in the 1933 game.

Sam Huff

• Hall of Fame class of 1982
• Position: Linebacker
• College: West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia
• NFL career: 13 seasons (1956–69)
• Time with the Giants: 8 seasons (1956–63)
• NFL championship with the Giants: 1 (1956)
• Pro Bowl as a Giant: 4 (1958–61)
• All-Pro as a Giant: 2 (1958–59)
• Honors and awards: Giants Ring of Honor class of 2010

Sam Huff was a lineman at West Virginia University, but in his rookie year with the Giants, defensive coordinator Tom Landry switched him to linebacker in his new 4–3 defense. Huff excelled at the middle linebacker position and helped lead the Giants to the 1956 NFL championship, the team’s first championship since 1938.

Huff was renowned for his hard-hitting tackles, along with his speed and great football instincts. In eight seasons with the Giants, he had 18 interceptions and recovered 11 fumbles. He was an inspirational team leader on and off the field.

The Giants had a winning record in each of Huff’s eight seasons and won their division six times. Huff’s trade to Washington before the 1964 season marked the beginning of a playoff drought for New York that lasted until 1981.

Huff continued his outstanding play for five seasons with Washington. He was selected for his fifth Pro Bowl in 1964, and he added 12 more interceptions and six more fumble recoveries to his career totals. In addition to his inductions to the Hall of Fame and the Giants Ring of Honor, Huff was named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 1950s in recognition of his achievements with the Giants.

Arnie Weinmeister

• Hall of Fame class of 1984
• Position: Defensive tackle
• College: University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
• AAFC/NFL career: 6 seasons (1948–53)
• Time with the Giants: 4 seasons (1950–53)
• Pro Bowl with the Giants: 4 (1950–53)
• First-Team All-Pro with the Giants: 4 (1950–53)

Arnie Weinmeister played with the Yankees in the AAFC for two seasons before joining the Giants for four seasons beginning in 1950. His six-year professional football career is one of the shortest among players elected to the Hall of Fame. (The six years include only his American pro career. He also played for the B.C. Lions in the Canadian Football League for two years after leaving the Giants.)

Weinmeister was bigger than most other players of his era, but he was also exceptionally fast and agile, with great ability to read plays. He was a two-way player with the Yankees but was used solely on defense with the Giants. He became the dominant defensive tackle of the early 1950s, excelling especially as a pass rusher.

Weinmeister was selected to the Pro Bowl in each of his four years with the Giants. He was also named a first-team All-Pro every year, as he was in 1949 with the Yankees. He served as co-captain of the Giants in his last season and was one of the first defensive players to become a fan favorite.

Fran Tarkenton

• Hall of Fame class of 1986
• Position: Quarterback
• College: University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia
• NFL career: 18 seasons (1961–78)
• Time with the Giants: 5 seasons (1967–71)
• Pro Bowl with the Giants: 4 (1967–70)

Fran Tarkenton played with the Giants for five seasons in the middle of his career, after spending his first six seasons with the Vikings and before returning to Minnesota in 1972 for seven more seasons.

Tarkenton played well for the Giants and was selected to the Pro Bowl in each of his first four seasons. He passed for 13,905 yards as a Giant, with 103 touchdowns. He was also an effective scrambler, gaining 1,126 yards on the ground with 10 rushing touchdowns. Unfortunately, the Giants had little team success during his tenure, with only one winning season and no playoff appearances.

Tarkenton made his real mark with the Vikings, especially during his second stint with Minnesota after he left the Giants. He led the Vikings to the playoffs five times in seven years, including three Super Bowl appearances. He was selected to three more Pro Bowls. In 1975, he received the Bert Bell Player of the Year Award and multiple MVP awards and was named a first-team All-Pro.

Larry Csonka

• Hall of Fame class of 1987
• Position: Fullback
• College: Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York
• AFL/NFL career: 11 seasons (1968–74, 1976–79)
• Time with the Giants: 3 seasons (1976–78)
• Stats with the Giants: 1,344 yards rushing, 11 touchdowns

Larry Csonka was a valuable and productive member of the Giants during his three-season tenure from 1976 to ’78. Unfortunately, the team finished last in the NFC Eastern Division in each of those seasons, continuing the dismal performance that characterized their play for most of the ’70s.

Before coming to the Giants, Csonka was a five-time Pro Bowl selection and a two-time All-Pro in seven seasons with the Dolphins. He was an integral part of the Dolphins’ vaunted rushing attack that took Miami to three consecutive Super Bowls, with wins in the last two. Csonka rushed for a career-best 1,117 yards in 1972 as the Dolphins completed a perfect season by winning Super Bowl VII. His performance in Super Bowl VIII earned him Super Bowl MVP honors.

In 1979, after leaving the Giants, Csonka returned to the Dolphins for one final season. He scored a personal-best 13 touchdowns and was named the NFL Comeback Player of the Year.

Don Maynard

• Hall of Fame class of 1987
• Position: Wide receiver
• College: Texas Western College of The University of Texas, El Paso, Texas
• NFL/AFL career: 15 seasons (1958, 1960–73)
• Time with the Giants: 1 season (1958)

Maynard played in 12 games with the Giants as a rookie, being used primarily as a kick and punt returner. Released after the season, he spent the next year in the CFL. In 1960, he became the first player to sign with the New York Titans of the AFL. He played for the Titans (later the Jets) for 13 years and became a primary passing target for quarterback Joe Namath. He was a key component of the Jets’ Super Bowl III championship team.

In 1967, Maynard led the AFL with 1,434 receiving yards, and in 1969, he became the first player to record 10,000 receiving yards for his career. He was a four-time Pro Bowl selection and was an All-Pro in 1969.

Maynard signed with the St. Louis Cardinals for the 1973 season and saw limited action before retiring. He finished his career with 633 receptions for 11,834 yards and 88 touchdowns. He was named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 1960s.

Tom Landry

• Hall of Fame class of 1990
• Position: Defensive back, punter, coach
• College: University of Texas, Austin, Texas
• AAFC/NFL career: 7 seasons as a player (1949–55), 35 seasons as a coach (1954–88)
• Time with the Giants: 10 seasons as a player (1950–55) and coach (1954–59)
• NFL Championship with the Giants: 1 (1956)
• Pro Bowl as a Giant: 1 (1954)
• All-Pro as a Giant: 1 (1954)

Tom Landry’s fame is definitively linked to his 29-year tenure as the head coach of the Cowboys, where he compiled as 270-178-6 record, including postseason games. But he started his professional career in New York and spent significant time with the Giants.

In 1949, he played for the Yankees of the short-lived All-America Football Conference (AAFC). When the AAFC folded after the season and the Yankees were disbanded, the Giants signed Landry. He played six seasons with Big Blue as a defensive back and punter, twice leading the league in punting yardage.

Under coach Steve Owen, Landry got a taste of coaching as a de facto assistant for the Giants defense. In 1954, Landry officially became a player-coach when new head coach Jim Lee Howell appointed him the defensive coordinator. The innovative Landry created the 4–3 defense, and the Giants’ defensive unit became one of the strongest in the league. Due in no small part to the defense, the Giants won the 1956 NFL championship and reached the championship game again in ’58 and ’59.

In 1960, Landry was hired as the head coach of the new Cowboys. He went on to coach the Cowboys for 29 seasons, including a run of 20 consecutive winning seasons from 1966 to ’85. Landry’s Cowboys reached the Super Bowl five times and won twice, taking home the trophy in Super Bowl VI and Super Bowl XII. He was named NFL Coach of the Year in 1966.

Wellington Mara

• Hall of Fame class of 1997
• Position: Co-owner, executive
• College: Fordham University, The Bronx, New York
• NFL career (all with the Giants): 69 seasons (1937–2005)
• Honors and awards: Giants Ring of Honor class of 2010

Wellington Mara was the younger son of Giants founder Tim Mara. In 1930, when Wellington was only 14 years old, his father transferred the ownership of the Giants to Wellington and his older brother Jack Mara. Soon after graduating from Fordham University, Wellington joined the Giants’ front office and remained there for the rest of his life, interrupted only by military service in World War II.

Mara held several executive positions with the team over the years, beginning as the treasurer and assistant to the president in 1937. He became the team president after his brother Jack died in 1965. As the Giants’ primary executive in charge of football operations for almost four decades, he had the final word on player personnel issues. He considered the Giants players to be family and was close to many of them.

Mara turned over some of his duties in 1974 when the team hired Andy Robustelli as director of operations and stepped aside from the football side of the business completely in ’79 when George Young became the Giants’ first general manager.

Mara’s legacy with the Giants includes 16 divisional titles and four NFL titles, including two Super Bowls. He also served on a number of league committees and was the president of the NFC from 1984 until his death in 2005.

Lawrence Taylor

• Hall of Fame class of 1999
• Position: Linebacker
• College: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
• NFL career (all with the Giants): 13 seasons (1981–93)
• Career stats: 132.5 sacks, 9 interceptions
• Super Bowl Championships: 2 (Super Bowl XXI, Super Bowl XXV)
• Pro Bowl: 10 (1981–90)
• All-Pro: 8 (1981–86, 1988–89)
• Awards and honors: NFL MVP 1986, Bert Bell Award for Player of the Year 1986, 3-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year, Giants jersey No. 56 retired 1994, Giants Ring of Honor class of 2010

Lawrence Taylor is widely acknowledged as the best Giants player of all time as well as one of the top players in the history of the NFL. His arrival in 1981 marked a huge turnaround for the Giants’ defense, as the newly dominant “Crunch Bunch” linebacking corps helped the Giants reach the playoffs for the first time in 18 years.

Taylor was an outstanding pass rusher who disrupted the opponent’s passing game with his unmatched combination of strength and speed. He recorded double-digit sack totals in seven consecutive seasons, leading the league with 20.5 sacks in 1986. He also hauled in nine interceptions in his career, including one in 1982 that he returned 97 yards for a touchdown.

The Giants made the playoffs in seven of Taylor’s 13 seasons. In his dominant 1986 season, the Giants posted a 14-2-0 record and won their first Super Bowl, and they repeated as Super Bowl champions four years later.

In addition to his other honors, Taylor was a unanimous selection for the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 1980s.

Benny Friedman

• Hall of Fame class of 2005
• Position: Quarterback, coach
• College: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
• NFL career: 8 seasons as a player (1927–34), 2 seasons as a coach (1930, ’32)
• Time with the Giants: 3 seasons (1929–31), 1 partial season as a coach (1930)
• First-Team All-Pro with the Giants: 2 (1929–30)

Benny Friedman was the NFL’s first great passer. After a collegiate career at the University of Michigan, where he was twice voted a consensus All-American, he joined the NFL with the Cleveland Bulldogs in 1927. He threw a 50-yard touchdown pass in his first game with the Bulldogs and led the league with 11 touchdown passes for the season.

The Bulldogs moved to Detroit for the 1928 season as the Detroit Wolverines. Friedman again led the league in passing. He attracted the attention of Giants owner Tim Mara, who bought the Wolverines franchise after the season specifically to obtain Friedman’s services. Mara was not disappointed, as Friedman continued his stellar play for the Giants and proved to be a huge gate attraction.

Friedman led the Giants to a 13-1-1 record in 1929 and a 13-4-0 record in 1930. He again led the league in touchdown passes in both years. His 20 touchdown passes in 1929 set a record that lasted until ’42. Friedman was a first-team All-Pro in both 1929 and ’30, as he had been in his two seasons before joining the Giants.

Friedman also served as a co-coach with Steve Owen for two games in the 1930 season. He announced his retirement from the Giants in early 1931, but he returned midway through the ’31 season while also serving as an assistant coach at Yale University. He signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers as a player-coach in 1932, then returned to the Dodgers in ’33 as a player only and played in one additional game in the ’34 season before retiring.

Friedman played in 81 NFL games. Although statistics from the era are incomplete, he is credited with 66 touchdown passes in his career, a record that stood until 1947. Although he is widely credited with revolutionizing the passing game, he was repeatedly passed over by the Hall of Fame voters until the Veterans Committee elected him posthumously in 2005.

Harry Carson

• Hall of Fame class of 2006
• Position: Linebacker
• College: South Carolina State College, Orangeburg, South Carolina
• NFL career (all with the Giants): 13 seasons (1976–’88)
• Career stats: 14 fumble recoveries, 11 interceptions
• Super Bowl Championship: 1 (Super Bowl XXI)
• Pro Bowl: 9 (1978–79, 1981–1987)
• Awards and honors: NFL All-Rookie Team 1976, Giants Ring of Honor class of 2010

Harry Carson was a dominant linebacker for the Giants for 13 seasons beginning in his 1976 rookie season, when he was named to the NFL All-Rookie Team as a middle linebacker. When the Giants’ defense got even stronger in 1981 with the arrival of Lawrence Taylor, Carson continued to lead the linebackers from the right insider linebacker slot. He was a key member of two of the most fearsome linebacker squads in Giants history, the “Crunch Bunch” in the early ’80s and the “Big Blue Wrecking Crew” in the second half of the decade.

Carson was especially strong in defending against the run. In the course of his career, he recovered 14 fumbles. He led the Giants in tackles in five seasons. In the Giants’ first Super Bowl season of 1986, he recorded 118 tackles in the regular season and 23 more in the playoffs, including seven in Super Bowl XXI.

Carson was a respected team leader both on and off the field. A 10-time Giants captain, he was inducted into the Giants Ring of Honor in the inaugural class of 2010. He was named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 1980s.

Bill Parcells

• Hall of Fame class of 2013
• Position: Coach
• College: Wichita State University, Wichita, Kansas
• NFL career: 22 seasons as a coach (1980–90, 1993–99, 2003–06), 10 seasons as an executive (1993–2000, 2008–09)
• Time with the Giants: 10 seasons (1981–90)
• Record as Giants head coach: 77-49-1
• Super Bowl Championships with the Giants: 2 (Super Bowl XXI, Super Bowl XXV)
• Honors and awards: NFL Coach of the Year 1986, Giants Ring of Honor class of 2010

Bill Parcells joined the Giants in 1981 as their defensive coordinator under Ray Perkins after 15 years as a college coach and one year as the linebackers coach for the Patriots. When Perkins resigned after the 1982 season, Parcells was named the new head coach. He held that position for eight years and became one of the most successful head coaches in Giants history.

Parcells’s first season was a disaster, as the Giants finished with a record of 3-12-1. After that, though, the Giants started winning. They reached the playoffs in five of the next seven seasons. In 1986, they went 14-2-0 in the regular season and beat the Broncos in Super Bowl XXI for the franchise’s first championship in the Super Bowl era. Parcells was named NFL Coach of the Year. They repeated as Super Bowl Champions four years later as they beat the Bills in Super Bowl XXV.

Parcells retired from football for health reasons after the 1990 season. But two years later, he came back as the head coach and de facto general manager of the Patriots. After four years with the Patriots, he moved to the Jets for three years before retiring a second time. He had one more coaching stint with the Cowboys from 2003 to ’06 and subsequently worked as an executive with the Miami Dolphins from 2008 to ’09 before retiring again, presumably for good.

In addition to winning the two Super Bowls with the Giants, Parcells won the AFC championship with the Patriots in 1996. He received a second NFL Coach of the Year Award with the Patriots in 1994. He is the only NFL coach to date to lead four different teams to the playoffs.

Michael Strahan

• Hall of Fame class of 2014
• Position: Defensive end
• College: Texas Southern University, Houston, Texas
• NFL career (all with the Giants): 15 seasons (1993–2007)
• Career stats: 141.5 sacks, including the single-season record of 22.5 sacks 2001
• Super Bowl Championships: 1 (Super Bowl XLII)
• Pro Bowl: 7 (1997–99, 2001–03, ’05)
• First-Team All-Pro: 4 (1997–98, 2001, ’03)
• Honors and awards: 2001 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, Giants Ring of Honor class of 2010

Michael Strahan joined the Giants in 1993, but he did not fully display his talents as a fast and powerful pass rusher until the ’97 season. That year, he recorded 14 sacks and received his first of seven Pro Bowl bids and his first of four first-team All-Pro selections.

Strahan was a dominant pass rusher for the rest of his career. He recorded double-digit sack totals in six seasons and twice led the NFL in sacks. In 2001, he set the official sack record with 22.5 sacks and also led the league in tackles for a loss. In recognition of those achievements, he was named the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year.

Strahan played on two of the Giants’ Super Bowl teams. In Super Bowl XXXV, he recorded 1.5 sacks in the Giants’ loss to the Ravens. In Super Bowl XLII, the last game of his career, he helped the Giants beat the previously undefeated Patriots with a sack of New England’s quarterback, Tom Brady, for a six-yard loss along with two solo tackles. His career total of 141.5 sacks was fifth in NFL history at the time.

After his retirement from football, Strahan put together a very successful career in television as a talk show and game show host. He was also inducted into both the Hall of Fame and the Giants Ring of Honor, and he was named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team for the 2000s.

Morten Andersen

• Hall of Fame class of 2017
• Position: Kicker
• College: Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan
• NFL career: 25 seasons (1982–2004, 2006–07)
• Time with the Giants: 1 season (2001)

Placekicker Morton Andersen joined the Giants for one season in 2001, scoring 98 points on 23 field goals and 29 extra points. Before coming to the Giants, he spent 13 seasons with the Saints and six with the Falcons and was the all-time scoring leader for both teams. His record with the Saints still stands. Although he was not a member of any NFL championship teams, he helped the Falcons reach their first-ever Super Bowl by kicking a game-winning field goal in overtime in the 1998 NFC championship game.

Andersen was selected to seven Pro Bowls during his seasons with New Orleans and Atlanta, and he was a three-time All-Pro. He held numerous NFL records when he retired at age 48 following the 2007 season. In a testament to his long record of success, he was named to the NFL’s All-Decade Teams for both the 1980s and the ’90s.

Kurt Warner

• Hall of Fame class of 2017
• Position: Quarterback
• College: University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, Iowa
• NFL career: 12 seasons (1998–2009)
• Time with the Giants: 1 season (2004)

Kurt Warner built his Hall of Fame credentials with the Rams in the first six years of his career and with the Cardinals in his last five seasons. In between, he spent one season, 2004, with the Giants. Although he led the Giants to a 5–4 record and passed for 2,054 yards in the nine games he started, the Giants replaced him with Eli Manning, and Warner chose to become a free agent after the season.

Warner’s NFL career was a real “rags to riches” story. After graduating from college in 1993, he went undrafted and ended up playing arena football for three years before getting an NFL contract. As a rookie with the Rams in 1998, Warner appeared in only one game, but his fortunes changed dramatically in ’99 when he was named the Rams’ starter. Warner led the Rams to the NFL championship in Super Bowl XXXIV, completing 24 passes for 414 yards—a Super Bowl record. He was named Super Bowl MVP to go along with the NFL MVP Award and the Bert Bell Award for Player of the Year.

Warner reached two more Super Bowls in his career, in 2001 with the Rams and in 2008 with the Cardinals. He won the NFL MVP Award again in each of those seasons, and in 2008 he also won the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award. During his career, Warner passed for 32,344 yards and 208 touchdowns. He was selected to four Pro Bowls and was twice named a first-team All-Pro. He is the only person to be inducted into both Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Arena Football Hall of Fame.

George Young

• Hall of Fame centennial class of 2020
• Position: Executive
• College: Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania
• NFL career: 34 seasons (1968–2001)
• Time with the Giants: 19 seasons (1979–97)
• Honors and awards: 5-time NFL Executive of the Year (1984, ’86, ’90, ’93, ’97), Giants Ring of Honor class of 2010

Geoge Young became the Giants’ first-ever general manager in 1979 after working for the Colts and the Dolphins in positions primarily relating to player personnel and scouting. Young served as the Giants’ general manager for 19 years.

Before he arrived, the Giants had settled into mediocrity and had not earned a playoff berth for 15 years. Young succeeded in rebuilding the franchise through astute use of the draft and other smart personnel moves. Among the standout players that he drafted were quarterback Phil Simms, running back Joe Morris, and linebackers Lawrence Taylor and Carl Banks. He also hired future Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells.

During Young’s tenure as general manager, the Giants had an overall regular-season record of 155-139-2. They made the playoffs eight times and won Super Bowls XXI and XXV.

Young was named NFL Executive of the Year an unprecedented five times. After his retirement from the Giants following the 1997 season, he worked for the NFL as senior vice president of football operations until his death in 2001.

Giants Pro Football Hall of Fame FAQs

Which Hall of Famers spent their entire careers with the Giants?

In addition to owners Tim Mara (inducted in 1963) and Wellington Mara (inducted in ’97), the Hall of Fame includes seven players who spent their entire careers in New York:

• Mel Hein (1931–45): inducted in 1963
• Rosey Brown (1953–65): inducted in 1975
• Frank Gifford (1952–60, 1962–64): inducted in 1977
• Tuffy Leemans (1936–43): inducted in 1978
• Lawrence Taylor (1981–93): inducted in 1999
• Harry Carson (1976–88): inducted in 2006
• Michael Strahan (1993–2007): inducted in 2014

Which Giants Hall of Famers spent the shortest amount of time in New York?

On the flip side, seven Hall of Famers with Giants credentials spent only a season or less in New York:

• Jim Thorpe (part of 1925): inducted in 1963
• Pete Henry (part of 1927): inducted in 1963
• Joe Guyon (1927): inducted in 1966
• Hugh McElhenny (1963): inducted in 1970
• Don Maynard (1958): inducted in 1987
• Morten Andersen (2001): inducted in 2011
• Kurt Warner (2004): inducted in 2017

Were any Giants Hall of Famers inducted posthumously?

Most Giants Hall of Famers lived to enjoy their selection to the Hall of Fame, but five were inducted posthumously:

• Pete Henry (part of 1927): deceased in 1952, inducted in 1963
• Jim Thorpe (part of 1925): deceased in 1953, inducted in 1963
• Tim Mara (1925–58): deceased in 1959, inducted in 1963
• Steve Owen (1926–53): deceased in 1964, inducted in 1966
• George Young (1979–97): deceased in 2001, inducted in 2020

Which Hall of Famers have had their jersey numbers retired by the Giants?

The Giants have retired 12 jersey numbers to honor 13 players.* Seven of the players whose jersey numbers have been retired are in the Hall of Fame:

• Ray Flaherty (1928–29, 1931–35): jersey No. 1 retired 1935
• Tuffy Leemans (1936–43): jersey No. 4 retired 1940
• Ken Strong (1933–35, ’39, 1944–47): jersey No. 50 retired 1947
• Mel Hein (1931–45): jersey No. 7 retired 1963
• Y.A. Tittle (1961–64): jersey No. 14 retired 1965*
• Lawrence Taylor (1981–93): jersey No. 56 retired 1994
• Frank Gifford (1952–60, 1962–64): jersey No. 16 retired 2000

*The Giants retired No. 14 twice. It was first retired in 1946 to honor Ward Cuff. Y.A. Tittle was allowed to use the number when he joined the Giants in 1961, and it was retired again in ’65 after he retired.

How many Giants quarterbacks are in the Hall of Fame?

To date, five quarterbacks who played for the Giants are in the Hall of Fame. Interestingly, no quarterback enshrined in the Hall of Fame to date spent the majority of his career in New York.

• Benny Friedman (1929–31): inducted in 2005
• Arnie Herber (1944–45): inducted in 1966
• Y.A. Tittle (1961–64): inducted in 1971
• Fran Tarkenton (1967–71): inducted in 1986
• Kurt Warner (2004): inducted in 2017

Are other Giants quarterbacks likely to be inducted into the Hall of Fame?

In my opinion, three other Giants quarterbacks deserve election to the Hall, but only one of the three will probably be inducted. All three had stellar careers that they spent entirely with the Giants.

Charlie Conerly (1948–61): Conerly was the Giants quarterback who put New York back on the NFL map in the 1950s. He was a superb passer who led the Giants to the 1956 NFL championship, their first since ’38, and helped them reach the championship game three more times. He was selected to the Pro Bowl twice and was named the NFL MVP in 1959. The Giants retired his jersey No. 42 in 1965 and named him to the Ring of Honor in 2010. Hall of Famer Frank Gifford and other teammates reportedly lobbied strongly for Conerly’s election to the Hall of Fame. He was a finalist seven times but has not been elected.

Phil Simms (1979–81, 1983–93): Simms led the Giants to a 95-64-0 record in his 159 starts. The Giants won their first Super Bowl in the 1986 season with Simms at the helm, and he was named Super Bowl MVP. He was a two-time Pro Bowl selection and won the 1986 Pro Bowl MVP Award. The Giants retired his number in 1995, soon after he retired, and named him to their Ring of Honor in the inaugural 2010 class. Simms has not been a finalist for induction to the Hall of Fame.

Eli Manning (2004–19): I think Manning is a lock to be inducted to the Hall of Fame as soon as he is eligible. (He will be eligible for election to the Class of 2025.) He is a two-time Super Bowl MVP and the winner of the 2016 NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, as well as a four-time Pro Bowl selection. He holds many Giants records. The Giants retired his jersey No. 10 as soon as he announced his retirement in January 2020.

More Thoughts About the Giants Hall of Famers

As one of the oldest franchises in the NFL, the Giants would naturally be expected to be well represented in the Hall of Fame, and indeed they are, as this article demonstrates. The members of the Hall include Giants players and coaches from virtually every era of the team’s history, beginning with its first season in 1925, when Jim Thorpe donned the Giants uniform. And of course, the Hall has honored team founder Tim Mara and his son Wellington Mara, whose overlapping Giants careers spanned 81 years.

The Giants Hall of Fame family includes career Giants as well as those who made a whistle-stop in New York. For every Mel Hein or Michael Strahan, who each wore the Giants uniform for 15 seasons, there is a Jim Thorpe or a Pete Henry, who took the field for the Giants in only a few games.

Most Giants fans identify much more closely with the long-term Giants in the Hall than with the short-termers. But the Pro Football Hall of Fame, unlike the National Baseball Hall of Fame, does not associate its inductees with specific teams. So Giants fans are entitled to celebrate the accomplishments of a player like Arnie Herber (two Giants seasons out of 13 seasons in the NFL) or, to take an extreme case, Morten Andersen (one season out of 25), even though most of their accomplishments came with other teams.

To take another example, most fans no doubt associate Tom Landry’s Hall of Fame career with his 29 years as the head coach of the Cowboys. But it’s interesting to realize that Landry actually played for the Giants for six seasons and was also the Giants’ defensive coordinator for six seasons before he took the job with Dallas. I should note, too, that Packers Hall of Fame coach Vince Lombardi was the Giants’ offensive coordinator for most of the same seasons when Landry ran the defense. I included Landry but not Lombardi in this article because Landry also played for the Giants whereas Lombardi did not. Similarly, Ray Flaherty is included because he played for the Giants, even though he later coached Washington and was inducted into the Hall as a coach.

More than anything else, these cases illustrate the fact that the Hall of Fame honors achievements throughout the NFL family. Naturally, there is special pride among the Giants community when the Hall selects players, coaches or executives who were primarily associated with the Giants. But once careers are finished and it’s time for the Hall of Fame to select new members, most football fans are happy to honor the best of the best, no matter which uniform they wore.

Statistical Resources and References

Pro Football Hall of Fame: Official listing of all Hall of Famers with career highlights and brief biographical sketches.

Pro Football Reference: Comprehensive database of current and historical statistics, awards, and other information for players, coaches, and teams in the NFL, AFL and AAFC.