Table of Contents
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