Loading ...Historical New York Giants clips is a weekly Giants 101 feature that takes a look back at vintage video of Big Blue, both in color and black and white, over the course of their illustrious history. Whether it's a win or a loss, the purpose of this feature is to help educate newer generations of Giants fans and to bring older generations of Giants fans back in time. Enjoy.
Because nothing substantial happened (ie. playoffs or championship) in 1970, the season is not often reflected on by those were were born after it. Short of being alive to witness it, it's one that has been lost in the vault forever. But like every chapter in a book, the 1970 season paved the way for things to come and would be the last time New York Giants fans got to experience a team competing for the playoffs until 1981 – a 10 year drought that saw only one winning season (8-6 in 1972).
At 7-4 in week 12, Big Blue was fading fast and trailed both the St. Louis Cardinals and Dallas Cowboys in the NFC East. Although they were coming off a big win in week 11 over the Washington Redskins, they still needed to win the remainder of their games, and that started with the visiting Buffalo Bills.
Trailing 6-3 at halftime, head coach Alex "Big Red" Webster made one thing clear: Play harder or it's all over.
Player harder they did, indeed. The Giants came out in the second half with a 62-yard kickoff return that set-up the game-tying field goal, and then it was off to the races. Fran Tarkenton would go on to toss two 4th quarter touchdowns (one to Clifton McNeil and one to Tucker Frederickson), while Ron Johnson added 100 yards on 21 carries en route to a 20-6 victory.
The Giants would then defeat the St. Louis Cardinals 34-17 in week 13 and move onto the Los Angeles Rams. A win meant a playoff birth for the first time since 1963, but the team collapsed and were embarrassed 31-3 in front of the home town crowd.
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I really dig this new feature
Thanks, Dirt. It’s a lot of fun to put together. I was really hoping all Giants fans, new and old, would appreciate this weekly segment.
Seconded … this feature is a hoot. Talk about old memories. Well done.
I love this, except for the fact that it reminds me of those years of futility.
For you younger fans, the guy making those plays on defense was Spider Lockhart, who also occasionally lined up outside and was a receiver for Tarkenton. He was a really good defensive back. And while Fredrickson might have been featured in this film clip, Tucker was much better at drinking at various Upper East Side watering holes (he particularly liked JG Mellons) than he was at playing football. The fine running back on those teams was Ron Johnson, who was, I think, #30 who is seen only briefly in this clip.
If I remember correctly, that was the year that the Giants blew their season by losing to the Saints, who absolutely stunk, on Monday Night Football, the highlight of which was that Dandy Don Meredith actually threw up on Howard Cosell in the booth after a few too many and a number of renditions of country songs. I think they missed the playoffs by a game, and that was far-and-away their best season of the 1970′s. The rest is darkness.
Tucker Frederickson was supposed to be a really good running back. However, with the acquisition of Ron Johnson (away from Cleveland who had Leroy Kelly) soon convinced Tucker that running interference for Johnson was better than not playing at all.
Also of note is the second best TE in Giant history, Bob Tucker number 38. He was one hell of a player. I also remember our all pro DE who left for the bright lights of Hollywood Fred Dryer. And of course, my all time FAV Giant, “SPIDER”. Who could carry that nick name now? NOBODY………
These are the Giants that first captivated me. They always played hard, no matter what. Win or lose they tried and in so doing won my heart. They played the game even when outmatched. And to this day they remain my measuring stick for team play. And that measure is; “DO THE TRY, EVEN WHEN OUT MATCHED AND WHEN ALL SEEMS LOST ARE THEY STILL WILLING TO FIGHT?” That friends is the measure of a team. Any team…..any sport.
Things would get better. But not right away. The thing that carried on was that spirit that did not allow for quitting. It lived long enough for some guys named Carson, Gregory, Kelly Mendenhall and Taylor to embrace it.
Dan , I think this is a great way to show the past and relive old memories . I was surprised that nobody mentioned 89 – fred Dryer who was a star DE , later moved on to the Rams and then had a very good post football career as a TV actor ( kudos to anyone who remembers the name of the show w/o googling it ) .
Here’s one thing that bothers me. Everyone talks about how oh, the game is so much faster today.
How much of that is because every single NFL Films clip of games of yesterday is shot on film and played in slow motion, vs the live and real time look of the game we see today? We don’t have an appropriate frame of reference.
Even in the video above, big number 69 on Buffalo nearly runs down the kickoff returner. We like to think our big guys are freaks, that dude was moving.
Now, I’m sure the game *is* faster. After all, there’s a lot less pasty white guys at the skill positions.
But how much faster, it’s too hard to tell.
I was literally just about to comment that it looks like the players were moving in slow motion. That is interesting about the type of film they used caused it to look slower.
Film makes the game look dramatic and awesome – this is no rip on NFL Films, I love their work. It’s just any footage I’ve ever seen of pre-1986 ball has been in slow motion.
I think there was a time or two when players were down and the defense tackled /almost speared the player on the ground which nowadays would have immediately gotten a 15 yard penalty
Eventually all plays will start out with a 15 yard penalty … and if the team is soft and docile enough it will get reduced after review.
Just to be clear, I have no problem with the opinion expressed by Paul regarding Herzlich’s pass coverage struggles. I disagree with the opinion, and think that it has been overblown by some overzealous reporters and fans.
My problem was the evidence offered–”I was at the game.” Not only does your attendance NOT matter, but in this instance I believe it offers no significant insight whatsoever regarding this particular issue. Anyone could see that Herzlich was lost out there and was totally ill-equipped to cover Desean Jackson. The Celek play was a rough one to watch because Herzlich clearly was thinking too much and didn’t let his natural physicality help him shut down a very mediocre tight end. He did look good against the run and rushing up the middle, which shows that his recognition is there, but his drop back technique was rough. All of this was clearly visible on my 52″ LCD. Depending on your seats, perhaps your view was better, but not uniquely so.
Look, as you can tell, I am a big Herzlich fan. But I’m not engaging in a “purity discussion,” as Krow so daintily put it. I don’t accept the validity of the evidence offered in support of Paul’s argument. It’s the equivalent of someone telling me that I don’t know what happened during the Cuban Missile Crisis because I wasn’t alive during it. The fact that I have an entire bookshelf of books, hundreds of pages of interview transcripts and close to 200 pages of my own writing is somehow subservient to the unique perspective of 1 guy who went to work and came home to watch the nightly news during those scary days. It’s a “no true scotsman” argument and it’s a fallacy unless properly qualified.
As far as Herzlich goes, I’d add that I agree with norm in that the mental side of the game will be addressed because he’s going to have been in the books this offseason and the recipient of a real coaching up by Fewell, Boley and Blackburn. I think his legs will be stronger as a result of a full offseason program, and his technique will improve in the same way that all rookies improve after their first year.