[EDITOR'S NOTE: Throughout the off-season, George Cronin, one of our elder statesmen here at Big Blue View, will be entertaining us with stories of the Giants of yesteryear. 'Cronin's Corner' will run on Saturdays.]

From '39-'49, the Giants played for the NFL championship three times and for the Eastern Division championship twice. They lost every game. In fact, after winning the NFL championship in '38, they didn't win another until '56.

The '41 championship game, played two weeks after Pearl Harbor, drew the smallest attendance of any NFL Championship Game. The final score was Bears 14, Giants 7. I remember nothing of the game.

The country was focused on the war and the induction of millions of young men into the armed forces. My brother, who'd been married in September, '41, was drafted a few days after New Years '42. He fought in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, the Normandy landing and beyond. He was wounded a few times, for which he received purple hearts, but came home more or less in one piece.

The Giants played the Packers in the '44 NFL Championship Game and were expected to win, having already beaten them in the regular season. Playing without Bill Paschal, their leading rusher, they lost, 14-7, a bitter defeat.

I listened to the '46 championship game on the radio. It's the only championship game from the '40s that stands out in my memory. Frankie Filchock, one of my all-time favorite Giants, was the QB. He played in the NFL from '38-'46, with two years out for military service.

He was the first QB to throw a 99-yard TD (in '39, when he shared QB duties with Sammy Baugh in Washington.) He led the league in TD passes in '38 and '39 and had the best pass efficiency rating in '44.

He shares the dubious distinction with Layne, Favre and Van Brocklin (all HOFers and 100 Besters) of having thrown six picks in one game. He threw sidearm and could run with the ball.

Steve Owen needed a passer and asked Tim Mara to get Filchock. Mara traded for him and paid him huge money for those days ($35,000/year)and gave him the first multi-year contract granted to a Giants player. Injured early, Frankie had a good year running and passing and turned around a losing team, leading it to first place in the East.

He was a great QB, but played only one year with the Giants. Why then my man crush on him? Aside from the fact that he was exciting to watch, the circumstances surrounding his '46 season had an irresistible appeal to a romantic 13-year-old.

In the next installment, I'll tell you the story. There are conflicting accounts, but I'll give you the one I prefer.