All Time Giants Super Bowl Team

I don’t know about all you other Big Blue Viewers but I still can’t come down for the Super Bowl high. I mean the offseason is so much more fun when you have the Lombardi trophy. This was a great week but also a bit of a tough one for me because the day after the Super Bowl I had to fly out to San Diego for a work meeting so I missed a lot of the hoopla and I was not able to get to BBV nearly as much as I would of liked. The only positive parts of this painful trip was going through security at Newark Airport and seeing NY Giants Super Bowl Champion T-shirts all over the gift shops and the in-flight direct TV that allowed me to watch 6 hours of the NFL network the morning after the game. Instead of going to the parade I had to listen to empty corporate suites drone on about “mission statements” and “strategic visions” all the while us corporate lemmings got are balls busted about our TPS reports. Some of the lemmings drank the kool-aid and sold their souls for positive “exposure” with the new corporate brass. I on the other hand chose not to degrade myself, so instead of being “proactive” and holding myself “accountable” for a profitable 2012 I decided to come up with a position by position breakdown of the greatest Giants players of their four Super Bowl winning teams. Since this will be the first weekend without football I thought I’d post it this weekend to help us through our football hangover. It will give us something to argue about while at the same time it will allow us to celebrate our four, yes I said four, great Super Bowl winning teams.

Criteria

They had to be on the 1986, 1990, 2007, and 2011 teams. My decision was based on the following three things: Overall career with the Giants, how good each player was in their respective Super Bowl winning season, and how well they played during each team’s playoff run. I probably weighted the players overall career with the Giants slightly more than the others but I definitely have some inconsistencies in there that I’m SURE will be noticed and debated by some of you. For each position I will give a little synopsis of how I came to my conclusion and I will mention guys that were tough to cut out. Remember I’m taking individuals not entire positions so for example the o-line will not just be the 1990 O-line it will be a position by position choice. There will be 12 offensive players, (three WRs) 12 defensive players (four LBs and four D-linemen). A punter, kicker, holder, KR/PR, Special Teamer, Head Coach, DC, OC, and GM. I have also taken a couple liberties at a few positions to get the best players on the team. Now on to the team!!!!!

Offense

QB – Eli Manning. It’s weird that this was such an easy choice considering Phil Simms played the best game in Super Bowl history back in 1987 (22 of 25) but between the two game winning drives in the Super Bowl and his amazing 2011 season Eli is the choice here. Throw in the fact he’s one of only four men to win multiple Super Bowl MVPs Eli not only is an all-time great Giant but he is also one of the all-time great Super Bowl QBs.

C – Bart Oates. Was a little tough because I gave Shaun O’Hara strong consideration but Oates was the final choice because of his strong 9 year tenure with the G-Men. He was the only constant on both the 1986 O-Line and the 1990 team and was a three time Pro-Bowler in 90, 91, and 93.

RG – Chris Snee. Pretty easy choice here. He’s been a grinder on the Giants O-line since being drafted in 2004. Snee has been the Giants best and most consistent player on the offensive line since entering the league in 04. He’s a 3 time Pro Bowl selection and a 3 time All-Pro and is a big reason why the Giants have won two out of the last five Super Bowls.

LG – Brad Benson. Remember some of those liberties I discussed earlier? Well here is the first one. Before he was known as the guy with the inappropriate yet hysterical car commercials that run every five minutes on WFAN, Benson was an All-Pro LT on the 1986 team but he played multiple positions on the offensive line during his 10 year career including guard. He was the David Diehl of the 1980s but a little better. He was such a good player over the course of his career and in particular 1986 that I had to find a way to get him on the team.

LT – John “Jumbo” Elliot. This guy is the reason Benson is the guard and not the tackle. I mean an O-line man with the nickname Jumbo has to be on the team. Jumbo was fantastic in 1990 and his ability to beat up on Bruce Smith all night allowed the Giants to control the clock for 40 plus minutes which was the key to their Super Bowl 25 victory.

RT - Kareem McKenzie. What! What! What! I know he was not very good this year but in 07 he was fantastic and he was a solid player for most of his Giants career. KMack along with Snee had a lot to do with the success of the run game from 05-10.

TE – Mark Bavaro. No brainer. If you want to debate then just You-tube Bavaro dragging Ronnie Lott and you’ll realize there is nothing to debate.

WRs – This was brutally tough between guys from 07 and 11. With all due respect to fan favorites like Phil McConkey, Mark Ingram, and Stephen Baker these guys don’t compare to what we’ve seen at this position in 07 and 11.

WR1 – Hakeem Nicks. Plaxico caught the game winner in 07 , ate up the Packers in the Championship game that year, and we don’t win a SB without Plax but Nicks was even better this post season. Nicks dominated both ATL, and GB in the playoffs then had 10 balls in the Super Bowl. In three seasons he has been a very good player and is on the verge of becoming an awesome one.

Slot WR – Victor Cruuuuuz. Steve Smith was vital in the 07 run. He had a very nice career with the Giants and was their first Pro Bowler at that position in about 100 years but in 2011 Victor Cruz was the most explosive, clutch WR I’ve ever seen in Giant’s blue. Not only that his 99 yard TD vs the Jets was the turning point of the 2011 season. Tough not to put Cruz on this list.

WR2 – Amani Toomer. Tough tough call here between “The always well dressed” and “Super Mario”. I mean Mario has one of the greatest catches in Super Bowl history along with big TD grabs in the three playoff games leading up to this Super Bowl. If I was picking an entire unit I’d say the 2011 WRs > than the 2007 group and Mario would be on it but Toomer is the most productive WR in Giants history and was great in the 07 playoffs with his 3 TD catches, (two vs Dallas), while making a handful of unspectacular yet clutch grabs for Eli in every playoff game during that run.

FB – Maurcie Carthon. The 1986 Super Bowl highlight video, “Land of the Giants”, describes Carthon as a Guard in a fullbacks uniform. That about sums up Carthon’s career.

RB – Joe Morris. You can probably go in a few directions here. OJ Anderson, Brandon Jacobs, Ahmad Bradshaw are all compelling cases but Morris’s 1,500 yard 14 TD season in 1986 gets him on this team.

Defense

The D-Line was brutally tough and will be fiercely debated by you folks but that’s what happens when you have so many great players.

DE – Michael Strahan. The only easy one. Arguably the greatest D-Lineman in Giants history and future Hall of Famer.

DT – Justin Tuck. I know! I know! He’s a DE but again I’m trying to put together the best team and he played DT extensively in 07 and has lined up at DT many times since he broke through in 07. Bottom line he’s a guy that played a lot of DT in Super Bowl 42 he ruined that game for the Patriots. He then played it at times this past Sunday and recorded another two sacks. 4 Sacks in two Super Bowls plus what he’s meant to the G-Men since 05 means he’s getting on this team.

DT- Erik Howard. I could not go full NASCAR package here so I needed one true DT and Howards the choice. You can make solid arguments for Jim Burt, Fred Robbins, Barry Cofield, and even Chris Canty but Howard had a very good 9 year career with the Giants. He was on both the 86 and 90 teams and was a Pro Bowler in 1990. He also forced the fumble of Roger Craig in the 1990 title game.

DE – Osi Umenyiora. This was by far the toughest decision and I know will be debated a bit. JPP was the team’s MVP on D this season and had one of the greatest defensive seasons in Giants history but Osi has had a tremendous 9 year career and was the team’s best player in 2007 while making a huge impact this past season. His ability to strip sack QBs is uncanny and his strip of Aaron Rodgers in the divisional playoffs this year was as big of a play in recent Giant playoff history. This position was tough not only because of JPP but also because of guys like Leonard Marshall and George Martin who were great D-Ends in their own right and would normally be any all-time type of team. JPP might be the choice down the road but right now it’s Osi

El Beeeez – This position was very easy for three of them the fourth spot was tough.

OLB – LT. The greatest defensive player to ever play the game.

OLB – Carl Banks. He’s a bit unheralded but was a fantastic player for nine years with the Giants. Outplayed LT in the 86 playoffs and Super Bowl. He had 10 tackles vs the Broncos in SB 21.

ILB – Harry Carson. The Hall of Famer is the Captain of this great team of Super Bowl superstars.

ILB – Pepper Johnson. I really thought hard about Antonio Pierce in this spot. AP was the feisty leader of that 07 team and was a big part of that teams attitude and identity. Honking the horn at the media when they're 0-2 and the black suits for SB 42, it was tough to go against him. But Pepper was an All-Pro in 1990 and was a fantastic player in his own right who had a distinguished Giants career. He gets the nod.

CBs– Corey Webster and Mark Collins – I’m putting these two together because they are as eerily similar as players as the 07 and 11 Super Bowl runs are similar. Both of these guys were Pro Bowl caliber players that never got the recognition they deserve because of the great font sevens that played in front of them. Collins was a fantastic player in 1990. He shut down Jerry Rice both times he faced them in 90 and then he did a number on the Bills WRs in the Super Bowl. He could of made the Pro Bowl numerous times but never did. The same holds true for Webster. It took his career a while to get going but once he replaced Sam Madison in the 07 playoffs he’s never looked back. His pick in OT vs the Packers set up the game winning FG in the 07 title game and he has become an excellent cover corner who routinely matches up with the other teams top WRs. He could have been a Pro Bowl selection numerous times as well but he’s never gotten in.

Safteys – This was tough. This year’s group and 1990’s held a clear advantage over the 86 and 07 teams but neither group was drastically better than the other. I think I’ll get some arguments here as well.

FS – Greg Jackson. He got this over KP because he was more of a ball hawk. He had 5 picks in 1990 and overall was a fine player in his 4 years with the GMen. People forget that the 90 Giants relied on the back end of the D a lot more than the 86 team and Jackson was a big reason for that.

SS – Antrel Rolle. I could of gone Myron Guyton here but I think Antrel’s leadership and attitude made me pick him. His 96 tackles this year as well as playing multiple positions on D to make up for the injuries also helped me when making this decision.

Special Teams

K – Matt Barr. I could go Tynes for twice kicking the G-Men in the Super Bowl but let’s be honest he blew 2 shots vs GB before he finally got it right and even his two FGs in last week’s Super Bowl were a little too close for comfort. Barr kicked five FGs vs the Niners in 1990 and the game winner to send the Giants to Super Bowl 25. Throw in the fact he made the tackle on the opening kickoff in Super Bowl 25 and he’s the number 9 I would want kicking for me.

P – You know where I’m going. Sean Landeta. He was a Pro Bowler in both 86 and 90. He could coffin corner with the best of them and his yearly average was usually in the mid 40’s. Frankly he’s the best punter in Giants history.

KR – Dave Meggett. I guess you could consider Hixon but to me little Dave Meggett was the best KR I’ve seen where Giant Blue.

Special Teamer – David Tyree. Yes Catch 42 is influencing me on this one but he was an excellent Pro Bowl special teamer for the Giants in his years with New York. Reyna Thompson was also excellent in 1990 as well as Devin Thomas this year. But Tyree gets the nod.

Holder – Steve Weatherford. This guy cracks me up I just wanted to put him on. He did make a great play on a low snap in the title game vs the Niners so without him the Giants might of blown another big game with a special teams gaff so I created a spot for him.

Coaching staff

OC – Kevin Gillbride. I know a lot of you guys don’t like him but he’s done a solid job while he’s been in NY. The Giants passing O has evolved into one of the best in the league and he sticks to the run to keep teams honest. He might not be Sean Payton but he’s pretty good and is the best OC the Giants have had in a long time.

DC – Bill Belichick. Spags and Fewell did some good work but Belichick is one of the best defensive minds ever and did marvelous work with the Giants D in the 80’s. Another no-brainer here.

Head Coach – Tom Coughlin. Tough, tough call here between Coughlin and Bill Parcells. The similarities are striking. In eight years with the Giants both coaches led the Giants to 5 playoff appearances, 3 division titles, and two Super Bowl wins in their 4th and 8th seasons. They’re both 8-3 in the playoffs as head coach of the Giants. Parcells has a few more regular season wins, that’s the only difference. So why am I taken Coughlin over Parcells? Simple, I like him more. Parcells was great but his ego rubbed me the wrong way a bit. He flirted with Atlanta after his first Super Bowl win and I was not thrilled about him waiting until May to leave the Giants back in 1991. He also has a few strikes in my book for coaching both the Jets and the Cowboys. TC is a lot more loyal and does not make it about himself the way Parcells did at times.

General Manager – George Young. Years from now it might be Jerry Reece but for now its Young, here is why. Outside of Carson, Martin, and Benson the entire 1986 Giant roster was drafted or acquired by George Young including LT and Simms. Not only that George Young inherited a mess in 1979 when he took over while JR inherited a playoff team. JR did an excellent job in 07 but he put the finishing touches on a team that was close to championship, Young built a championship team. Both men did an excellent job reshaping the Giants between Super Bowl wins. Young rebuilt the O-line, D-Backs, and WRs between 1986 and 1990 while JR did the same for the Giants WRs, LBs, Safeties, and D-Tackles. Young replaced players like Harry Carson and Brad Benson with players like Pepper Johnson and Jumbo Elliot, while JR replaced guys like Michael Strahan and Plaxico Burress with JPP and Hakeem Nicks. The other reason why I take George Young over JR is Young had an imprint on the 07 Giants as well. He drafted Strahan in 1993 and he drafted Amani Toomer in the second round of his last draft in 1996. Young had an impact all the way to 07, that’s pretty impressive.

Well that’s its fellas. Let me know what you think. I’m sure there will be some debate, but what the hell there is no Football this Sunday so why not spend our time arguing about this.