Let's introduce a new off-season series today. 'Giants By The Numbers' will look at uniform numbers 1 thru 99 and see which New York Giants players have worn each number.
Hopefully, this provides us an opportunity to reminisce about Giants history -- and maybe learn a little bit about our favorite team -- as we navigate the summer months.
Before I start, a big thank you to Ken Palmer of Giant Insider. His 2002 book 'Giant Insider's Unofficial Book of Lists' made my life easier. Ken's book provided all the numbers from the beginning of the franchise through 2002, and all I had to do was find the rest.
Piece of cake.
So, in Giants' history who is No. 1 for? Ray Flaherty, that's who. In fact, Flaherty, who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1976, is the only player I know of who has ever worn that number for the Giants. The number, in fact, has been retired by the Giants.
He was an end who had stints with the Giants in 1928 & '29, then again from 1931-35. According to his bio on Giants.com, Flaherty finished with an 80-37-5 record as a coach with the Boston Redskins, Washington Redskins, New York Yankees and Chicago Hornets.