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With Super Bowl 49 coming up in less than two weeks this is a great time to celebrate the rich history of your four-time Super Bowl champion New York Giants. Today is the 24th anniversary of the Giants' 15-13 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in the 1990 NFC Championship Game. The Giants, of course, went on to beat the Buffalo Bills, 20-19, in the Scott Norwood 'wide right' game.
Let's look back at the game-winning field goal by Matt Bahr, and the excellent, graceful call by the legendary Pat Summerall.
The game is, of course, remembered for this knockout hit by Giants defensive end Leonard Marshall of San Francisco quarterback Joe Montana:
Back in 2008 I had the opportunity to interview Marshall via telephone. Of course, I asked him what he remembered about the play. Here is his response:
"Let's replay it again thru my vision. When the call came in from the sideline from Bill Belichick I knew I'd be in position on the weak side of cover 2 man to make a play. This was my favorite defense to play because I had a tremendous amount of confidence in Mark Collins and Perry Williams' ability to cover in man-to-man situations. These two guys had blazing speed and knew their surroundings well. As the play began I made a move on Bubba Parrish and slipped. I was then blocked and cut by running back Tom Rathman. I crawled and began running in the area of Joe. While watching Joe pat the ball telling Jerry Rice to run I noticed he had no idea of his environment. I continued my pursuit and as I did I noticed LT make him pull up and Mark Collins remained in coverage. I dove and left my feet with the intent to strip the ball and have Collins or Taylor run it in the end zone similar to a play LT made in the 1988 playoff game in New York when Jim Burt knocked Joe out of that game. As we both collapsed Montana whinced and I knew it was the end of an era for them. I knew he was hurt bad and that it was likely he wouldn't return. It was probably the greatest football play made in an impact game. Probably the greatest play I ever made in my lifetime as a football player."
There was also this critical fake punt by the Giants:
Feel free to share your memories of the game, Giants fans.