Today we recall playing football in our grandparent's backyard with our father and grandfather and asking about the Giants. They were 6-10 last year, we were told. We looked it up. That year was 1979, so this must have been the winter of 1980.
And that was our introduction to the NFL.
Being a child of the 80's we came of age when the Giants were good, the San Francisco 49rs dominated and the game was still defined by the Raiders, the Dolphins, the Steelers; the great teams of the 1970s.
The first player we remember is Giants' kicker Ali Haji Sheik. We attended our first game in 1983. The first Super Bowl we watched was the Bears utter destruction of the Patriots in Super Bowl XX. Don't be fooled, in 1985 everyone thought the Super Bowl Shuffle was cool. There's some Monday (not) Metal fodder. Our first favorite player? Why Lawrence Taylor of course, later Phil Simms.
During this era the great Bill Parcells was the Giants' head coach. Check out his numbers. He averaged 10 wins a year with the Giants, five playoff appearances, eight playoff wins and two Super Bowl victories. They were a Monday Night Football mainstay. Oh, and those great 49rs teams, the Giants gave them fits! You're damn right Bill Parcells is in the Hall of Fame.
We ended our first decade of football accustomed to Giants dominance.
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