Giants Dream Team: Our picks for Big Blue's best ever

The Giants have been at this football thing since 1925, and naturally over the course of nearly a century have employed a long list of elite players.

Start with running back Jim Thorpe, one of the most accomplished athletes in the history of humanity. He was an original member of the franchise.

The Giants cut him after three games.

So no, Thorpe is not among the Giants players you will be reading about here. Instead, Newsday has selected an all-time team for the franchise by position, based not on the totality of players’ careers but on what they did as Giants.

Some positions were easier to fill than others. Among the no-brainers were Mel Hein, Rosey Brown and Lawrence Taylor.

Among the challenges were less-robust positions such as guard and cornerback. William Roberts, all-time great? Apparently so.

And of course, some of this stuff is generational. Might a younger writer have gone with Justin Tuck, Odell Beckham Jr. and Jeremy Shockey over Andy Robustelli, Homer Jones and Mark Bavaro?

Perhaps. But you’re stuck with me.

Some of the trickier calls involve other biases. David Diehl or Jumbo Elliott at offensive tackle? Ties go to Long Islanders at Newsday. Deal with it, Diehl.

How might have this Giants all-star team fared against other franchises’ best, assuming everyone was in his prime?

Probably not as well as the Packers, certainly better than the Jaguars.

But one thing is certain: Jim Thorpe was nowhere close to making the cut for this dream team.

THE COACH

Bill Parcells

There have been other championship-winning Giants coaches, but no one better defined fans’ image of the franchise — and of themselves — than the rumpled, irascible Jersey guy known as “Tuna” who led the franchise to its first two Super Bowl victories after a 30-year struggle to return to championship glory.

Parcells could be a difficult to deal with for everyone from ownership to general manager George Young to his players to the journalists with whom he loved to spar. But he always seemed to push the right buttons en route to a 77-49-1 regular-season record with the Giants, plus 8-3 in the playoffs and those victories in Super Bowls XXI and XXV, the latter an upset of the Bills.

He later led the Patriots to a Super Bowl and came darn close to getting the Jets to one, too.

Parcells was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2013.

THE QUARTERBACK

Eli Manning

GM Ernie Accorsi was convinced Manning was the quarterback to lead the Giants back to the Super Bowl and traded with the Chargers after they picked him No. 1 overall on draft day in 2004. Then Manning went 1-6 as a rookie, including a 0.0 passer rating against the Ravens.

But the famously unflappable son of Archie and younger brother of Peyton kept plugging away and eventually established himself as one of the best big-game competitors the franchise has known. That was most evident in two improbable four-game playoff winning streaks to win Super Bowls XLII and XLVI — both against the Patriots, including the previously unbeaten 2007 New England powerhouse.

Manning’s improbable “Helmet Catch” completion to David Tyree — in which he somehow escaped intense pressure — in Super Bowl XLII remains one of the most memorable plays in NFL history.

He retired after the 2019 season with every significant franchise passing record, including 366 touchdowns and 57,023 yards.

THE RUNNING BACKS

Tiki Barber

Coaches were not sure quite how to deploy Barber early in his 10-year career, but toward the end he became one of the most versatile weapons in the NFL.

In his final three seasons — 2004-06 — he totaled more than 2,000 yards from scrimmage every year, leading the league in ’04 with 2,096 and ’05 with 2,390.

Barber finished with 10,449 rushing yards, by far the most in franchise history, and another 5,183 receiving.

Frank Gifford

The Giants’ NFL champions of 1956 helped jump-start the NFL’s rise to becoming the nation’s most popular league, and Gifford was their most visible face.

In addition to his movie star looks and charisma, he produced consistently on the field, including a league-best 1,422 yards from scrimmage in ’56, when he was the consensus NFL MVP.

He transitioned to flanker later in his career and finished with 3,609 rushing yards and 5,434 receiving.

THE WIDE RECEIVERS

Amani Toomer

Early on, Toomer struggled to grasp the pro game. After three seasons he had one start and 44 receptions. But starting in 1999 he developed into the best receiver in Giants history.

It began with five consecutive seasons of at least 1,000 yards, including 1,343 and eight TDs in 2002, when he and quarterback Kerry Collins flourished as a tandem.

Toomer retired after 2008 with 9,497 yards and 54 TDs, both Giants bests.

Homer Jones

There are multiple candidates for the receiving spot opposite Toomer, including Odell Beckham Jr. and Del Shofner, but Jones has eye-popping stats, and he was an electric presence in an otherwise dreary Giants era.

His average of 22.3 yards per reception is the highest in NFL history. During his six years with the Giants from 1964-69 — the last three with quarterback Fran Tarkenton — he had 214 catches for 4,845 yards, a 22.6-yard average.

THE TIGHT END

Mark Bavaro

Does Jeremy Shocky merit a mention? He does. But Bavaro was a unique force in Giants history, a fan favorite whose few words but many catches and blocks made him a linchpin of two Super Bowl teams.

Bavaro fashioned one of the signature plays of the era when in a 1986 game against the 49ers he dragged Hall of Fame defensive back Ronnie Lott more than 10 yards downfield after making a catch.

THE OFFENSIVE LINE

Roosevelt Brown, Tackle

Arguably the greatest offensive player in Giants history, Brown was a dominant blocker on the 1956 title team and a nine-time Pro Bowler during a career that lasted from 1953-65.

Not bad for the 351st overall pick (in the 27th round) in the 1953 draft out of Morgan State.

In later years, Brown served as a coach and scout for the team, the ravages the game had visited upon his legs painfully evident.

Jumbo Elliott, Tackle

The Sachem High School alum was not all that jumbo by current standards at 308 pounds, but he was plenty big enough to earn his nickname and become a pillar on the Giants’ Super Bowl XXV-winning line.

He played a key role against Bills star Bruce Smith in that upset victory, in which the Giants stopped Buffalo’s offense by simply keeping the ball themselves.

Elliott finished his all-New York career with the Jets.

Chris Snee, Guard

The subplot when the Giants landed Eli Manning on draft day in 2004 was a dramatic one, too.

The Giants selected Boston College’s Snee in the second round, after which the public learned Snee was the father of coach Tom Coughlin’s grandson.

Everyone lived happily ever after on and off the field. Snee married Coughlin’s daughter Katie that summer, then became the greatest guard in franchise history, a key on two Super Bowl-winning lines.

William Roberts, Guard

A century of Giants football has produced relatively few memorable guards, but Roberts gets the nod for being on two Super Bowl winners, including the one that stunned the Bills in SBXXV with ball-control dominance.

Roberts began as a tackle but flourished at guard and spent 10 seasons with the Giants, making the Pro Bowl in 1990.

He reached a third Super Bowl as a Patriot and finished as a Jet in 1997.

Mel Hein, Center

One of the greatest players of the NFL’s early decades, Hein was a two-way star who spent 15 seasons with the Giants and was an inaugural member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963.

Hein was a first-team All-Pro for eight consecutive years, was the league MVP in 1938 – the first NFL player so honored – and anchored the 1934 and ’38 championship teams.

His No. 7 is retired by the Giants.

THE DEFENSIVE LINE

Michael Strahan, End

Strahan’s flashiest stats were his sacks, including 141 ½ in his 15-year career and an NFL record 22 ½ in 2001. But the football cognoscenti also appreciated him for his dedication to run-stopping, making him one of the most complete defensive ends of his era.

The fast-talking, gap-toothed star was a charismatic personality and leader, and his late-blooming partnership with coach Tom Coughlin helped deliver a Super Bowl title in Strahan’s final season.

Andy Robustelli, End

Justin Tuck was a central figure on two Super Bowl winners, making this one a close call, but Robustelli is a Hall of Famer and was a seven-time Pro Bowler who helped the Giants win the NFL title in 1956, his first of nine seasons with the team.

Robustelli’s teams played in five other NFL Championship Games in that era. He won the Bert Bell Award as the league’s best player in 1962.

Arnie Weinmeister, Tackle

The early 1950s Giants don’t get much love compared to their late ‘50s counterparts, but they finished in second place three years in a row and set the stage for the franchise’s later glory.

Weinmeister, a Saskatchewan native, was a key player on those teams, getting named first-team All-Pro in all four of his Giants seasons – after starring for the AAFC’s New York Yankees – en route to induction into the Hall of Fame.

Rosey Grier, Tackle

Grier widely is remembered for his time with the Ram’s “Fearsome Foursome” and for his outsized personality as an actor, needlepoint aficionado and a bodyguard who helped gain control in the chaotic aftermath of Robert Kennedy’s assassination in 1968.

But before all of that, he was a disruptive defensive force for the Giants from 1955-62 – missing the 1957 season because of military service – a three-time All-Pro and member of the ’56 title team.

THE LINEBACKERS

Lawrence Taylor

Linebacker is the deepest position in Giants history, and Taylor stands alone at the top of that depth chart.

L.T. reinvented the position as a pass-rushing terror from his outside spot, a force who led the Giants to the top of the league in the mid-1980s.

He was NFL Rookie of the Year in 1981, MVP in 1986, three-time Defensive Player of the Year, 10-time Pro Bowler and a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

Harry Carson

Carson was the bridge from the Giants’ awful mid-1970s era to the greatness of the 1980s, a rock of stability from 1976-88, including 10 seasons as a captain.

Carson only had 19 sacks in his career, but that was not his role. He manned the interior as a fierce run-stopper.

After a frustrating and what he considered overly long wait, the nine-time Pro Bowler was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2006.

Sam Huff

For many Americans, Huff defined the image of a hard-nosed football player after landing on the cover of Time magazine in 1959 and being featured by CBS in a 1960 documentary called, “The Violent World of Sam Huff.”

Most of the violence was visited upon opponents by Huff, leader of the late ‘50s and early ‘60s Giants defenses. The team reached the championship game six times in Huff’s eight seasons with the team.

THE DEFENSIVE BACKS

Dick Lynch, Cornerback

For most fans too young to remember the early 1960s Giants, Lynch is recalled as the team’s longtime radio analyst alongside several play-by-play partners.

But Lynch, born in Oceanside, was a standout corner in his day. He led the NFL in interceptions twice – in 1961 and ’63, the latter earning him a Pro Bowl invitation.

In ’63 he had nine interceptions and returned three for touchdowns. He totaled 251 return yards that year.

Erich Barnes, Cornerback

Sure, Barnes spent only four seasons with the Giants, sandwiched between stints with the Bears and Browns. But he made the most of them.

He made the Pro Bowl every year from 1961-64 and was first-team All Pro in ’61. Barnes had a knack for big plays, returning an interception 102 for a touchdown in ’61 and blocking a punt that set up the Giants’ only score in the ’62 NFL Championship Game loss to the Packers.

Emlen Tunnell, Safety

Tunnell became the Giants’ first Black player in 1948, but his legacy on the field makes him an all-time great beyond his historical import.

In 11 Giants seasons, he was a nine-time Pro Bowler and six-time first-team All Pro, and helped the team win the 1956 NFL title. (He later won another with the Packers.)

Tunnell still holds team career records for interceptions (74) and interception return yards (1,270), both by wide margins.

Jimmy Patton, Safety

A Giant from 1955-66, Patton was a five-time first-team All Pro and led the NFL in interceptions in 1958 with 11.

As an undersized player out of Ole Miss, he lasted until the eighth round of the 1955 NFL Draft.

His 52 career interceptions and 712 interception return yards both rank second in Giants history to Emlen Tunnell, his defensive backfield teammate.

Patton died at age 39 in a vehicular accident in 1972.

THE SPECIAL TEAMS

Lawrence Tynes, Kicker

Pete Gogolak deserves mention for his historical place as the NFL’s first soccer-style kicker, but Tynes has to get the nod for making some hugely important kicks in team history.

He converted overtime game-winners in the 2007 and 2011 NFC Championship Games en route to Giants Super Bowl victories. The former was a 47-yarder in sub-zero temperatures at Lambeau Field.

In six seasons with the Giants, Tynes made 122 of 146 field-goal attempts.

Sean Landeta, Punter

Garden City High’s own Dave Jennings had a long, strong run with mostly bad Giants teams, but the pick here is Landeta, who excelled for two Super Bowl winners.

Landeta, who spent his first nine NFL seasons with the Giants after starting in the USFL, was a three-time first team All Pro and the starting punter on the NFL’s 1980s All-Decade team. (He was the second-team punter on the 1990s All-Decade team.)

Dave Meggett, Returner

Meggett joined the Giants in 1989 and made an immediate impact, leading the league in punt return yards with 582 and adding 577 yards on kickoff returns – not to mention 531 receiving and 117 rushing – and making the Pro Bowl.

Then he led the NFL in punt return yards again in 1990 with 467.

Meggett totaled 129 yards on returns, rushing and receiving in the Giants’ Super Bowl XXV victory over the Bills.

THE BROADCAST BOOTH

Marty Glickman and Al DeRogatis

Bob Papa has been the Giants’ radio play-by-play man since 1995 and is widely liked and respected. But considering Papa regards Marty Glickman a mentor, it is no disrespect to Papa to go with Glickman here.

Glickman called Giants games on and off from 1949 through ’72, for six of those years in the early 1960s with DeRogatis, a former Giants player who later became Curt Gowdy’s partner on NBC’s top TV Team.

By Neil Best

neil.best@newsday.com@sportswatch

Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.