Memorable night: Giants to unveil Ring of Honor

Phil Simms said that in his mind, nothing will ever replace the old Giants Stadium. The wind, the cold, the fans and the Astroturf that was basically a layer of carpeting over cement. It actually might have been harder than the parking lot that exists where the stadium used to stand.

"I talk with people all the time and we laugh," Simms said. "Not only did we play on it our whole careers, we practiced on that damn thing almost every day."

But New Meadowlands Stadium will have one endearing quality for Simms that Giants Stadium did not: his name.

Simms and 29 other greats from the Giants' 85-year history will be honored at halftime Sunday night when the team unveils its inaugural class of inductees into a Ring of Honor. Many other teams show an appreciation for their past in such a way, but the Giants decided to wait until they moved into this new building.

Simms said he often is asked about his playing days, and he often thinks of them as having been in another lifetime.

"Sometimes I think back and I go, 'Wow, I did enough to get my name inside of a stadium,' " he said. "It's really great."

Only "greats" need apply for this Ring of Honor, which will include players, coaches, general managers and owners from one of the NFL's most tradition-laden franchises. The Giants have announced six members and will unveil the remaining 24 at the ceremony. Most are obvious, such as Hall of Famer Frank Gifford, but some are surprises. Pete Gogolak, the Giants' all-time leading scorer and a kicker from 1966-74, will be in the Ring.

"I'm especially honored being a kicker with all of the other ballplayers," Gogolak said. "That's very exceptional."

Gogolak was the NFL's first soccer-style kicker. He also was the first big-time player to make the jump from the AFL to the NFL.

Gogolak recalled a time when his kicking style was so new that Bills quarterback Jack Kemp refused to hold for him out of fear of being kicked. There'll be plenty of those types of stories floating around the field among the honorees Sunday night.

Honoree Bill Parcells, the Dolphins' executive vice president of football operations, will not be able to attend, but he spoke this week about his fondest memories as a Giants coach, including the flight from the 1990-91 NFC Championship Game win in San Francisco directly to Super Bowl XXV in Tampa (there was no week off between the two back then).

"I wouldn't say it was a party atmosphere, but it was euphoric," Parcells said of the flight. "I'm not saying we didn't have a couple of drinks because we did. It was just a kind of a euphoric time for all of us, and I think everybody who was on that plane felt a great sense of accomplishment."

He also had a message for fans because he won't be able to deliver it himself: "Go Giants!"

Michael Strahan, who works for Fox as a studio analyst, said he likely will be unable to attend because his network will be covering the Eagles-Redskins game and he'll be working in Hollywood. "Wouldn't it be something if two NFC East teams keep me from coming?" he said.

Simms also has a television career that could interfere with his arrival at the stadium, but he said he's planning on leaving Pittsburgh after calling the 1 p.m. Steelers-Ravens game for CBS, flying to Newark and driving to the Giants game. He hopes to arrive sometime during the second quarter and meet up with his wife and daughter just in time to see his name unveiled.

Oddly, Simms probably won't get to see that very often. Because his network covers the AFC, most of his trips to New Meadowlands Stadium will be to cover Jets games. His and the other Giants greats will have their Ring of Honor covered up during those contests, replaced by Jets greats such as Joe Namath, Don Maynard and Curtis Martin.

"I have an unbelievably high number of friends that work at the stadium," Simms joked, "so when we go do a Jets game, somehow mine is still going to be up there."

In the hearts of Giants fans - and Simms himself - it never will come down.