The New York Giants continued the lead-up to the 100th anniversary of the team’s founding on August 1 by releasing the first ten players who made the cut in their Top 100 Greatest Giants of All Time.
Here are the first ten players released, with background on each, including some fun facts…
No. 91: K Lawrence Tynes
Tynes, acquired in a trade with the Kansas City Chiefs after the 2006 season, spent the 2007-2012 seasons with the Giants, winning two Super Bowl championships, before wrapping up his NFL career with the Bucs in 2013. Unfortunately, his career ended on a down note when he contracted MRSA after surgery on his toe.
During his time with the Giants, Tynes twice kicked the Giants to the Super Bowl, the first time in the 2007 NFC Championship against Green Bay. After missing two field goal attempts in the fourth quarter, Tynes delivered in overtime on a game-winning 47-yarder that sealed a 23-20 win for the Giants.
In 2011, Tynes again came through in overtime on a 31-yard field goal against the 49ers. The special thing about that game-winning field goal is that initially, the Giants were penalized on a 3rd-and-8 for a delay of game, and the field goal attempt, which was nullified, was no good.
Tynes later revealed that the initial kicking spot was in a puddle, which made his footing shaky. The five-yard penalty pushed the attempt back far enough onto more solid ground, where Tynes made the kick and sent the Giants to the Super Bowl.
No. 92: OL Darrell Dess
Dess was originally an 11th-round draft pick for the Pittsburgh Steelers out of North Carolina State in 1958. The following year, he went to the Giants for the first of two stints until 1964. He moved to Washington in 1965, but in 1966, he returned to the Giants, where he stayed until he called it a career in 1969.
During his first stint with the Giants, Dess enjoyed the best years of his career when he made back-to-back Pro Bowls in 1962 and 1963. He appeared in 146 career games.
No. 93: DB Terry Kinard
Kinard was a first-round pick by the Giants (No. 10 overall) in 1983 out of Clemson, voted to the All-Rookie Team in 1983. Kinard, voted to his only Pro Bowl in 1988, was also the starting safety on the Giants’ Super XXI championship team.
He finished with 31 interceptions and seven fumble recoveries in 121 games and was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2001. Kinard played for the Giants from 1983-1989 before closing out his career in 1990 with the Houston Oilers.
No. 94: NT Erik Howard
Howard was the second of four second-round picks the Giants had in 1986 and would eventually become a starter in 1989 after Jim Burt left the Giants for the 49ers.
A two-time Super Bowl champion and a 1990 Pro Bowler, among Howard’s biggest contributions as a Giant was in the 1990 NFC Title game against the 49ers when as time was winding down, he caused running back Roger Craig to fumble and linebacker Lawrence Taylor recovered the ball.
Kicker Matt Bahr’s 42-yard field goal brought the Giants back from a 13-12 deficit to a 15-13 win and the advancement to Super Bowl XXV.
No. 95: RB Saquon Barkley
Barkley, who this past off-season departed the Giants in free agency, was the second overall pick in the 2018 draft, a man who then general manager Dave Gettleman declared as being “gold jacket” (Hall of Fame) worthy. Barkley became the second Giants player in franchise history to win the Associated Press’s NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award.
During his rookie season, Barkley led the NFL with 2,028 yards from scrimmage and set Giants rookie records for rushing yards (1,307). He also tied the franchise record for receptions (91, shared with Odell Beckham, Jr.), and broke the team rookie records for total touchdowns (15) and rushing touchdowns (11).
Barkley, a two-time Pro Bowler in 2018 and 2022, also became the first player in Giants history to rush for at least 1,000 yards in each of his first two seasons, and he holds the single-game record for most scrimmage yards (279) set on December 22, 2019, against Washington.
No. 96: DB Willie Williams
Williams was drafted in the eighth round of the 1965 draft (No. 99 overall) out of Grambling State by the Giants in 1965. He played one season for the Giants before going to the Raiders in 1966. The following year, he returned for a seven-year run with the Giants (1967-1973) and would earn his first Pro Bowl berth in 1696 and lead the NFL in interceptions in 1968.
Williams played 100 games for the Giants and has 35 interceptions, which are tied with Dick Lynch for fourth-most in franchise history. During the 1968 season, he led the league in interceptions with ten, the last time a Giants player recorded double-digit interceptions. He was also just one of five [players to accomplish the feat in the franchise’s history.
No. 97: WR Hakeem Nicks
Nicks, the Giants’ first-round pick in 2009, might forever be known in Giants lore for his postseason showing in 2011. He finished with 444 receiving yards, the second most in a single postseason, one of his receptions being the famous 37-yard “Hail Mary” catch at the end of the first half against the Green Bay Packers, which broke open the game for the Giants, who rolled to a 37-20 win in the NFC Divisional Playoff round.
No. 98: FB Eddie Price
Price, a second-round draft pick by the Giants in 1950, played his entire career with Big Blue following his college career at Tulane. Price went on to earn three Pro Bowl berths (1951, 1952, and 1954) and two All-Pro nods (1951 and 1952).
He led the NFL in rushing in 1951 with 971 yards in 271 carries over a 12-week schedule. He finished his NFL career, appearing in 63 games with 50 starts, racking up 3,292 yards in 846 carries and 20 touchdowns as a rusher. He also added 75 receptions for 672 yards and four receiving touchdowns.
No. 99: OL Brad Benson
Benson was an eighth-round pick out of Penn State in 1977, a pick made by the New England Patriots. However, he never played for New England, who cut him. After Benson returned home to Altoona, Pennsylvania, where he did some substitute teaching, he got a call from the Giants inviting him for a tryout. Despite impressing in his tryout, the team didn’t have an opening for him.
A few days after his tryout, the Giants, thanks to an injury to one of their guards, had an opening, and they immediately called Benson, who, when the call came in that Monday, was in the middle of teaching a class, to come in.
By the time he finished playing in 1987, Benson, who was part of the Giants offensive line head coach Bill Parcells affectionately called his “lunch pail” guys, had earned Pro Bowl honors and was named a second-team All-Pro, both honors coming in 1986.
Of course, Benson was part of the 1986 championship team and was voted the first offensive lineman in the history of the NFC Offensive Player of the Week award to receive the honor. This honor came after he shut down Washington defensive end Dexter Manley, who in 1986 led the NFL in sacks during a Week 14 matchup.
That season, Benson wore a bandage across the bridge of his nose to protect a cut that resulted every time his helmet was pushed down on his face. The look endeared Benson to Parcells, his teammates, and even the late John Madden, who named Benson to his All-Madden Team in 1986.
In honor of their teammate’s NFC POTW award, the Giants offensive linemen wore bandages across the middle of their noses the following week.
No. 100: OL Rich Seubert
Rich Seubert was the very definition of tough. An undrafted free agent out of Western Illinois in 2011, it didn’t take long for the young offensive lineman to start impressing his new teammates and coaches. He impressed so much that Jim "Mouse" McNally, Seubert’s offensive line coach, introduced him to Wellington Mara, an honor that few undrafted rookie free agents got at the time.
Seubert, who played his entire career with the Giants, was initially known for being part of an officiating controversy in the 2002 NFC playoffs against the 49ers. Long snapper Trey Junkin botched the snap and Seubert, an eligible receiver on the play, was targeted by holder Matt Allen.
Seubert was interfered with by a 49ers defender, but the officials instead called an illegal man downfield, denying the Giants, who lost that game 39-38, another chance at a Matt Bryant field goal. The NFL later admitted to botching the call.
Seubert suffered a horrific broken leg injury in 2003 in a game against the Eagles when the back of his right leg was stepped on. After multiple surgeries and seemingly endless rehab, Seubert’s second season, Seubert worked his way back to the team, at first in spot duty on special teams and as a jumbo tight end before he found his way back to the starting lineup at guard and then eventually adding center to his offerings. Seubert was part of the Giants’ 2007 Super Bowl championship team.
Seubert’s career ended when he dislocated his right kneecap and tore some ligaments in the joint in the 2010 regular-season finale. The following year, he was released, and his NFL career was over.
