New York Giants

The New York Giants have been New York’s most popular football team ever since they joined the NFL in 1925. The Giants’ official name was, and still remains, the New York Football Giants in order to distinguish them from the New York Giants baseball team from whom they derived their name. The baseball Giants would eventually simplify matters by relocating to San Francisco in the 1950s to become the San Francisco Giants. The Giants enjoyed success both before and after the AFL-NFL merger of 1970, winning four NFL championships prior to the merger and four Super Bowls since. Combining the pre- and post-merger years, the New York Giants have made more appearances in championship finals than any other NFL team, with 22 in total, which unfortunately (for them) means that they have also lost the most finals (14). It did take the Giants a while to get going when the Super Bowl era began, with the team not showing their faces in a playoff game until 1981. They hit their stride in the mid-1980s, losing twice in the  Divisional Playoffs before cruising all the way to Super Bowl XXI in 1986, where they defeated John Elway’s Denver Broncos 39-20 to claim their first Super Bowl title. The Giants visited the Big Dance again in 1990 when they squared off against the Buffalo Bills in a tightly contested Super Bowl XXV matchup that came right down to the final kick of the game (for the Bills) with the score 20-19 in favor of the Giants. Fortunately (for the Giants), the kick sailed wide right and a second Super Bowl went back to New York. The Giants’ third title in 2007 at Super Bowl XLII is widely considered to be one of the biggest Super Bowl upsets of all time, as the Giants (10-6 in the regular season) overthrew Tom Brady’s undefeated New England Patriots (who had posted the only ever 16-0 season in league history) with a dramatic final minute touchdown to win 17-14. Four years later, in 2011 at Super Bowl XLVI, the Giants proved that their previous success had been no fluke, putting down the Patriots again in a tight 21-17 victory. Since scaling those heights, however, the team has struggled in recent years, missing the playoffs for five straight seasons before putting together a short postseason run in 2022. Loyal football fans in the Big Apple will be eager to see a much-hoped-for fifth Super Bowl title arrive in their famous city before long.