1979 New York Giants season
OwnerTimothy J. Mara
Wellington Mara
General managerGeorge Young
Head coachRay Perkins
Home fieldGiants Stadium
Results
Record6–10
Division place4th NFC East
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersBrad Van Pelt
Harry Carson
Dave Jennings

The 1979 New York Giants season was the franchise's 55th season in the National Football League (NFL). The Giants had a 6–10 record in 1979 and finished in fourth place in the National Football Conference East Division.[1]

The Giants were one of three franchises, not including the Seattle Seahawks (an expansion team that began play in 1976), which did not make the playoffs during any year of the 1970s. The others were the New York Jets and New Orleans Saints.[2]

Offseason

Before the 1979 NFL Draft, Bill Walsh, who was the new coach of the San Francisco 49ers, flew to Morehead State University with assistant coach Sam Wyche to work out quarterback Phil Simms.[3] Walsh was so impressed with him that he planned to draft Simms, actually preferring him over another young quarterback they scouted and ultimately drafted, Joe Montana.[4] The Giants, however, decided to make Simms their first-round pick to the surprise of many.[5] As Simms acknowledged, "most people have never heard of me."[5] When Simms' name was announced by Commissioner Pete Rozelle, his selection was booed loudly by Giants fans.[6] However, he became more popular with his teammates, who jokingly dubbed him "Prince Valiant" in his rookie training camp.[7]

Draft

See also: 1979 NFL Draft
1979 New York Giants draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 7 Phil Simms *  QB Morehead State
2 36 Earnest Gray  WR Memphis
4 90 Phillip Tabor  DE Oklahoma
5 117 Cleveland Jackson  TE UNLV
6 145 Bob Torrey  RB Penn State
6 158 Eddie Hicks  RB East Carolina
7 172 Steve Alvers  TE Miami (FL)
8 200 D.K. Perry  DB SMU
8 201 Roy Simmons  OG Georgia Tech
9 227 Tom Rusk  LB Iowa
10 256 Dan Fowler  OG Kentucky
11 282 Mike Mince  DB Fresno State
11 284 Ken Johnson  RB Miami (FL)
12 310 Tim Gillespie  OG NC State
      Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[8]

Personnel

Staff

1979 New York Giants staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches


Roster

1979 New York Giants roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists


Practice squad



Rookies in italics

Regular season

Simms won his first four starts in his rookie year.[9] He led the team to a 6–4 record as a starter, throwing for 1,743 yards and 13 touchdown passes, and was named to the NFL All Rookie Team.[10] According to his 1981 Topps trading card, he was runner-up in 1979 for Rookie of the Year, losing out to future teammate Ottis Anderson.[11]

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Attendance
1 September 2 at Philadelphia Eagles L 17–23 0–1 67,366
2 September 9 St. Louis Cardinals L 14–27 0–2 71,370
3 September 17 at Washington Redskins L 0–27 0–3 54,672
4 September 23 Philadelphia Eagles L 13–17 0–4 74,265
5 September 30 at New Orleans Saints L 14–24 0–5 51,543
6 October 7 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 17–14 1–5 72,841
7 October 14 San Francisco 49ers W 32–16 2–5 70,352
8 October 21 at Kansas City Chiefs W 21–17 3–5 44,362
9 October 28 at Los Angeles Rams W 20–14 4–5 43,376
10 November 4 Dallas Cowboys L 14–16 4–6 76,490
11 November 11 Atlanta Falcons W 24–3 5–6 60,860
12 November 18 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 3–31 5–7 70,261
13 November 25 Washington Redskins W 14–6 6–7 72,641
14 December 2 at Dallas Cowboys L 7–28 6–8 63,787
15 December 9 at St. Louis Cardinals L 20–29 6–9 39,802
16 December 16 Baltimore Colts L 7–31 6–10 58,711

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 6

1 234Total
Buccaneers 0 707 14
• Giants 0 1403 17
Scoring summary
2NYGBilly Taylor 2 yard run (Joe Danelo kick)Giants 7–0
2NYGBilly Taylor 1 yard run (Joe Danelo kick)Giants 14–0
2TBLarry Mucker 14 yard pass from Doug Williams (Neil O'Donoghue kick)Giants 14–7
4NYGJoe Danelo 47 yard field goalGiants 17–7
4TBJimmie Giles 11 yard pass from Doug Williams (Neil O'Donoghue kick)Giants 17–14

[12]

Standings

NFC East
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Dallas Cowboys(1) 11 5 0 .688 6–2 10–2 371 313 W3
Philadelphia Eagles(4) 11 5 0 .688 6–2 9–3 339 282 W1
Washington Redskins 10 6 0 .625 5–3 8–4 348 295 L1
New York Giants 6 10 0 .375 1–7 5–9 237 323 L3
St. Louis Cardinals 5 11 0 .313 2–6 4–8 307 358 L1

See also

References

  1. ^ "1979 New York Giants". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on July 8, 2009. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
  2. ^ 2000 National Football League Record & Fact Book. New York City: Workman Publishing Company. 2000. pp. 293–295. ISBN 0-7611-1982-5.
  3. ^ Simms, Phil and Meier, Rick. Phil Simms On Passing. New York City: William Morrow and Company, 1998. pp. 74–75. ISBN 0-688-16108-1.
  4. ^ King, Peter (August 27, 2001). "The Rating Game: NFL Quarterback". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved September 26, 2016.
  5. ^ a b Katz, Michael (May 5, 1979). "Giants Defend 'Value' in Choice of Simms". The New York Times. Retrieved January 31, 2018.
  6. ^ Mooney, Roger. "No team takes Phil Simms first in today's NFL", The Bradenton Herald, April 22, 2007, p. 1D.
  7. ^ Katz, Michael (May 11, 1979). "Giants Test Simms in A Workout". The New York Times. Retrieved January 31, 2018.
  8. ^ "1979 New York Giants Draft". The Football Database. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
  9. ^ Smith, Michael David (November 17, 2020). "Tua Tagovailoa aims to be first rookie QB since Ben Roethlisberger to win first 4 starts". NBC Sports. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  10. ^ Neft, David S., Cohen, Richard M., and Korch, Rick. The Complete History of Professional Football from 1892 to the Present. New York City: St. Martin's Press, 1994. p. 660. ISBN 0-312-11435-4.
  11. ^ Topps Football (1981). Card #55.
  12. ^ "Tampa Bay Buccaneers 14 at New York Giants 17". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved October 18, 2013.


Categories