1979 New York Giants season

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]

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

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 Attendance
1 September 2, 1979 at Philadelphia Eagles L 23–17
67,366
2 September 9, 1979 St. Louis Cardinals L 27–14
71,370
3 September 17, 1979 at Washington Redskins L 27–0
54,672
4 September 23, 1979 Philadelphia Eagles L 17–13
74,265
5 September 30, 1979 at New Orleans Saints L 24–14
51,543
6 October 7, 1979 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 17–14
72,841
7 October 14, 1979 San Francisco 49ers W 32–16
70,352
8 October 21, 1979 at Kansas City Chiefs W 21–17
44,362
9 October 28, 1979 at Los Angeles Rams W 20–14
43,376
10 November 4, 1979 Dallas Cowboys L 16–14
76,490
11 November 11, 1979 Atlanta Falcons W 24–3
60,860
12 November 18, 1979 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 31–3
70,261
13 November 25, 1979 Washington Redskins W 14–6
72,641
14 December 2, 1979 at Dallas Cowboys L 28–7
63,787
15 December 9, 1979 at St. Louis Cardinals L 29–20
39,802
16 December 16, 1979 Baltimore Colts L 31–7
58,711

Game summaries

Week 6
1 234Total
Buccaneers 0 707 14
• Giants 0 1403 17

[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 May 13, 2009. Retrieved May 9, 2009.
  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. 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.
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