The 1980 New York Giants Were a Dysfunctional Mess

The New York Giants were not a good football team in 1980, going 4-12. And if you want to know why they were so dysfunctional, well, look no further than what happened when the team tried to sign free agent running back Lydell Mitchell, and no one knew what the heck was going on
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[@gorgonsdeathstare]

The only silver lining to this season was that it lead to the drafting of Lawrence Taylor (thanks New Orleans)

[@iamhungey12345]

Man, the Dome Patrol could have gotten LT and RJ in the same team as the opposites.

[@Jason_Maier]

JG9 As many bad years as the Giants have had (every team has bad years); I still say the worst Giants season was 1966. 1-12-1; giving up 501 points.

[@BrockBoone]

yep 1966 giants and 2017 giants 1980 giants and 1983 giants but the worse giants team ever is 1966

[@christopherbattle5161]

Yep. Last place for the teams that shared Yankee Stadium in 1966: the last-place New York Yankees and the 1-win New York Giants, they of the infamous 72-41 loss to Otto Graham's Washington team and the first team to lose a regular season game to the Atlanta Falcons.

[@kevinmadden1645]

True , but 1964 is close.

[@msarzo]

How did George Young ever manage to build two Super Bowl winners? 😂

[@andrewpadaetz5549]

That lousy 1980 allowed the Giants to get the second overall pick..a linebacker from UNC. I think you’ve heard of him…and that instantly turned the Giants around. Over the next 10 years with LT anchoring the defense the Giants got to the postseason six times and won two Super Bowls

[@BallparkHunter]

They also hired Ray Perkins who brought in an assistant named Bill Parcells. When Perkins left for Alabama in 1983, Parcells became head coach. @@andrewpadaetz5549

[@jeremydobbs5578]

He couldn't overcome Bill Parcells and Belichek

[@pendragon2012]

Although that terrible season meant we got Lawrence Taylor.

[@veritasinvicta8128]

Those years of the 70's wouldn't be seen again until 2013 and still counting. I do see opportunity and it starts with defense. Get that edge rusher with to combine with Kayvon. Strengthen the O-line and hope that Daboll is the guy. I began watchingf in 1979 and remember the Perkins years. 1981 was the beginning of a great teat that could have won more had they not shot themselves in the foot in "88" by losing games that should have been won (Hail mary loss to Niners/Last game against Jets) to miss the playoffs at 10-6 and 89 lost to an inferior Rams team that would go on to get throttled by the Niners. Hell Montana and the boys probably threw a party knowing they didn't have to face the Giants, who represented the Niners kryptonite from 1984-90.

[@DolFan316]

@@veritasinvicta8128 A great "teat" you say? 🤣😋

[@jeffreyvetrano5836]

@@veritasinvicta8128 I recall the Giants being very good those two years, beating my favorite team a total of four times (by a combined 14 points). However, they would not likely have been a match for the 49ers who were historically great in the playoffs those seasons. The Giants losing to the Rams in OT in 1989 was nothing to be ashamed of. The Rams were pretty good too.

[@iamhungey12345]

@@veritasinvicta8128 Also Young should have chosen Reggie White in that supplemental draft in 1984 rather than Zimmerman who didn't even want to be there.

[@iamhungey12345]

@@jeffreyvetrano5836 Except for how they lost that game, it was a blown opportunity there. Not sure if they could have won against the 49ers in 1989-90 playoffs but still they have a habit of matching up well against them so it was possible. in 1988-89, they were more than capable.

[@arizonawrestlinginterviews1040]

I would have hated to be a football fan in New York in the 70's. Literally every other team in the city is either making the playoffs or winning championships or at least being competitive. Then you got the Giants and the Jets. YEEECH!!

[@OfficialJaguarGator9]

And to make matters worse, thanks to the TV rules prohibiting doubleheaders in the same city where a home game is being played, 99% of the time, you were stuck watching the Jets and Giants, and nothing else on Sundays. Very rarely would you actually get a marquee game. The rest of the country got 4 games a week usually, and you only got 3. Anyone who grew up in NY in the 70s and loves football truly loves football, because they saw a ton of crap

[@darrellmayberry7784]

New York pro football was definitely sucking in 70s as the whole decade the Jets and Giants did not make the playoffs but things changed in 1981 when on the last day of the season the Jete needed to beat Green Bay to clinch a playoff spot but the Giants who had beaten Dallas the previous day needed a Green Bay loss to clinch a playoff spot and the Jets routed Green Bay 28-3 to send the Jets to their first playoff game since 1969 and the Giants their first playoff since 1963 so around Christmas time 1981 there were some happy Jets and Giants Fans around.

[@randytracy1742]

The giants were a mess in 1980,all right but they got Lawrence Taylor in the NFL draft! I wonder how lydell Mitchell felt about their treatment of him?? 😮😮😮😮😅

[@w41duvernay]

YES, THIS REDSKINS fan who was an early teen remembers them being in this area being HORRIBLE.

[@anthony0358]

Oh wow I was in 9th grade and both the Jets and Giants were 4-12 . What a disappointment

[@DC4L_gillie]

Nothing has changed throughout history 😂

[@andrewpadaetz5549]

Worse, the Jets were the only team to lose to the Saints that year.

[@anthonybrooks5040]

​@@andrewpadaetz5549right! Those years, the "Ain'ts" were the worst of the worst in the NFL.

[@andrewpadaetz5549]

@@anthonybrooks5040 that was the year the fans wore the bags over their heads with Aints on it.

[@DolFan316]

@@DC4L_gillie Not to mention back then NYC itself was an absolute crime-ridden cesspool. Oh wait, that hasn't changed either.

[@veritasinvicta8128]

This was my first full season of watching football. I began watching the Giants in 1979 and mny first memories were of Phill simms taking over at 0-5 and beating the 5-0 Tampa Bay buccaneers, who would go on and lose one of the most boring NFC Championship games in NFL History. I'm sure this channel has covered that game. Amazing content JG9. You aren't the best Jags content creator, I'd argue that you're the best YT NFL Historian.

[@OfficialJaguarGator9]

Thanks! Means a lot to me.

[@veritasinvicta8128]

@@OfficialJaguarGator9 You're quite welcome.

[@DolFan316]

Liked for the Biz Markie reference.

[@barbaracaroll]

There's only a few organizations with more super bowls than the Giants that's the fact

[@RicoCosta317]

I love it when you reference the "Shaggy defense"! It definitely applied here 😂

[@JayTemple]

I liked the Biz Markie reference even more!

[@eddixon2015]

The Parcells era aside, the Giants have always sort of been a mess in the Super Bowl era. Even when they won their two other Super Bowls with Eli, they weren’t exactly dominant teams, hell, the 2011 Giants finished 9-7, but four of those losses were to teams that finished below .500, two of Washington who finished 5-11 that year and was an absolute tire fire after week 2.

[@barbaracaroll]

Lydell Mitchell was past his prime in 1980

[@DC4L_gillie]

The Giants have always been a mess 😂 they’re still better than the eagles

[@Salvatore1268]

As per usual a story Jaguars tells that i never knew

[@johnskibajr5691]

The Giants have always been something of a trainwreck. Looking back at their history, they had at least 2 clashes between Mara family members which hurt the team and how it was run. The Maras also seem to not let the real football people do their jobs. They also have a long-standing tradition of being overly loyal to players and those in the organization. This led to some being held onto far too long or put in charge and kept in important front office positions (Andy Robustelli anyone) when they had no business being there in the first place. I had followed the team from 1970 so I missed several bad years but had to suffer for over a decade before they finally went to the playoffs. I truly believed that I would never see them in a SB let alone win one. It took a few more years before Parcells was able to make them decent and they had a good run there for a while. But most of the years from when Parcells left and till now have been forgettable. Looking back at the facts. They won 4 NFL Championships from 1927 to 1958, one of which was via the best record in the NFL. From 1933 to 1963 they played in 14 NFL title games. They won 3 and the last was in 1958. They lost 5 in a row before AND after that game. So, 1 for 11 in title games from 1935 to 1963. For the NFC East Division, they have been the champs there only 8 times in 54 years with the first not coming until 17 years after NFC East was formed. They did a good deal better in the SB games going 4 out of 5. Going by decades, I think the good way outnumber the bad. For the most part, the players drafted over the years has been conducted like a blindfolded darts match. I remember one Giants RB who had a 2 yards per carry average and the commentator stated that would be great if you had 5 downs. To sum up, the total lack of a solid base of operations had produced a mess more often than not and "the proof is in the pudding" really has shown for the past several years.

[@TommyRibs]

In 1980 Mitchell had 7 rushing attempts for 16 yards, and 2 catches for 21 yards in 2 games played. Weird story.

[@ciesaro]

For many years the ownership of the New York Giants was split between Wellington Mara and his nephew Tim. They got along like onions and ice cream

[@marcus813]

No wonder the Giants had so many bad teams until 1981 (missed the playoffs in 19 times in a 20-season span). I have a better idea of how dysfunctional they truly were by watching these videos.

[@Unknown-bq9id]

You really need to get into the infamous trade with Dallas where they traded their first-round pick in 1975 (which turned out to be the #2 pick) and their 1976 second-round pick for Dallas QB Craig Morton (who Roger Staubach had replaced as starting QB), and the first-round pick that Dallas selected was...Randy White. If you're a longtime Dallas fan, you might have heard of him... Oh, and Craig Morton was traded to Denver by the Giants, and promptly led the Broncos to the Super Bowl--where they lost to none other than Dallas...

[@iamhungey12345]

The Wilderness Era Giants would have wasted that pick anyway. There's a reason why the league would later have an intervention that led to George Young becoming their GM.

[@redmustangredmustang]

The amazing thing is how the Giants went to the playoffs the next year and even won a wildcard game.

[@adamalexander8367]

4-12 for us LT in the 81 draft tho.. BIG W 😂😂😂

[@chadwickwhite6107]

The way the Giants SHOULD be REMEMBERED

[@iamhungey12345]

In the end the mess of a season is what led to them getting LT. That said I can see why Harry Carson considered retiring early at one point to join the air force.

[@lsmftymf]

Bizarre, especially considering Mitchell, Perkins and Young all being former Baltimore Colts albeit the latter two were associated with Don Shula.

[@kevinmadden1645]

Things are much better now, right?

[@Wildcat_Media]

I hope Mitchell got to take in a show or go sightseeing at least. Geez, go all the way out there and nothing happens? I’d be upset that they wasted my time.

[@Fender178]

I remember Mitchell he was Franco Harris' college teammate at Penn St and both RBs were very good. Yeah even the CPAs of the Giants would tell that Young is full of shit because they know where the money goes.

[@johnphelan4215]

Maybe Ray Perkins surprised Mitchell at his hotel room and found him doing coke. Who knows? Could have been anything. I think George Young did ok with the Giants, building two Super Bowl winners out of a franchise that had been awful for two decades.

[@PJLeo-sp4gn]

Very curious what the reason Perkins had - but wouldn’t discuss - for not signing Mitchell.

[@user-qt1ly3tw9v]

Didn't Mitchell play for Denver also?

[@greggsheaffer2521]

No

[@CTubeMan]

This unofficial Official Jaguar Gator 9 historian will remind everyone you made a video about another time Bo Matthews was used as an excuse, this time to justify Chargers Coach Tommy Prothro’s decision to suspend Cid Edwards in 1974.