Why The New York Giants Are Really America’s Team
The Dallas Cowboys are commonly referred to as “America’s Team.” Here is a secret though, this is not a distinction earned but an honor that was self anointed. The Cowboys are essentially printed their own award, and they cling to it, because their five Super Bowls happened long ago.
Jul 31, 2014; Oxnard, CA, USA; Dallas Cowboys helmet at training camp at the River Ridge Fields. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
The Cowboys are not really America’s team. The Cowboys may be the most recognized NFL team around the world because of their owner and his love for marketing as bigger and flashier than anyone else, even if they are not better. The Cowboys may have fans all across the country, but they have just as many adversarial fans in each state.
So who is America’s team? If the country can be represented by any NFL team, I would argue that it is the New York Giants. The Giants have an incredibly rich history. The Giants have four Super Bowls, and they won championships before Super Bowls were even a thing.
The Giants represent the state of New York, they represent the city that never sleeps and they represent the Tri-State area. New York City is America in microcosm.
Clumped into one land, you have a delightful mix of people from every ethnicity, creed and culture. There is therefore no city that represents the United States of America better than New York City.
While the great state of New York may have three teams who all have rich histories, the Giants are clearly the cream of the crop.
Feb 2, 2014; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets former quarterback Joe Namath (left) and New York Giants former quarterback Phil Simms pose for photos before Super Bowl XLVIII between the Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports
The Jets played a very integral part of the AFL-NFL merger. The Jets may have had Broadway Joe Namath, and they certainly changed the game forever. That being said many Jets fans would admit to playing second fiddle to the Giants for many years, as the Giants have had more success.
The Bills who also were part of the AFL, but they are most remembered for their four most devastating losses. In the 90’s the Bills lost four consecutive Super Bowls, one of them to the Giants.
The Giants began their legendary football franchise in 1925. They won four world championships before the Super Bowl era. They lost in the 1958 NFL Championship game to the Baltimore Colts but in doing so they played a part in a historical moment.
That 1958 Championship game was the football worlds introduction into sudden death overtime. Alan Ameche, the fullback for the Colts, ended the game by rushing into the goal line. The game is known by a nickname-“The Greatest Game Ever Played.”
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The Giants won four Super Bowls as well. They won two in the Bill Parcells era and two in the Coughlin era. Parcells’s coaching staff with the Giants is still impacting the game today. Coughlin, Sean Payton and Bill Belichick all were assistant coaches under Parcells with the Giants. The former Parcells employed coaches have won 8 Super Bowls combined.
The Giants clearly represent the state of New York, as well as New York City. They say that America is a melting pot, full of diversity. The same can be said about New York. Since the Giants represent the most diverse area of the great USA, they can be more appropriately referred to as this country’s team. The Giants, and not their arch rival Cowboys should be referred to as “America’s Team.”