New York Giants: Their best players since 1970
Giants With Three Pro Bowl Appearances
Odell Beckham, Jr., Tiki Barber, Shaun O’Hara, Mark Haynes, Bart Oates and Landon Collins.
Quite a list, a wide receiver, a running back, a safety, a cornerback and two centers. The whole world seems to know Beckham’s story. The Giants top pick in the 2014 NFL Draft was as dynamic as he was volatile, setting several receiving records early in his career. He was named to the Pro Bowl in each of his first three NFL seasons and became a national sensation after he made a spectacular one-handed touchdown grab against the Dallas Cowboys on national television. The Giants traded OBJ to the Cleveland Browns earlier this year for safety Jabril Peppers and two draft choices (Dexter Lawrence and Oshane Ximines).
Barber is quite simply the greatest running back in the history of the Giants. A second round pick out of Virginia in 1997, Barber didn’t become a Pro Bowl-caliber talent until 2004 and made team from 2004-2006. He retired abruptly after the 2006 season, which likely cost him a chance at the Pro Football Hall of Fame since the Giants would win the Super Bowl the next season. His 10,449 yards are the most in the history of the Giants. His 2.390 yards from scrimmage in 2005 are the third most all-time among NFL backs.
O’Hara has bucked the odds everywhere he’s gone. He was walk-on in college at Rutgers. He went undrafted in 2000 and made the Cleveland Browns roster. He caught the eye of Giants’ GM Ernie Accorsi as a free agent center in 2004 and became the linchpin of the Giants line until 2010. O’Hara was named to the Pro Bowl the last three years of his career.
Haynes was the eighth overall selection out of Colorado in the 1980 NFL Draft. He made the Pro Bowl in 1982, 1982 and 1984 and then held out before the 1985 season. When he returned, he suffered a season-ending groin injury. After the season, the Giants traded Haynes to Denver for a 1986 second round pick (Pepper Johnson) and a sixth round pick (Ron Brown), plus a 1987 second round pick (Adrian White).
Oates joined the Giants after the demise of the USFL in 1985. The center out of BYU solidified the Giants’ offensive line which head coach Bill Parcells dubbed ‘The Suburbanites’. Oates had quite a football career winning two USFL titles with the Philadelphia Stars, two with the Giants and one with the San Francisco 49ers. He also went to the Pro Bowl five times. three as a Giant.
Collins is still very much in the Giants’ sphere after they alowed him test the free agent waters this offseason where he signed on with Washington for six-years and $84 million. In 2015, the Giants uncharacteristically traded up to the top of the second round in the NFL Draft to nab the Alabama safety, who started his first 47 games as a pro. Collins was a first team All-Pro in 2016 and was named to the Pro Bowl from 2016-2018.