On November 2nd, the Giants will host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday Night Football. It will be the 73rd time that the Giants have played on a Monday night. Below are a few of those memorable games (either for better or for worse), but first, ask yourself this: what was a classic Giants Monday night game on ESPN?
Go ahead, I’ll wait.
Couldn’t think of anything? I didn’t think so. It’s a fact that Monday Night Football on ESPN is far from the same broadcast produced by ABC from 1970 to 2005. Therefore, these observations will be limited to Monday night games from the ABC era.
It’s worth noting, however, that the Giants played three Monday night games before 1970. They tied the Boston Yanks, 7-7 at Fenway Park in 1947, tied the Steelers, 13-13 in Pittsburgh in 1951, and lost at Dallas, 25-3 in 1969. During the late 1960s, CBS showed one or two Monday night games each season as an experiment. When NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle made it clear in 1970 that he wanted Monday Night Football to happen every week, CBS and NBC punted, as both networks already had successful Monday lineups. It then fell to ABC, a distant third in the ratings for most of their history. ABC Sports head Roone Arledge and network president Leonard Goldenson saw this as an opportunity to finally challenge the other two networks, and gladly took it on.
Continue reading your story on the app
Continue reading your story in the magazine
The Giants' draftees: a statistical briefing
The 2021 NFL Draft is in the books, producing the six newest members of the New York Football Giants’ franchise.
THE BIRTH OF TRADER DAVE
Gettleman is enjoying his new title after making moves in the draft
THE 12TH DIMENSION
My top three Giant drafts of the modern era
ROUND TWO
Azeez Ojulari • LB • Georgia
ROUND THREE
Aaron Robinson • CB • UCF
ROUND ONE
Kadarius Toney • WR • Florida
ROUND FOUR
Elerson Smith • EDGE • Northern Iowa
Ourlads' Giants draft analysis
A year full of firsts due to the COVID-19 pandemic made the entire process leading up to the 2021 NFL Draft both unorthodox and limited.
No consolation prize
Kadarius Toney is far from a fall back guy
NFC EAST ROUNDUP
NFC EAST ROUNDUP
UNITY IN A WORLD OF DIVERSITY
BRIAN JONES explores unity in a world full of challenges and diversity. Through different analogies and his own personal experience with meditation, he finds effective ways to achieve unity through the silence of the heart.
GOOGLE SIGNS DEAL WITH WNBA TO HELP CHAMPION WOMEN'S SPORTS
The WNBA signed a multi-year deal with Google this week to be the presenting partner for the league’s playoffs, part of the technology giant’s efforts to help champion women’s sports.
Hands Off My Football Team!
The European Super League followed a model shaped in the U.S. Opposition from fans scuttled the idea
FOR TELEVISION, NFL DEAL IS LIKELY A MATTER OF SURVIVAL
The $113 billion deal to telecast NFL games through 2033 is head-swimmingly large — until you consider that the very survival of broadcast networks as we know them may depend upon it.
DEFENSIVE LINEMEN: TOP AVAILABLE FREE AGENTS
Leonard Williams, Giants 6-5 • 255 pounds • 28 years old An athletic 300-pounder with quick feet, Williams amassed a career-high 11.5 sacks last season. Add that to him being a stout run defender, very durable and possessing great character, and he should be in high demand. He won NFC Defensive Player of the Week twice last year. $$$$$
DEFENSIVE LINEMEN
DEFENSIVE LINEMEN
Q&A with Ron Rivera, Martin Mayhew and Marty Hurney
Coach Ron Rivera, General Manager Martin Mayhew and Executive Vice President of Football/Player Personnel Marty Hurney met with the media via Zoom on Feb. 3 to discuss the direction of the new front office. The interview is edited for space.
NON-HUNK HOLT IN CROSSHAIRS OF NBC SHAKE-UP
Lesser Lester ratings spell trouble
Shoots from the hip
Robby Anderson said he wasn't “genuinely happy ” with the Jets at times
What great culture looks like
Throughout the process of the Jets looking for a new coach, a buzzword we heard quite a bit was “culture.”