| NY GIANTS HISTORY 1950 - 1959 | | |
| 1950 | ●The Giants and New York Bulldogs divided the players of the former All-American Football Conference Yankees. The Giants received a young defensive back from Texas, Tom Landry, and a defensive tackle from Washington, Arnie Weinmeister.
●The Giants finished with a surprising 10-2 record and tied for first place with the Cleveland Browns, their first season above .500 since the Eastern Division championship season of 1946.
●The Browns defeated the Giants, 8-3, in the American Conference playoff game.
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1951
| ●End Kyle Rote of Southern Methodist was the Giants bonus pick in the draft, but he was injured in the preseason and saw little action.
●The Giants finished in second place with a 9-2-1 record, behind the only team they would lose to all season, the Cleveland Browns.
●Fullback Eddie Price led the NFL in rushing with 971 yards.
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1952
| ●Tailback Frank Gifford of USC was drafted number one. Playing in his fifth year, Emlen Tunnell gained more yardage on kick returns and interceptions (924) than the league’s leading rusher, Dan Towler (894), of the Los Angeles Rams.
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1953
| ●Tackle Roosevelt "Rosie" Brown Jr. of Morgan State, a future Hall of Famer, was the Giants 27th pick in the 1953 NFL draft.
●Steve Owen retired at the end of the season after 23 years as the Giants head coach. Owen was asked to keep his affiliation with the Giants as a scout in the personnel department, a position he held for one year.
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1954
| ●Former Giants end Jim Lee Howell was promoted from end coach to head coach.
●The Canadian Football League began a series of raids on NFL teams, signing Giants three-time Pro-Bowl defensive tackle Arnie Weinmeister, among others. In an effort to save the Giants and the NFL, Wellington Mara went out and signed the best player in the CFL, Montreal Alouettes halfback Alex Webster.
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1955
| ●On August 28, the sudden-death rule was used for the first time in a pre-season game between the Giants and the Los Angeles Rams in Portland, Oregon. The Rams won, 23-17, three minutes into overtime.
● After opening with three straight losses, the Giants got their act together and finished with a 6-5-1 record.
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| 1956 | ●Defensive end Andy Robustelli was obtained from the Los Angeles Rams.
●The Giants switched their home games from the Polo Grounds to Yankee Stadium.
●A 47-7 rout of the Chicago Bears produced New York’s first NFL championship since 1938.
●Linebacker Sam Huff, who was originally drafted as an offensive lineman but was switched to MLB when Ray Beck went down with an injury, was voted Rookie of the Year.
●Frank Gifford was named NFL Player of the Year and tackle Rosie Brown was named the NFL’s Lineman of the Year.
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| 1957 | ●The Giants were still in the running for the title in 1957 until they dropped their final three games.
●For the second straight season Frank Gifford finished in the top ten in both receiving (fourth) and rushing (tenth), with 588 yards receiving and 528 yards rushing. Gifford also completed four of six passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns.
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| 1958 | ●After completing the season at 9-3, the Giants faced a Cleveland Browns team led by running back Jim Brown in the Eastern Conference playoff game. Brown, who had gained an NFL-record 1,527 yards rushing, was held to just eight yards by the stingy New York defense as the Giants prevailed, 10-0. Advancing to the title game, the Giants lost to the Baltimore Colts, 23-17, in the first sudden death overtime in an NFL championship game. That game has been referred to as, "The Greatest Game Ever Played."
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| 1959 | ●On February 4, assistant offensive coach Vince Lombardi left to join the Green Bay Packers as their new head coach.
●On February 17, Giants founder Tim Mara died.
●The Baltimore Colts exploded for 24 points in the fourth quarter to defeat New York in the NFL title game for the second straight year.
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