Paula Abdul reportedly did the choreography for this video (Image via Youtube.com)

Wow. I’ve been a Giants fan for as long as I can remember, but I don’t ever recall seeing this video before yesterday … and it’s absolutely, awesomely & hilariously awful.

Back in the ’80s – fresh on the heels of the Bears’ “Super Bowl Shuffle” sensation – getting sports teams to sing terrible songs and make even worse music videos became the cool thing to do. And during their own run toward Super Bowl XXI in 1986, some members of the New York Giants apparently couldn’t resist the seductive allure of the music biz either.

This video for the creatively titled “We’re the New York Giants” was shot in the old Giants Stadium on a budget of approximately $42, featuring a random collection of just eight Giants players with stars in their eyes, dancing (awkwardly) and lip synching in street clothes to a super-sweet electro/pop synth beat. And holding a deflated football.

VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP

It appears that the song was credited to “Manuel, Headen & Roberts”, which means that WR Lionel Manuel (in the blue baseball cap), backup LB Andy Headen (in the cowboy-meets-pimp hat), and OL William Roberts (in the shades and brown jacket) were the masterminds behind this track. The token white guy is DB Herb Welch, and we spot CB Mark Collins (checkered jacket) in there too, but otherwise we have no idea who the rest of these dudes are … and we desperately want to know who the guy in the white jacket and blue sweatpants tucked into his socks is. If you have any leads on any of the unidentified Giants, please post them in the comments.

We are the New York Giants
Don’t you know we’re great
Football is our business
Pasadena we can’t wait

The New York Giants is our name
Football is our game
Winning we proclaim
And drugs are not our thang …

That’s why we’re winners!
THAT’S WHY WE’RE WINNERS!

Weighty stuff. And as you can see from the pic of the original 12″ (available online for just $9.24!), it was the visionaries at A-1 Creative Records who thought it was a wise investment to put it on wax … I somehow doubt they recouped on this one.

Compiled in 2008 following their last Super Bowl run, this is by far the most comprehensive (and emotionally stirring) Giants highlights package we’ve ever seen. Featuring the highs and lows from New York’s storied franchise history – and with several classic moments from their rivalry with the Niners included – it is a must-watch for any fan of Big Blue.

Simply put, this is why I’m a fan of the New York Football Giants:

[Music – “This Is The Sea” by the Waterboys]

Sorry, but any objectivity we had been feigning until now goes right out the window today … GO GIANTS!!!

(Image via Sportsgrid.com)

We’re obviously a little late to the party on this, but the San Francisco 49ers took down the New Orleans Saints 36-32 in the game of the Divisional Playoff weekend, with Alex Smith delivering the game-winning TD to Vernon Davis on what will undoubtedly forever go down in San Francisco sports history as “The Catch III”. 

Both Smith and Davis turned in career-making performances and Smith finally delivered on his #1 pick expectations by out-dueling the NFL’s all-time single season passing leader (Drew Brees) in a game that saw four lead changes in the final 5 minutes! Smith had his NFL bar mitzvah and became a man on Saturday, finishing with 299 yards and 3 TDs passing, 0 INTs and one 28-yard rushing score to pus SF ahead late in the 4th.

For his part, Vernon Davis cemented himself in Niner lore with 7 catches for 180 yards and 2 TDs, including the game winner on a 14-yard strike from Smith with nine seconds remaining. After dominating all day long and when his team needed him most, Davis delivered a huge blow to Saints safety Roman Harper in the endzone and managed to hang onto the ball for the win.

On what was very nearly the 30th anniversary of the original “The Catch” – Dwight Clark‘s infamous touchdown grab in the 1981 NFC Championship game (1/10/82) – Davis’ play more closely resembled “The Catch II” by Terrell Owens in 1999, right down to crying on the shoulder of head coach Jim Harbaugh as he ran to the sideline (pic above).

VIDEO OF ALL THREE 49ERS “CATCHES” AFTER THE JUMP

But after the game, rather than embrace the obvious connection to his predecessors, Davis insisted that his catch go by a different name:

“You’ve got to call it “The Grab,’ ” Davis said of his play. “We were down. I had to make it happen to take my teammates where we want to go.”

“This is huge for us … It’s history, legendary, anything you can describe.”

Yeah … good luck with that, Vern.  It’s “The Catch III”. Get used to it.

The high-powered Saints offense also contributed five turnovers to the Niners’ cause, including 2 Brees interceptions, but give credit where credit is due. Much like their adopted team mascot the honey badger, Jim Harbaugh’s team took what it wanted and proved themselves the better team on this day. The win gives SF their first playoff win in nine years, and they’ll next play host to the New York Giants in Sunday’s NFC Championship game.

Now thanks to the wonders of Youtube, here are all three of the historic 49ers “Catches” in chronological order – Clark>Owens>Davis:

(Photo via forums.49ers.com)

In preparation for tomorrow’s game featuring the same two teams, and just because it’s awesome, we bring you this classic 1990 defensive struggle between the 10-1 New York Giants and 10-1 San Francisco 49ers. 

In it, we get a brilliant MNF broadcast with Michaels, Gifford and Dierdorf, featuring (among other greats) Joe Montana, Lawrence Taylor, Jerry Rice, Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick. And although the game didn’t see a lot of touchdowns, you’re watching one of the great offenses of its time squaring off against one of the best defenses in what would be a preview of that year’s NFC Championship game. It just works on so many levels.

So settle in and enjoy the full game … via YouTube user DaveMeggett, in all 13 glorious parts:

[H/T Reddit.com/r/NFL]

(Photo: Yahoo.com)

One of the biggest surprises of the 2012 NFL season thus far has been the emergence of the Cincinnati Bengals, who are off to a 5-2 start and riding a four game win streak, due largely to the play of rookie sensations AJ. Green and Andy Dalton. Together, the wide receiver taken with the #4 overall pick and the second-round quarterback (respectively) are off to the best start of any rookie WR-QB duo in recent memory, giving Bengals fans hope for the future like they haven’t felt in ages.

The New York Times‘ NFL Blog, The Fifth Down, has an excellent piece today on the historical significance of the Dalton-to-Green connection. Not since Jim Plunkett and Randy Vataha connected for 51 passes for 872 yards and 9 touchdowns as Patriots in 1971 have a rookie pair taken the league by storm in this fashion. The closest thing since was the Redskins’ Joe Theismann to Gary Clark (who caught 72 passes for 926 yards and 5 TDs as a rookie in 1985), but it’s become a rarer phenomenon in recent years.

Already through seven games this season, Green has caught 33 passes for 516 yards and 5 TDs. And they have nine more games to notch 5 more scores and become the first rookie QB-WR tandem to connect for 10 TDs in NFL history. Wow.

Fortunately for us, NFL Films had both players mic’d up during their Week 6 win over the Indianapolis Colts, for the always-awesome SoundFX program. Watching and listening to these guys play, it’s clear that Green still has some mental issues on the field, which are to be expected of a rookie, and he more than makes up for with sheer physical talent. But Dalton comes off like an old pro, directing traffic and displaying the leadership of a seasoned vet in the huddle, on the sidelines and with the coaches. And together, the two are developing a chemistry that should be exciting to watch for a long, long time.

Hell, it already is pretty exciting to watch, and we’re just getting started.

VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP

(Photo: Yahoo.com)

The latest episode of NFL Network’s excellent series, A Football Life, focused on the Chicago Bears’ legendary larger-than-life coach and player, Mike Ditka.

As usual, the program gives an in depth look into the Hall of Famer’s life, both on and off the field. From his upbringing in western Pennsylvania to his time as an All-American two-way end at Pitt and becoming a first round draft choice by the Bears. There, Iron Mike revolutionized the Tight End position and came to define toughness and agression from an offensive player in the NFL.

Of course, Ditka went on to coach the Bears for 11 years, winning Super Bowl XX and creating a much larger legend for his his blustery and temperamental persona. His coaching career ended on a less successful note with a 3-year stint with the Saints, where Da Coach looked so constantly stressed out that you genuinely worried he might have a heart attack at any minute.

With NFL Films at the helm, the show provides a multi-dimensional look at one of the more fascinating characters in NFL history. You can watch a bunch of clips here (the “growing up Ditka“ section is particularly worthwhile), but this segment covers a lot of ground on Ditka’s coaching career, including his, shall we say … colorful relationship with both quarterbacks and the media. It also includes a look at this classic furious, pantsless television interview, and starts with Ditka’s now-ubiquitous “Kick Ass” brand, which he shamelessly slaps on everything from red wine to Italian beef :

VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP

And as this image shows, in addition to sporting a moustache and being a few pounds lighter than he is today, back then Rex also favored the Kenny Powers-esque mullet as his hairstyle of choice:

(Photo: Twitter.com)

Aeneas Williams approves.

(Photo: wireimage.com)

Inspired by this recent New York Times piece, which examines the disappearance of neck rolls from the game of football, we decided to compile a list of the greatest neck rolls in NFL history.

The neck roll apparatus – which theoretically protects against injuries by helping to stabilize the neck – was a standard part of the uniform for anyone playing youth or high school football in the 80s or 90s. And although sports science seems to have proven neck rolls to be relatively useless as an injury prevention tool, they will always hold a warm place in our football memories.

From the Times piece:

It goes by names like cowboy collar and butterfly restrictor, can look like a cut-up life preserver, a miniature washboard or a tube of cookie dough and, depending on whom you ask, is incredibly effective or about as necessary as an appendix.

(…)

Much like Spandex did not, in fact, make everybody who wore it look thinner, neck rolls became another disappearing fad because they were probably more style than substance, said Stephen J. Straub, a professor of athletic training and sports medicine at Quinnipiac University. 

Straub was involved in a 2003 study that examined three different types of neck rolls and ultimately concluded that “they’ve never been shown to be effective,” he said, adding: “In a lab, they seem to be able to control the head, at least a little bit. But no one has been able to show that on a football field.”

If nothing else, they at least helped make you look more intimidating on the field (well, except on Grogan, that is), and we’ll continue to hold out hope for a comeback as we pay tribute to the once-ubiquitous neck roll with the following glorious images.

TOP 10 NECK ROLLS IN NFL HISTORY

(If you think of any other players who donned a neck roll during their career and we may have omitted from our list, please let us know in the comments)

1. Steve Grogan – New England Patriots

Grogan and his fabled 2-story neck roll (Photo: BleacherReport.com)

(Photo: ESPN.com)

2. Bryan Cox – Miami Dolphins/New York Jets

Cox made the headrest-style neckroll famous (Photo: cleveland.com)

But he experimented with a variety of neck rolls, including this from earlier in his career

3. Jack Lambert – Pittsburgh Steelers

The original badass (Photo: mitchellandness.com)

Rocking the cookie dough tube (Photo: SteelerGridiron.com)

3. Willie Lanier – Kansas City Chiefs

Bonus points for the specially padded helmet (Photo: Helmethut.com)

(Photo: Bestsportsphotos.com)

4. Wilber Marshall – Chicago Bears/Washington Redskins

Marshall's neck roll resembled elephant tusks (Photo: BleacherReport.com)

BONUS PIC - w/ Dan Hampton and Refrigerator Perry, all with neck rolls

5. Howie Long – Oakland Raiders

This style clearly had no neck stability benefits (Photo: Bizjournals.com)

(Photo: BleacherReport.com)

6. Eric Dickerson – LA Rams/Indianapolis Colts

Rocking the butterfly collar look (Photo: NFL.com)

7. Brian Bosworth – Seattle Seahawks

The Boz was all style over substance (Photo: SIKids.com)

8. Christian Okoye – Kansas City Chiefs

The Nigerian Nightmare looked even more imposing with his under-the-jersey neck roll (Photo: ioffer.com)

9. Mike Alstott – Tampa Bay Buccanneers 

Alstott also sported the under-the-jersey variety (Photo: SPtimes.com)

10. Carl Banks – New York Giants/Cleveland Browns

(Photo: BleacherReport.com)

(Photo: mearsonlineauctions.com)

(Image via SBNation.com)

Episode 3 of NFL Films’ extraordinary new series, A Football Life, premieres Thursday on the NFL Network, and this week it chronicles the bond between two of the most ferocious defenders to ever play in the NFL, Reggie White and Jerome Brown. The two Eagles defensive linemen were about as diametrically opposed personalities as you could find – Steve Sabol calls them “football’s version of the Odd Couple” –  but shared an unbreakable bond on the field during the five seasons they played together in Philadelphia.

A Football Life takes a close look at that period, leading up to Brown’s untimely death in a car accident in 1992, and examines the lasting impact both men had both on and off the field. And after seeing how awesome the first two episodes of this series were, you can be sure we’ll be setting the DVR to record them all.

WATCH THE TRAILER AFTER THE JUMP

Enjoy this stroll down memory lane:

Ah yes … the Jets’ draft reach is one of the game’s grandest traditions, and we look forward to it continuing tonight.