Giants assign new uniform numbers
Parris Campbell will be first Giants player to wear "0" since WWII
The New York Giants assigned numbers to some of their offseason additions on Wednesday, including No. 0, which will be worn this season by wide receiver Parris Campbell.
Campbell will be the first Giants player to wear “0” since tackle Lou Eaton in 1945.
The new NFL rules regarding uniform numbers will allow players at positions other than offensive and defensive line to wear “0” going forward. The new uniform number parameters are as follows:
Quarterbacks, punters, placekickers: 0-19;
Punters, placekickers: 0-49 and 90-99
Defensive backs: 0-49;
Running backs, fullbacks, tight ends, H-backs, wide receivers: 0-49 and 80-89;
Offensive linemen: 50-79;
Defensive linemen: 50-79 and 90-99;
Linebackers: 0-59 and 90-99
Other uniform assignments handed out on Wednesday were to tight end Darren Waller (No. 12), safety Bobby McCain (No. 21) and linebacker Bobby Okereke (No. 58). Long snapper Casey Kreiter, who wore no. 58 last season, has switched to No. 59.
Some Giants Uniform History
Last year, the Giants retired Eli Manning’s No. 10, a well-deserved honor for their former quarterback, a two-time Super Bowl MVP and holder of many of the franchise’s passing records.
Manning played 236 games in a Giants uniform, 20 more than the next man up, Hall of Fame defensive end Michael Strahan, who also had his number (92) retired by the Giants last season.
The two retirements brought the team’s total of retired numbers to 14. The other 12 numbers that will never worn again by a Giant player are: 1 (Ray Flaherty), 4 (Tuffy Leemans), 7 (Mel Hein), 11 (Phil Simms), 14 (Y.A. Tittle), 14 (Ward Cuff), 16 (Frank Gifford), 32 (Al Blozis), 40 (Joe Morrison), 42 (Charley Conerly), 50 (Ken Strong) and 56 (Lawrence Taylor).
Manning’s number had been worn by many players before him, and we’ll get to that in a minute, but Strahan, oddly enough, is only one of two players to officially wear No. 92 in the nine-and-a-half decade history of the franchise.
There’s a good reason for that. Uniform numbers in the 90’s were not widely worn before the 1980s. In 1979, the NFL began to allow defensive linemen to wear uniform numbers in the 90s and then expanded it to linebackers 1984. The Giants didn’t assign numbers in the 90s early on in those years. In fact, they didn’t begin assigning numbers in the 90s until the late 1980s during the 1987 work stoppage.
It was then, they gave out No. 92 for the first time - to replacement linebacker Jeff Tootle - who wore it for exactly three games. It wasn’t until Strahan came along in 1993 that No. 92 was reissued. Strahan wore it famously for 15 seasons and now it will never be worn by another Giants players.
No. 10 has a different history. From 1925 through 1947, it was worn by ten players: Swede Nordstrom, Ed McGinley, Doc Alexander, Chuck Corgan, Corrie Artman, Potsy Jones, Mickey Kobrotsky, Len Barnum, Lou DeFilippo and Howie Livingston. I will personally give a dollar to anyone who has seen any of these players play in person for the Giants.
In 1964, No. 10 was issued to quarterback Henry Schichtle, who played just one game in Blue. The next player to wear the number was another quarterback, Fran Tarkenton, who the Giants got in a blockbuster trade with the Minnesota Vikings. Tarkenton played five seasons for the Giants, leading them to a couple of 7-7 seasons and the brink of the playoffs in 1970. He was named to the Pro Bowl in four of his five seasons here.
In 1971, the Giants traded Tarkenton back to the Vikings for package of players and draft choices. With one of those draft picks, the Giants selected the next play who would wear No. 10 - Michigan State safety Brad Van Pelt.
Of course, the Giants moved Van Pelt to linebacker but he was allowed to keep the No. 10 jersey since he was their backup punter. BVP went on to become one of the top outside linebackers in football and was named to the Pro Bowl five times.
After Van Pelt was traded in 1984, the number went dormant until the 1987 work stoppage when it was issued to wide receiver Beau Almodobar. Quarterback Kent Graham wore it from 1992-99 before it was worn by two punters - Tom Rouen and Jeff Feagles.
When the Giants acquired Manning via a draft day deal in 2004, a deal was worked out between Feagles and Manning so that the rookie could have his college number.
Manning had worn No. 10 at Ole Miss, shunning the idea of wearing his father Archie’s No. 18, which was retired (Peyton wore No. 18 in college and then in the pros).
“When I got to the Giants, Jeff Feagles was No. 10 and I remember just on the way from where I was drafted, Madison Square Garden to kind of going to Giants Stadium to be welcomed, someone had Feagles on the line and we worked out a deal real quick for a trip to Florida. If it was going to be easy and simple and not a big story then I said I’d do it, but if it was going to be something outrageous, I probably would’ve moved on and found another number. I didn’t know what was available at the time, but it was very easy. I said if I could keep it, I’d like to keep it and the rest is history.” - Eli Manning