Wretched Football

Doug Kotar (44), who played for the Giants from 1974-1981 was one of the team's few bright spots. He finished his career with 3,380 yards rushing and 1,022 yards receiving.

As noted over in the profile section, The Observer is a life long New York Giants fan. I became curious as to exactly how bad the Giants were and for how long they were bad. Particularly memorable for me were my high school years. So here is the Giants record from the 1970s and early 1980s.

1970: 9-5 (Surprisingly, this did not get them into the playoffs that year but then again, there were fewer slots back then.)

1971: 4-10

1972: 8-6

1973: 2-11-1

1974: 2-12

1975: 5-9

1976: 3-11

1977: 5-9

1978: 6-10

1979: 6-10

1980: 4-12

1981: 9-7

1982: 4-5 (The strike year)

1983: 3-12-1 (First year for Bill Parcells coaching)

1984: 9-7 (They made the playoffs.)

Since this extended run of crappiness, the Giants have had their down years, but have avoided steady streaks of losing football:

1985: 10-6

1986: 14-2 (went to the Super Bowl and beat Denver)

1987: 6-9

1988: 10-6

1989: 12-4

1990: 13-3 (went to the Super Bowl and beat Buffalo)

1991: 8-8

1992: 6-10

1993: 11-5

1994: 9-7

1995: 5-11

1996: 6-10

1997: 10-5

1998: 8-8

1999: 7-9

2000: 12-4 (Went to the Super Bowl and lost to the Baltimore Ravens)

2001: 7-9

2002: 10-6

2003: 4-12

2004: 6-10

2005: 11-5

2006: 8-8

2007: 10-6 (went to the Super Bowl and beat New England)

2008: 12-4
So, yes, The Observer knows bad football. And yes, The Observer knows the pain of the fan of the losing team. But hang in there; really, better days are ahead. But you can see from this record why Giants fans get nervous when the team is not doing well. We really really don't want to go back to "the old days."