Reggie White - a Giant??????

[President Rick]

have you heard this one?   I never did until just now on an nfl channel show about the 1984 draft.

Reggie White had opted to play for the usfl and was part of the supplemental draft.  Parcells wanted him, the Giants took mike zimmerman, guard, whom they traded to Minnesota.  Took someone else in that draft and White ended up on the iggles instead of wearing NY Giants blue. 

Can you imagine those 1980's - 1990's Giants defenses with White there too???

[uconnjack8]

Yes, it's a pretty famous story.   It would have been something to have White and LT in their prime on the Giants.

[Rosehill Jimmy]

To add insult to injury, Zimmerman had made it clear prior to the draft that he wanted no part of New York.

[Giant Obsession]

For all the good and stability George Young bought to the Giants he has a few scabs also.

The 3 big ones that jump to mind (in no certain order) are ...........
1.  Total lack of preparation in assembling a roster when the everyone knew the strike of 1987 was a distinct possibility.  Result we field a team of dregs,  lose all 3 games to drop to 0 - 5 and season is basically shot.  George was very much a company man and his inflexible thinking regarding the strike bit us in the butt.

2.  The Reggie White story above has been around for a few years and makes total sense.  Yes, Zimmerman was a stud.  As it turns out a HOF stud, like Reggie.  But he was extremely adamant well before the dispersal draft that he wanted NO part of New York.  I'm sure George thought he could strong arm him into changing his mind, but Zimmerman never budged or blinked.  In his limited defense I will say George was a huge believer in offensive line.  And in his days as GM we did mount quite a healthy running attack and Simms always had better than average protection.,

3.  His courting of Howard Schnellenberger, then coach of National Champion Miami Hurricanes, after Bill Parcells disastrous 1st year as HC replacing Ray Perkins.  Fortunately Schnellenberger had his fill of being an NFL HC for Robert irsay's Baltimore Colts and declined our offer or waved off any interest as the story goes.

A very good GM who brought professionalism to the Giants organization and like anyone in that position many swings and misses as well as home runs.  And in some cases some strokes of luck, both dumb and otherwise.

[kartanoman]

We talked about this a few months ago. Basically, because Young whiffed completely on Zimmerman, and had to basically sell him at a discount (i.e. two number two draft picks ... one of them being Mark Collins), you can argue that a golden opportunity was wasted. The idea of Reggie White on that incredible defense is mind boggling, to say the least. But, in fairness, Mark Collins proved his worth in 1990 by completely shutting down Jerry Rice in both games that season, with the latter being a key element in the Giants' dramatic NFC Championship win in SF.

Every road not taken has its "what could have beens" but the truth is we'll never know how it actually would have played out. Lest we forget that Donald Trump signed Lawrence Taylor to play for the NJ Generals and the Giants had to buy out that contract. Would they have had the stomach to buy out Reggie White's $3 million contract and then sign him to a lucrative deal just after they did so with Lawrence?

Even without Reggie White, Parcells and his men brought home two Lombardi trophies and a lifetime of legendary memories. How did the Iggles fare with Reggie and Jerome?

I count my blessings I'm a Giant fan and witnessed it all from the heart of The Wilderness Years which made the Parcells era the cornerstone of my Fandom.

Peace!

[President Rick]

wasn't it george young who adamantly opposed B. Belichick becoming Giants HC after Parcells retired??

[kartanoman]

wasn't it george young who adamantly opposed B. Belichick becoming Giants HC after Parcells retired??

Belichick already had interviews for the Browns job as soon as the Super Bowl was finished. He agreed to become head coach in early February while Parcells stepped down in May, just after the draft.

The rumor mill suggested that Young didn't think Belichick was head coach material at that time. He was one of the youngest head coaches in the league, at the time. Young was from the old school and, despite working well with Parcells, probably didn't think he was ready yet.

It was all a moot point in how it all played out.

Peace!

[coggs]

When I first heard this all I could think of was, "Add Reggie White to that defense and they might go undefeated from 86-91."