The 1980 New York Giants season was the franchise's 56th season in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

. The

Giants A giant is a being of human appearance, sometimes of prodigious size and strength, common in folklore. Giant(s) or The Giant(s) may also refer to: Mythology and religion *Giants (Greek mythology) *Jötunn, a Germanic term often translated as 'gi ...

finished in last place in the

National Football Conference East Division The National Football Conference – Eastern Division or NFC East is one of the four divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). It currently has four members: the Dallas Cowboys (based in Arlingt ...

with a 4–12 record. In the

1980 NFL Draft The 1980 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 29–30, 1980, at the New York Sh ...

, the Giants selected defensive back

Mark Haynes Mark Haynes (born November 6, 1958) is a former American football cornerback in the National Football League who played for the New York Giants and the Denver Broncos from 1980 until 1989.''NFL.com''"Mark Haynes, DB" Retrieved on May 14, 2013 ...

with their first-round pick, which was eighth overall. New York won its opening game of the season against the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

, 41–35, behind a five-touchdown performance by quarterback

Phil Simms Phillip Martin Simms (born November 3, 1955) is an American former football quarterback who spent his entire 15-year professional career playing for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He is currently a television sport ...

. Four of those touchdown passes were to Earnest Gray, who set a single-game franchise record for touchdown receptions. The Giants lost the following game to

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

by two points, the start of an eight-game losing streak. A Week 10 win over the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divi ...

snapped the streak; a subsequent win over the Green Bay Packers was followed by a pair of defeats. A shoulder injury caused Simms to miss the last three games of the season. Scott Brunner took over as the starting quarterback for those games, during which the Giants went 1–2. Simms threw for 2,321 yards in his 13 appearances, and had 15 touchdown passes and 19 interceptions. Brunner threw for four touchdowns and had six interceptions. New York's leading rusher was

Billy Taylor Billy Taylor (July 24, 1921 – December 28, 2010) was an American jazz pianist, composer, broadcaster and educator. He was the Robert L. Jones Distinguished Professor of Music at East Carolina University in Greenville, and from 1994 was the a ...

, who ran for 580 yards and four touchdowns. Gray had a team-leading 10 touchdown receptions during the season, and caught 52 passes for 777 yards. On defense, Mike Dennis led the Giants with five interceptions. Two Giants players, Dave Jennings and

Brad Van Pelt Brad Alan Van Pelt (April 5, 1951 – February 17, 2009) was an American football linebacker who played 14 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). A two-time All-American ( 1971, 1972) and the 1972 Maxwell Award winner as college football ...

, were selected for the

1981 Pro Bowl The 1981 Pro Bowl was the NFL's 31st annual all-star game which featured the outstanding performers from the 1980 season. The game was played on Sunday, February 1, 1981, at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii. The final score was NFC 21, AFC 7 ...

Offseason

NFL Draft

Personnel

Staff

Roster

Schedule

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Season summary

Week 1: at St. Louis Cardinals

* Source:''
Pro-Football-Reference.com
*

16/31, 280 Yds * Earnest Gray 9 Rec, 174 Yds

Week 10 vs Cowboys

*Giants' first win against Dallas since 1974

Standings

References

New York Giants seasons New York Giants New York Giants season 20th century in East Rutherford, New Jersey Meadowlands Sports Complex {{NewYorkGiants-season-stub