The New York Giants

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...

was the franchise's 67th 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 entered the season as the defending Super Bowl champion but failed to qualify for the playoffs. They were the eighth team in NFL history to enter a season as the defending Super Bowl champion and miss the playoffs, and became the first organization in NFL history to do so twice (the Giants missed out on the playoffs a season after winning Super Bowl XXI as well). The 1991 season marked the first season that the

Mara family The Mara family is an Irish-American family primarily known for owning the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL) since the formation of the franchise in 1925. The Maras owned the team outright until 1991, when a feud led to one side ...

did not have total ownership of the Giants.

Wellington Mara Wellington Timothy Mara (August 14, 1916 – October 25, 2005) was the co-owner of the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL) from 1959 until his death. He was the younger son of Tim Mara, who founded the Giants in 1925. Wellingto ...

's nephew Tim, who had inherited the half-stake in the team that his grandfather and namesake had given to Tim's father

Jack Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas, USA People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, ...

, decided that he no longer wanted to be involved with the team after twenty-six years, most of which had been spent feuding with his uncle over the team's operations. On February 2, 1991, shortly after

Super Bowl XXV Super Bowl XXV was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Buffalo Bills and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the ...

, Tim Mara announced he had sold his family's stake in the team to businessman

Bob Tisch Preston Robert Tisch (April 29, 1926 – November 15, 2005) was an American businessman who was the chairman and—along with his brother Laurence Tisch—was part owner of the Loews Corporation. From 1991 until his death, Tisch owned 50% ...

, the co-founder of

Loews Corporation Loews Corporation is an American conglomerate headquartered in New York City. The company's majority-stake holdings include CNA Financial Corporation, Diamond Offshore Drilling, Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, Loews Hotels and Altium Packaging. ...

and former

United States Postmaster General The United States Postmaster General (PMG) is the chief executive officer of the United States Postal Service (USPS). The PMG is responsible for managing and directing the day-to-day operations of the agency. The PMG is selected and appointed by ...

. Tisch did not take an active role in the operations of the team, instead choosing to focus on the team's finances; this enabled the Maras to keep control of the football side of the team and allowed Wellington Mara's son

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

to take a more active role with the Giants. The 1991 season also marked the first time since 1983 that the Giants entered the season with a new head coach.

Bill Parcells Duane Charles "Bill" Parcells (born August 22, 1941) is an American former football coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 19 seasons. He rose to prominence as the head coach of the New York Giants from 1983 ...

decided to retire following the Super Bowl victory and general manager George Young chose to promote

Ray Handley Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (gra ...

, the team's running backs coach, to the position instead of promoting defensive coordinator

Bill Belichick William Stephen Belichick (; born April 16, 1952) is an American professional football coach who is the head coach of the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). Additionally, he exercises extensive authority over the Patri ...

; Belichick would leave the Giants soon after to become head coach of the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

. During the Giants' previous season

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 ...

entered the year as the starter and started the first fourteen games of the season. In the course of that fourteenth game, where the Giants hosted the Buffalo Bills, Simms suffered a severe foot injury and backup

Jeff Hostetler William Jeffrey Hostetler (born April 22, 1961) is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants, Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders, and Washington Redskins. His nickname is "Hoss." College career ...

took over and led the Giants through the playoffs and to their Super Bowl victory over those same Bills. Simms did recover from his injury and was expected to regain his starting position, but Handley decided to make Simms and Hostetler compete for the position. Handley made his decision prior to the Giants' week one matchup with the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

on ''Monday Night Football'' and gave the starting job to Hostetler amid some controversy. Hostetler led the Giants to 6 wins in his eleven starts, but broke his back during a week 13 win against

Tampa Bay Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater ...

. Simms returned to finish the game, but went 2–3 as Giants starter the remainder of the year and the Giants fell out of the playoffs.

Offseason

After the 1990 season, in which the Giants won the Super Bowl, the Giants lost several members of their coaching staff. In addition to Parcells and Belichick, wide receivers coach

Tom Coughlin Thomas Richard Coughlin ( ; born August 31, 1946) is a former American football coach and executive. He was the head coach for the New York Giants from 2004 to 2015. He led the Giants to victory in Super Bowl XLII and Super Bowl XLVI, both time ...

took the head coaching position Boston College; he was said to have been the first choice to replace Parcells and would have done so had he not left the Giants.

NFL Draft

Roster

Regular season

Schedule

Game summaries

Week 7: at Pittsburgh Steelers

Standings

Awards and honors

References

External links

New York Giants on Pro Football Reference

Giants on jt-sw.com
{{1991 NFL season by team New York Giants seasons New York Giants New York Giants season 20th century in East Rutherford, New Jersey Meadowlands Sports Complex