New York Giants Well-Represented on Super Bowl Participants

Both the Chiefs and 49ers have several players/coaches with links to the Giants.

The New York Giants might not be one of two participating teams in this year's Super Bowl. Still, the franchise is well represented by the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers, who have players and coaches. Here is a look at those connections.

Kansas City Chiefs

Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnulo

Spagnuolo famously served as the defensive coordinator of the New York Giants' 2007 Super Bowl championship team, his first season in New York and his first as an NFL defensive coordinator.

Spagnuolo, who had come to the Giants from the Eagles, where he was a defensive assistant holding multiple roles on then-head coach Andy Reid's staff from 1999-2006, left the Giants after the 2008 season to be the head coach of the St. Louis Rams, a role he held from 2009-2011. 

Jan 7, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo looks on from the sideline during the first half against the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium / Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

After stops in New Orleans and Baltimore, he returned to the Giants in 2015 to serve as the defensive coordinator in Tom Coughlin's final season as head coach. Spagnuolo was retained by Coughlin's successor, Ben McAdoo, and was promoted to interim head coach in 2017 when McAdoo was fired.

Spagnuolo reunited with Reid in Kansas City in 2019 as the team's defensive coordinator.

Defensive Backs Coach David Merritt

Merritt, a former NFL defensive back who played with the Dolphins and Cardinals, was one of head coach Tom Coughlin's original assistant coaches who stayed with the team for the duration of Coughlin's 12 years in New York.

Merritt's work was so highly regarded that Ben McAdoo, who replaced Coughlin after the two-time Super Bowl-winning head coach resigned from his position, was kept on, reassigned to work with the team's safeties, a role he held until 2017 when McAdoo was fired. Merritt then went to the Arizona Cardinals for the 2018 season before landing with the Chiefs in 2019.

WR Kadarius Toney

Toney was the Giants' first-round draft pick in 2021, a pick made at No. 20 after the Giants famously traded down nine spots with the Chicago Bears, passing on outside linebacker Micah Parsons. Toney lasted a year and a quarter in New York before general manager Joe Schoen traded the sour receiver to the Kansas City Chiefs for a pair of draft picks in 2022.

The Giants, meanwhile, benefitted from trading down in that 2021 draft as they picked up an extra first-round pick the following year, giving them two picks in the top seven of the draft that turned into edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux and offensive tackle Evan Neal.

WR Richie James

James, who had been with the 49ers before injuries started to affect him, came to the Giants on a one-year trial to revive his career. He almost didn't make it through a full season, though, as some mismanagement of the ball on punt returns led to him being removed from that duty for a brief while.

But James not only reclaimed the starting job when injuries struck, he also finished as the team's leader in receiving yardage (569 yards) on 57 receptions, the only time in the last five years that Darius Slayton was topped for that honor. 

Dec 17, 2023; Glendale, Arizona, USA; San Francisco 49ers guard Jon Feliciano (55) against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

San Francisco 49ers

Anthony Lynn, Assistant Head Coach/ Running backs Coach

Lynn, a journeyman NFL running back who played for the Broncos (1993, 1997-1999) and 49ers (1995-1996) before turning to coaching, briefly had a cup of coffee with the Giants during the 1992 off-season.

OL Jon Feliciano

Feliciano was the Giants' starting center during the 2022 season, his first full season playing the position. After one year in New York, he signed with the 49ers as an unrestricted free agent.

DB Logan Ryan

Ryan was signed by the Giants just weeks before the start of the 2020 NFL season after rookie safety Xavier McKinney suffered a broken foot midway through that year's training camp. Ryan, who had been with the Titans from 2017-2019, reunited with head coach Joe Judge, with whom he had been a part of the New England Patriots from 2013-2016. Ryan served as a defensive captain for the Giants in the 2021 season. The team released him in March 2022 as part of a salary cap cleanout.

LS Taybor Pepper

Pepper is another player who had a quick cup of coffee with the Giants that is coming during the 2019 off-season. After failing to make the Giants' 53-man roster that summer, Tabor was scooped up by the Miami Dolphins for the 2019 season. He then went west to the 49ers, where he's been since 2020.

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