Four Giants Land on College Football Hall of Fame Ballot

Former New York Giants legend Michael Strahan was among the list of former Giants to make the College Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2025 ballot.

Michael Strahan, far right, smiles as the New York Giants retire his jersey with former coach Tom Coughlin, center, and former player Jessie Armstead, far left. / Danielle Parhizkaran/NorthJersey.com /

The New York Giants have one of the most storied franchises in National Football League history. Many players have Hall of Fame careers while with the organization. 

They’ve also had many players who were extremely talented players on the collegiate level. The College Football Hall of Fame recently announced its ballot for the Class of 2025, the list including four former Giants.

The most well-known is Hall of Fame defensive end Michael Strahan. Strahan started over 200 games for the New York Giants and ended his 15-year professional career with over 850 tackles and over 140 sacks.  

At Texas Southern, Strahan finished with the school’s all-time sack record, totaling nearly 42 sacks. He also ended his collegiate career with the football program’s single-season sack record, with 19 sacks in his final season in college. 

Strahan’s productive collegiate career led to his induction into the Black College Football Hall of Fame in 2014. He was recently named to the Senior Bowl’s 75th Anniversary Team.

Here is a look at the other three players with ties to the Giants up for consideration for the College Football Hall of Fame:

Punter Sean Landeta, who came to the Giants from the Baltimore Stars of the USFL, spent the 1985-1993 seasons with the Giants. During that time, he was part of two Super Bowl championships, XXL and XXV. He was also named a three-time first-team All-Pro (1986, 1989, and 1990) and a two-time Pro Bowler.

At Towson University, Landeta led the nation in punting (NCAA Division II) in 1980 and was named First-Team All-American in 1982 (NCAA Division II). 

He recorded a school-record 72-yard punt in 1981 and hit the school-record 57-yard field goal in 1980, becoming the only player in NCAA history to lead the nation in punting and field goals in the same season (1980).

Running back Keith Elias, an undrafted free agent who signed with the Giants out of Princeton in 1994, spent three seasons with the Giants before finishing his NFL career with the Colts from 1998 to 1989. 

An Ivy League record holder in several categories, Elias’s gritty play style on both offense and special teams helped him make the Giants roster in 1994 despite the odds being stacked against him. 

Quarterback Alex Tanney was with the Giants during the final three years of his career as an active player (2018-2020), before retiring to pursue a career as an NFL assistant coach. 

Tanney, who played college ball at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois, was a record-setting gunslinger. He posted 157 touchdown passes and the second-most passing yards in NCAA D-III history (14,249). 

Tanney won three Midwest Conference Offensive Player of the Year Awards and several All-American Awards.  

Tanney went undrafted in 2012, signing with the Kansas City Chiefs. He also had stints with the Cowboys, Browns, Bucs, Titas, Bills, and Colts prior to coming to the Giants. 

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