New York Giants Alternate Helmet Ranked the Worst Among 2024 Crop in New Poll

The Giants Century Red helmet didn't strike a chord in a recent Sports Illustrated ranking.

New York Giants 100th anniversary throwback uniforms. / Courtesy of Giants.com

This season, the New York Giants are celebrating their 100th season and are one of the 13 teams debuting their alternate uniforms, which will include their “Century Red” uniform, which features a winged red and blue helmet worn from 1937-1947.

Despite the history behind the helmet, which pays homage to the franchise’s 1938 NFL championship, a ranking done by Sports Illustrated of the 13 alternate helmets set to be rolled out by teams this year has the Giants’ version last.

 “This helmet is, unfortunately, the best part of what is a disastrous classic set,” wrote rankings compiler Tom Dierberger, adding, “It looks better in grainy black-and-white footage from that 1938 championship.”

The players who will wear the classic look when the Giants host the Vikings in Week 1 at MetLife Stadium seem a bit more appreciative of the look at what it represents.  

"I feel like it's gritty and vintage," linebacker Bobby Okereke told Dan Salomone after he saw (and tried on) the entire uniform for the first time. "It's a throwback to the 1920s, 1930s when they were out there just getting grimy. It's a testament to all the guys who played before. They paved the way for us to play this great game."

In 1925, Tim Mara famously purchased the Giants for five hundred dollars. Since then, the team has made history before and after the merger in 1970. The “Century Red” jerseys are divided by a thick blue stripe representing the first-ever NFL Championship Game. 

The Chicago Bears and Giants played the first championship game at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Despite losing to the Bears in 1933, the Giants managed to beat them the following year in the championship. Many remember this game as “The Sneakers Game.”

"The field was not only frozen, but it was corroded," Giants Hall of Famer Mel Hein told NFL Films years later. "[Our] cleats would not hold.”

"Right away, we sensed something was wrong because they had good footing," Bears legend Bronko Nagurski told NFL Films decades later, "And we didn't have good footing... they just outsmarted us, I guess. It was legal."

Each detail in the Giants’ Century Red uniform has a rich history embedded into it, including the pants. This uniform is paired with blue and red striped socks. 

In their third season of existence, the Giants wore these styles of pants in arguably one of the most dominant NFL seasons ever. In 1927, the Giants allowed only 20 points in 13 games (franchise record), according to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. 

While this record may remain untouched forever, the Giants' legacy will be attempted to continue throughout this season.

"I like that we stick to the legacy," Giants outside linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux said, "and keep playing it forward."

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