Why Worry When Your Assistants Are Lombardi, Landry?

Sunday’s win at the Rose Bowl gave the New York Giants their first NFL title in 30 years. When they won in 1956 with a 47-7 rout of the Chicago Bears, the head coach was Jim Lee Howell, and the assistants included Vince Lombardi and Tom Landry.

Kyle Rote, a receiver on the team, recalled walking down the hallway of the Giants’ training complex one night and looking into the rooms.

“I looked into Lombardi’s room, and he was working away on the offensive game plan,” Rote said. “A few doors down, I looked into Landry’s room, and he was putting the finishing touches on the defensive game plan.

“At the end of the hall, I looked into Howell’s room. Jim Lee was sitting back in a chair with his feet up on the table, reading the newspaper.”

Add Lombardi: Giant co-owner Wellington Mara told John Jeansonne of Newsday that it was not until Lombardi became the head coach of the Green Bay Packers that he could afford to become a full-time coach.

“Vince worked in real estate in the off-season,” Mara said. “He also took a job in a bank. I remember there was a picture of him reporting to work at the bank in one of the New York papers, when Green Bay hired him. I think his career in banking lasted three days.”

Trivia Time: How did the San Diego Chargers get their nickname? (Answer below.)

If somebody starts a petition to ban artificial turf, don’t expect the Morris brothers to sign it.

Jamie, of Michigan, and Joe, of the New York Giants, flourished on the synthetic stuff but found it slow going on the grass of the Rose Bowl.

Jamie gained 47 yards in 16 carries against Arizona State. Joe netted 67 yards in 20 carries against the Denver Broncos. That’s a total of 114 yards in 36 carries for a 3.2 average.

Would-you-believe-it dept.: Phil Simms said the best thing that happened to him was breaking his thumb in 1983 when the Giants went 3-12-1. Scott Brunner was the quarterback in all but two games.

“It was probably the turning point in my career because I don’t know if I could have done anything,” Simms said. “It was a terrible year. Everything went wrong, and you can’t blame the quarterback or anybody. It was a total team effort and we failed.

“I probably was lucky not winning the job, because at least I didn’t play myself out of the position. That’s what Scott did. He played himself off the team. If I would have been the starting quarterback, I might have done the same thing.”

Now-it-can-be-told dept.: Peter King of Newsday tells how it went for the Giants before the game: “They were nervous. Simms, who didn’t go to bed until 3 a.m. because of nerves, barely slept and tripped over a chair when he woke up. Morris cabbed to the Rose Bowl at 8 a.m., unable to stand the pressure, and had to convince guards he was the Joe Morris before they’d let him in the gate. The Giants’ locker room, a 15x40-foot holding pen of a place, got nasty before the game. Tackle William Roberts put two holes in the drywall near his locker. (Jim) Burt screamed, “Let us out of our cage!”

To Denver’s dismay, they did.

Trivia Answer: The original owner, Barron Hilton, owned Carte Blanche, which was dispensing charge cards.

Quotebook

Joe Morris on Giant Coach Bill Parcells, who burned Denver with a flea-flicker and a fourth-down gamble on a punt: “ Bill’s nickname is Tuna, but he’s a shark.”