A Stroll Down Memory Lane

Wilderness Years standout

- John Mendenhall

The New York Giants’ “Wilderness Years” spanned a painful 17 seasons from 1964 to 1980. During that time, Big Blue fans endured some of the worst play in team history and also bore witness some horrific trades. Surely you all remember the Giants trading their 1975 first round pick to the Dallas Cowboys for Craig Morton. As if you all need reminding, Dallas used that first round pick on Hall of Fame defensive tackle Randy White. The Wilderness Years culminated of course in the dreaded, “Fumble” game against the arch rival Philadelphia Eagles.

But to whitewash the entire era as some sort of disease or pariah is somewhat unfair to those valiant Giant players who truly excelled at their positions. Players like the late Carl “Spider” Lockhart, Jack Gregory, Ron Johnson, Bob Tucker, and John Mendenhall seem to be forgotten by the franchise for which they bled during many battles and left everything on the field against far superior teams of the 1970s. Mendenhall, a third-round pick out of Grambling State in 1972, was a bright star in the dark, 1970s New York Giants sky. Recently, The Giant Insider caught up with Mr. Mendenhall:

JF: Talk about being drafted and going from Grambling State to New York City.

JM: It was great. I came from a small town and went to the Big City.

JF: What were your initial thoughts on Wellington Mara and the Mara Family?

JM: I never met a person like Mr. Wellington. He was a great man.