Bama in the NFL: Can You Name Alabama's Only All-Pro With The New York Giants?

One league's longest-established franchises has had plenty of former Crimson Tide players on the roster, but only two who were named to Pro Bowl.

Author:
Christopher Walsh
Publish date:
Aug 18, 2023 12:00 PM EDT

In this story:

Alabama Crimson Tide

The New York Giants seem to have a good history with former Alabama Crimson Tide players, at least on face value.

Heading into the 2023 season, there have been 27 players who have suited up and played for the Giants, one of the proudest franchises in the NFL. Among them, four won a Super Bowl including tight end Howard Cross, who has had the longest career among those from the Crimson Tide, playing in New York from 1989-2001.

Then you look a little closer, and some other things become apparent. For example, of those 27 players, only one other played for the Giants for more than five years: Jeff Rutledge from 1983-89, as the backup quarterback.

In 1953, the Giants used a first-round draft pick on a player from Alabama, running back Bobby Marlow with the eighth-overall selection. Yet he never played in the NFL, instead opting for the Canadian Football League's Saskatchewan Roughriders, and went on to tally 4,291 rushing yards on 833 attempts and 34 touchdowns. The Giants waited 69 yards before selecting another Crimson Tide player in the first round, tackle Evan Neal in 2022.

Consequently, there's only been one Alabama player who has had an All-Pro season with the Giants, Landon Collins in 2016.

The safety was a unanimous All-American at Alabama in 2014, but surprisingly slid into the second round of the 2015 NFL Draft, when the Giants traded up to get him with the first pick (33rd overall). He suffered a sprained MCL in a preseason game, but only missed one more, and won a starting job at free safety.

He switched back to his natural position, strong safety, for this second year and Collins responded by being the only player in NFL history to have 100-plus tackles, more than two sacks, at least five interceptions, and at least 12 pass deflections in a season (specifically, and respectfully, he had 125, four, five and 13 in 16 starts). Collins was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Month for November, when tallied 30 tackles, a sack and three picks.

He was subsequently ranked 28th by his peers in the NFL Top 100, and voted to the Pro Bowl for the first of three-straight times. The only other former Crimson Tide player to make the Pro Bowl was one of the program's most interesting and colorful linemen, Art "Tarzan" White back in 1938. He earned his doctorate at Columbus University in 1939 while with the Giants, and later went into professional wrestling and was twice the world heavyweight champion.

As for Cross, he caught 201 passes for 2,194 yards and 17 touchdowns over 13 seasons. That's over 207 games played, compared to just one missed, after being a sixth-round draft pick.

Bama in the NFL: New York Giants

The Franchise

National Football Conference

East Division

Team Colors: Blue, Red and White

Founded: 1925, legally named "New York Football Giants"

Stadium: MetLife Stadium (capacity 82,500)

Playing Surface: FieldTurf Core

Training Camp: Quest Diagnostics Training Center, East Rutherford, NJ

All-Time Alabama Players

Clarence "Butch" Avinger, RB, 1953
Jim Bowdoin, OG, 1932
Steve Bowman, RB, 1966
Dave Brown, RB, 1943, 1946 - 1947
Jeremy Clark, DT, 2008
Landon Collins, DB, 2015 - 2018, 2022
Howard Cross, TE, 1989 - 2001
D.J. Fluker, OT, 2017
Cornelius Griffin, DT, 2000 - 2003
Herb Hannah, OT, 1951
Nico Johnson, LB, 2015
Robbie Jones, LB, 1984 - 1987
Frank Martin, HB, 1945
Ken MacAfee, TE/OE, 1954 - 1958
Curtis McGriff, DE, 1980 - 1985
Xavier McKinney, S, 2020 - 2022
Evan Neal, OT, 2022
Reggie Ragland, LB, 2021
Jeff Rutledge, QB, 1983 - 1989
Billy Shipp, OT, 1954
George Thornton, DT, 1993
Dalvin Tomlinson, DT, 2017 - 2020
Bob Trocolor, QB/RB, 1942 - 1943
Bull Wesley, C/OG, 1928
Art "Tarzan" White, OG, 1937 - 1939, 1945
Butch Wilson, TE, 1968 - 1969
Steve Wright, OT, 1968 - 1969

Crimson Tide Drafted Players


Year	Player	Pos.	Round	Pick	Overall
1937	Arthur "Tarzan" White	G	2	4	14
1943	Dave Brown	B	25	6	236
1944	Andy Bires	E	27	5	279
1945	John Staples	G	32	5	329
1946	Nick Terlizzi	T	16	5	145
1949	Pat O'Sullivan	C	20	4	195
1951	Herb Hannah	T	6	11	73
1952	Billy Shipp	T	8	10	95
1953	Bobby Marlow	B	1	8	8
1959	Dave Sington	T	30	10	358
1966	Steve Bowman	RB	15	11	226
1967	Louis Thompson	DT	4	2	82
1974	Buddy Brown	G	16	2	392
1980	Ken Harris	RB	8	7	200
1983	Robbie Jones	LB	12	2	309
1989	Howard Cross	TE	6	19	158
1995	Bryne Diehl	P	7	17	225
2000	Cornelius Griffin	DT	2	11	42
2006	Charlie Peprah	S	5	26	158
2015	Landon Collins	S	2	1	33
2017	Dalvin Tomlinson	DT	2	23	55
2020	Xavier McKinney	S	2	4	36
2022	Evan Neal	T	1	7	7

Super Bowl Appearances

Super Bowl XXI (Jan. 25, 1987)

Backup quarterback Jeff Rutledge helped spark the strong second half when he came on the field to be a decoy in punt formation on fourth-and-1. When the Broncos didn't pay him him any attention, he lined up under center and ran a quarterback draw for a first down. The drive ended with a field, but the Giants scored touchdowns on each of their next four possessions to win going away, 39-20. Linebacker Robbie Jones was credited with one tackle and defensive end Curtis McGriff was also on the Giants.

Super Bowl XXV (Jan. 27, 1991)

Every time Howard Cross had a reception, the Giants ended up scoring. The tight end finished with four for 39 yards as New York held on to win 20-19 against the Bills. It's the only Super Bowl decided by one point, and was the first Super Bowl in which neither team committed a turnover.

Buffalo Bills cornerback Nate Odomes (37) attempts to tackle New York Giants tight end Howard Cross (87) during Super Bowl XXV at Tampa Stadium.
USA TODAY Sports

Super Bowl XXXV (Jan. 28, 2001)

Cornelius Griffin had 1.5 sacks and Cross had one catch for 7 yards, but the Giants just didn't match up against Ozzie Newsome's Baltimore Ravens won their first Super Bowl title, 34-7.

Major Awards/Honors

All-Pro

Landon Collins (1): 2016

Pro Bowl

Landon Collins (3): 2016, 2017, 2018

Art "Tarzan" White (1): 1938

In conjunction with our revamped Bama in the NFL Database, this is the 24th story in a series examining the team-by-team history of Alabama's former players in the NFL.

AFC