Kinard Brought the Heart of a Champion to the NY Giants' Defensive Secondary

Free safety Terry Kinard can count himself as one of the mainstays during the Bill Parcells New York Giants era of football.

Kinard made big hits and roamed all over the field as the team's starting free safety from 1983-89; however, you won't find him on the field when you watch a replay of their 39-20 win over Denver in Super Bowl XXI.

Instead, you will see Herb Welch making his fifth straight start, a consequence of Kinard suffering a season-ending knee injury in Week 14 at Washington. The Giants won the NFC East battle for first place, 24-14, but their secondary took a hit on Washington's first snap of the second half.

Kinard, who was fighting through a shoulder injury, tore his left ACL when he collided with Lawrence Taylor while attempting a tackle on a short pass to Art Monk.

Although the trainers came out to tend to the safety, Kinard got up and jogged off the field. Welch finished the game, but the following day, it was determined that Kinard required surgery.

The defense more than held up the rest of the way; however, this in no way diminished Kinard's impact on the team. He tied for the team lead with four interceptions and ranked fifth with 59 tackles.

In Week 2, the Giants rebounded from a dramatic opening day loss in Dallas by suffocating the high-powered San Diego Chargers, 20-7. The defense collected seven takeaways, including five interceptions against Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Fouts.

Kinard went into the game with an injured shoulder, yet he grabbed two interceptions inside the final seven minutes (and had a second-quarter theft deep in San Diego territory nullified by a roughing the quarterback penalty), recovered a fumble, and knocked down three passes.

The defense was required to hold the fort again in Week 3 as the Giants escaped with a 14-9 road victory over the Los Angeles Raiders.

Late in the third quarter, the Raiders were at the New York 12 when Kinard sacked quarterback Jim Plunkett, who fumbled the ball which Giants nose tackle Jim Burt recovered to preserve their 14-9 lead.

In Week 11, the Giants staged a miraculous comeback with Phil Simms converting a 4th-and-17 pass to Bobby Johnson that led to the winning field goal in a 22-20 thriller at Minnesota.

Earlier in the quarter, Kinard charged in to make a critical third-down stop on a short toss to Leo Lewis at the Minnesota 20, forcing a punt with the Giants trailing, 13-12. Simms took possession and put the Giants in front seven plays later on a 25-yard TD pass to Johnson.

Sign up for our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook and X for the latest news, and send your mailbag questions to us.

Add us as a preferred source on Google