A Brief Stroll Through Football History Via Kenner's Starting Lineups

The playoff race in the AL East has reached a fever pitch, and frankly, it's too much for Jimmy Sez headquarters to bear. We'll have plenty more words on the Yankees in due time. For now, we're going to shift our focus to the gridiron, where the Giants and their fans are in desperate need of happy memories from a time when they didn't occupy the basement of the NFL.

We've already taken a good, long look at the Yankees Starting Lineups that Kenner released over the years. Luckily, they had a full line of football figures as well during a time when the Giants were perennial contenders. Without further ado, let's wash away recent memories of ineptitude and re-live the glory days.

1988

Despite his many off-the-field struggles, nobody was more impactful for the Giants on the field during the 1980's than Lawrence Taylor. This pose captures perfectly how LT was larger than life and intimidated anyone in his presence.

The face on this figure isn't particularly close to looking like Taylor, but even early on Kenner did a decent job with the uniforms. The sleeves, pants and socks are all spot on, and the helmet is close enough. More on those later. There's no red outline on the numbers or striping on the collar like the Giants blue jerseys had in real life, but those are minor quibbles. As is the fact that his hand wrappings look more like a boxer's than a linebacker's. All in all, this is a worthy effort for LT.

The Giants didn't exactly have a high-powered passing attack in the 1980's, but they could make big plays through the air when they absolutely needed to thanks in large part to their tough as nails tight end, Mark Bavaro. Even if it looks like he's making an atypical clumsy catch, you can picture him about to rumble through the opposing defense's backfield in this pose.

There was little effort here to match Bavaro's face. What could have helped was his trademark eye black, or maybe even a little blood for good measure as he rarely finished a game without some. He was an excellent choice for the first class of Giants starting lineups, but the execution is lacking.

1989

For the second class of football Starting Lineups the Giants were suited up in their white unis and boy do I wish they would bring these back permanently. The numbers and collar are subject to the same issues as the original lineup, and here we have a good view of the helmet. It looks just fine, but on these early figures there were only two options for facemask styles. The one we see here for players on offense and one with a few more bars for defensive players. This style - with the single vertical bar - reminds me of something you would see in the late 60's rather than the late 80's. I'll call it another minor quibble.

By 1989, Phil Simms had overcome a ton of early career struggles and was best known as the quarterback who put on an all-time performance in Super Bowl 21. He was the most recognizable player on the Giants, so it's no surprise that this is a dead ringer for Phil.

We already have a repeat, but if anyone deserved multiple figures, it was LT. This time he's captured in a much more traditional pose for a linebacker - ready to make a safe tackle to prevent a big play. Taylor was the opposite of a traditional linebacker, so a more adventurous pose would have been more appropriate.

Check out the facemask! The option for defense was much closer to what contemporary players were wearing, but still not a true representation of the facemask styles of the era. It would take a few years, but Kenner would eventually step up their facemask game.

Running backs had some of the cooler Starting Lineup poses, especially in the first few lines of the figures. This one is no exception, and it's nice to see Joe Morris get his due. By the time this figure was released he had already made his last rushing attempt as a Giant, but they captured his likeness pretty well, or at least better than they did for Taylor.

While the pose looks cool, it's a curious choice for the man that was dubbed "Little Joe". Standing at 5-foot-7 and about 200 pounds, Morris was more of a wrecking ball on the field rather than the long, lean, elegant runner that's suggested here.

1994

When Joe Morris retired he was the leading rusher in Giants history, but the man who would break his record was already on the team. By 1994 Rodney Hampton was churning out 1,000 yard rushing seasons like clockwork and was the Giants' only real threat on offense. A season later, he would officially break Morris' record.

Not a whole lot changed with football starting lineups in the five years between '89 and '94. Maybe there's a little more detail on the shoulder pads here, but overall pretty consistent with the original crop. This looks more like Grand Puba in a Giants uniform rather than Rodney Hampton, but they did nail the pose. Hampton was all upper body when he ran, taking short strides and plowing through the line while rarely breaking off big gains. This figure has three yards and a cloud of dust written all over it.

1996

Hey! Check out the red trim on the numbers here! Still no piping on the collar, but progress is progress. Here we have the poster boy for what was a dark period for the Giants in the mid-90's. Dave Brown was a truly atrocious quarterback who amazingly lasted more than three years as the full-time starter and managed to be memorialized with a Starting Lineup. I can see in my mind the pass he's throwing here hitting Chris Calloway squarely in the heels.

Beyond the improved jersey numbers, there's literally another sight for sore eyes that we can see for the first time here. The eye black is a great touch that should have really been on the Bavaro figure as mentioned earlier. Brown did wear eye black during his Giants career, but he's living proof that it does nothing to improve your vision.

1997

A cornerback starting to get beat and chasing his receiver doesn't make for the most exciting figure, but Phillippi Sparks looks pretty sharp here in the white uniform. Aside from the ridiculously bushy eyebrows, it even looks like him.

But let's talk about the interesting choice in arm accessories. I'm pretty sure no Giant has ever worn solid white gloves to get the Mickey Mouse look we see here. The forearm sleeves are also something that I'm fairly certain Sparks never wore. Although that was a style that became popular among defensive backs in the early 2000's, albeit in colors that were usually non-white.

1998

Just like they did with baseball Starting Lineups, Kenner also made throwback figures for football. Y.A. Tittle spent four glorious seasons as the Giants quarterback at the end of his Hall of Fame career. He was also the first Giant to be named NFL MVP, taking home the award in 1963. As usual, they stepped up their game for the old guys. The pose is fantastic and this looks just like Tittle, down to his male-pattern baldness.

If you want to nit-pick, the striping on the pants isn't exact, and Y.A. should be sporting a small "14" on each sleeve, but that doesn't take away from what might be the best figure in this bunch.

2000

Kenner had trouble making cornerbacks look interesting. Here Jason Sehorn looks like he's a little lost while trying to play zone coverage. During his tenure with the Giants he was probably the most recognizable player on the team though, so they went the extra mile to nail his likeness.

Prior to the 2000 season, the Giants significantly overhauled their uniform set, and they're captured pretty well here - and look at that - an accurate collar! It only took them 12 years to get that right. Another plus is an long overdue update on the facemask. Your humble photographer didn't capture it well, but it's a contemporary style worn by many players. Sehorn just didn't happen to be one of them.

For some reason Kenner decided to release Giants figures in both the new and old uniforms in 2000. While that decision is curious, the execution on this one is spot-on. This is the best effort yet on the old blue jerseys, and even if the collar striping isn't perfect, it looks pretty damn good.

Jessie Armstead played linebacker like a madman and pursued ball carriers like they stole his money. I think this pose captures that style well. His facemask also exactly matches what he wore in real life, which brings us to my favorite single element of any figure in this set found under that mask. Armstead is wearing a Breathe Right nasal strip! Everybody breathed better in the '90's.