Ray Handley

I love telling the story of a dear friend.. his name was Garo Hampar. Gary, as we called him, was walking with us after lunch one afternoon, and the subject of the new Giants head coach comes up. Gary: “I don’t know about this guy Handley. He said if he did not get the (offensive coordinator’s) job he was going to go to law school. Now if I am calling the shots, that is not the guy I hire. Where is his commitment to the sport, to coaching? This smells of trouble.”

Prescient. Two seasons later we saw the franchise take 50 steps backward. What talented players, wasted. And then I remember the words of Bob Trumpy, color analyst broadcasting one of the final Giants games of that ill-fated second season of disaster. The Giants were now playing for jobs for the NEXT head coach, so they played proud and played well vs the Chiefs. It was their only win in the last 7 games of the season. And then Trumpy makes some comments that make my stomach turn:(paraphrased)” I don’t understand what the complaints are about Handley. He’s a good coach, and he is getting a bum rap.” Trumpy was upset at how everyone could pass judgment on a member of the football fraternity so quickly and not give him the benefit of the doubt. There is not a single Giant fan who has any positive memories of the Handley years. I like to juxtapose Trumpy’s sloppy and misinformed defense of Handley with George Young’s candid summary of the hire: “My worst decision.”