Steelers vs. Giants a Family Affair in More Ways Than One
When the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New York Giants play, it's a family affair, and not just for the related-by-marriage owners.
When the New York Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers get together, it always seems like a family reunion.
In many respects, it is a family reunion. The Rooneys and the Maras, the owners of the Giants, are stalwarts of the National Football League going back nearly 100 years. Both families were founding members of their respective teams, and both families still control those operations today. These two families, brought together by football, are now blood relatives through marriage. In fact, actress Patricia Rooney Mara, whose great-grandfathers were team founders Tim Mara and Art Rooney Sr., eschewed her first name in favor of her screen name, Rooney Mara.
Although they don’t play in the same conference, as they once did and play now just once every four years in the regular season, the two franchises have such an indelible place in the lore and history of the National Football League and also for many in their respective fan bases — there are plenty of families and friend groups that have passionate fans on both sides, that it is indeed a special occasion when the two teams meet.
It will be a special occasion again when the two teams meet this Monday night in Pittsburgh for the 79th time.
With this relatively rare — once every four years encounter happening this week — I thought it would be fun to share some perspective on what the Steelers-Giants rivalry means to another family: mine.
In the morning hours of Oct. 14, 1991, Edward Theodore Borzon, an avid New York Giants fan and longtime season ticket holder, along with two fellow Giants fans, walked down the street from his Cherry Lane home in Carle Place, Long Island, heading on a Long Island Railroad train that would take him to New York’s Penn Station, where he would get on an Amtrak to travel to Pittsburgh for the Monday Night Football contest that night between his beloved Giants and the Steelers at Three Rivers Stadium. To that point, Borzon had witnessed many of the games played between the two teams and could share many stories about those games in a series that went all the way back to 1933, when the Steelers franchise came into existence. The Giants and Steelers met 70 times to that point, with Big Blue holding the series edge.
This game between the Giants and Steelers took on special meaning because when the Pennsylvanian’ express pulled up in Pittsburgh, Borzon would step foot on to the platform and be greeted by his grandson, who was in his senior year as a student at Point Park College, majoring in Journalism and Mass Communications.
I was his grandson.
It was my Grandfather’s first and only visit he ever made to the Steel City.
Along with a couple fellow Giants season ticket holders , including a Catholic priest whom he worked closely with and started to attend Giants games, I had the honor of giving them a quick tour through Downtown Pittsburgh and the Strip District while we were listening on the car radio to the Pittsburgh Pirates close out a win in the National Championship Series.
We had an early dinner over at Spaghetti Warehouse, then headed over to Station Square to park and take the Gateway Clipper over to Three Rivers Stadium for the game.
It was about the best I could do to provide my Grandfather with a short yet quintessential 1991 Pittsburgh experience.
As we settled into our seats for the game — we sat in the baseball outfield end zone side of Three Rivers — and as the game was about to start, my Grandfather pulled out his transistor radio with an ear plug and asked me what was the radio station that carried Steelers broadcasts. I pointed him over to WTAE 1250 — and not even a minute into hearing the broadcast he turned over to me and said “Who is that announcer with that strange voice?” Of course, he was referring to Myron Cope, legendary Steelers announcer and an outstanding journalist, who I pointed out had written many wonderful feature stories in Sports Illustrated and other outlets.
The Giants were coming off winning the Super Bowl the previous year (beating the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXV) while the Steelers were mired in the last season under legendary head coach Chuck Noll. It was a close contest that came down to the very last minute.
Led by Cambria County native Jeff Hostetler, who won the starting job over Phil Simms after New York’s Super Bowl triumph, the Giants rallied for the win after nearly blowing a 20-6 second half lead, as Neil O’Donnell (a New Jersey native) came off the bench to tie the game with two fourth quarter touchdowns.
It was an exciting game and I was thrilled to see my beloved Giants win the game (giving me some bragging rights for some time among all those in my adopted home, at least until four years later). I was especially happy to have an opportunity to share this with my grandfather, who took me to so many games during my childhood growing up on Long Island. I was very fortunate to have attended many of the games during the 1985-87 seasons at Giants Stadium before I came to Pittsburgh.
After the game, we had to board the Gateway Clipper to get back over to Station Square — and didn’t arrive back at my apartment on Mount Washington until nearly 1 a.m. My Grandfather and the others who made the journey were more than happy to crash in a second floor apartment that I shared with my roommates at the time (each would also eventually work in sports media: TJ Jefferson of the Rich Eisen Show and Paul Zeise, Pittsburgh sports journalist). Unfortunately, we didn’t have much in our fridge or in our food cabinets that night to help satisfy the visitors’ munchies and my Grandfather never let me hear the end of it.
The next day, I received a phone call from my father, who was hospitalized and was very sick at the time back home on Long Island, claiming he saw his father-in-law in the stands when Matt Bahr kicked the game winning field goal with four seconds remaining in the game.
A week later, my father passed away, as he had succumbed to his bout with the devastating disease that also claimed Pittsburgh’s Mayor Richard Caliguri a few years earlier: amyloidosis.
Soon after I graduated from Point Park, I would eventually settle back to Pittsburgh, where I made many lifelong friends. I would have kids of my own (two sons, J.J. and Jason) who have embraced their hometown Steelers. Whenever the Giants-Steelers play each other, it always stirs up memories and I would share stories about going to Giants games with my Grandfather.
The best of those memories came in the NFC Championship Game 17-0 win over the Redskins in January 1987, at a very windy Giants Stadium.
1986: NFCC Game Week- For the 1st time in #NYGiants history they hosted the NFCC Game @Giants Stadium as the players (including @B_Oates65) were met by the fans going in. Brent's classic "You are looking live!" set up the Wash vs NYG battle to go to Super Bowl XXI #BEGIANT pic.twitter.com/bJtY3c0Bqc
— BigBlueVCR (@BigBlueVCR) January 22, 2024
(Note: At the very start of that clip, my Grandfather and I can be found behind Redskins players entering the stadium.)
But that memorable night in Pittsburgh when my Grandfather made the trip was very special. It was important to my father that I stay in Pittsburgh and concentrate on finishing up my senior year in college, even though he was very sick. Having family come visit me — even just for a short day and to watch a football game — was something that I would cherish for the rest of my life.
My kids were fortunate to have spent time with their great-grandfather — and they heard their share of Giants stories. They also experienced watching the Giants win two Super Bowls in 2008 (when he was still alive) and in 2012 (almost exactly a year to the day after he passed).
My son Jason, then 13 years of age, was asked in class to write an elegy poem the day after the game. Here’s what he wrote:
Another interesting note, since my Grandfather was a long-time season ticket holder even as the Giants first moved into their new stadium in New Jersey, in 1976, he had preference on where his seats would be located. He chose to sit in the last row of Giants Stadium’s mezzanine level, which also coincidentally was the row that was located right in front of the opposing owners box. Back then, in that stadium, the owners could open and close glass sliding doors in the box to either hear the crowd noise and interact with the fans in front of them. Because of this, my grandfather and all of us who attended games with him during those years, would regularly interact with owners of the Giants’ opponents. My grandfather met many of them and some of the celebrities that would attend the games as guests in the box. But time-after-time, my grandfather’s favorite of the owners were the Rooneys, especially Art Rooney Sr., who shared an affinity for cigars.
In the years that have followed, the Giants and Steelers have only met seven more times.I’ve had family come in from out of town when the Giants play in Pittsburgh — most recently in 2008 — when my brother came to his first and only game at Heinz Field. (That was a memorable Giants win thanks to Eli Manning’s fourth quarter comeback that gave him the edge in the series vs fellow 2004 draftee Ben Roethlisberger).
Of course, I’ve been hoping that one of these years that it would happen in a Super Bowl, but it seems like even as both franchises have won Super Bowls during this span, they’ve never really come close to meeting in the big game.And, it’s hard to believe, but the last time that the Steelers lost a Monday Night Football game — came on that October night when it really was a special, family affair for my family.Who knows — it’s a very long shot considering the way they’re playing — but maybe the Giants can do it again on Monday.
STEELERS vs. GIANTS HISTORY
Regular season and postseason games played between the Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Giants. The Steelers / Giants rivalry has been played 78 times, with the Pittsburgh Steelers winning 31 games and the New York Giants winning 44 games. They have also tied 3 times. New York Giants lead series 44-31-3
Here’s a look at the last nine games played in the series:
| Date | Visitor | Home | Result | Box Score | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 09/14/2020 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 26 | @ | New York Giants | 16 | W | Box |
| 12/04/2016 | New York Giants | 14 | @ | Pittsburgh Steelers | 24 | W | Box |
| 11/04/2012 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 24 | @ | New York Giants | 20 | W | Box |
| 10/26/2008 | New York Giants | 21 | @ | Pittsburgh Steelers | 14 | L | Box |
| 12/18/2004 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 33 | @ | New York Giants | 30 | W | Box |
| 12/10/2000 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 10 | @ | New York Giants | 30 | L | Box |
| 10/23/1994 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 10 | @ | New York Giants | 6 | W | Box |
| 10/14/1991 | New York Giants | 23 | @ | Pittsburgh Steelers | 20 | L | Box |
| 12/21/1985 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 10 | @ | New York Giants | 28 | L | Box |
John Krysinsky is the editor of Pittsburgh Soccer Now.
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