Category: Articles

A very special feeling…

As many of you may have noticed, I “kinda” went underground during the 2024 New York Giants football season.

As many of you may have noticed, I “kinda” went underground during the 2024 New York Giants football season. I guess I subscribe to the adage that “if you don’t have anything good to say the best thing to say is nothing”. I got a sense during the first 10 minutes of the Giants opening game against the Vikings that it was going to be a long and tumultuous football season for the Giants organization especially because it was the 100th anniversary of the New York Football Giants. I chose to remain silent saying nothing until now.

On a personal bright note, I was honored to be named as one of the Top 10 Greatest Players to play for the New York Football Giants Organization. Out of the almost 5000 players to ever play for the Giants since 1925 I was ranked #7.

Recently, I hosted a reunion dinner at my home in South Carolina with the kids who lived in the Eastside of Florence, South Carolina. Some of those who attended went to kindergarten or Elementary School and High School with me. Some of the guys in the group are guys I played football with at lunchtime at Holmes Elementary School. We didn’t actually have a football to play with instead we had milk cartons with rocks in the cartons. Some of us went on to play organized football once we went on to high school. Some of the guys and I went on to participate in the Air Force ROTC program. Those who came and attended the reunion know me, they knew me before any fame I might’ve accumulated as a jock. They know me before I became #53 and being named the 7th greatest player to wear the New York Giants uniform. I am one of them!

Since my days as a professional athlete I have often wondered why of all the football players I have played with on every level, why me? I keep coming back to, it was God’s will. I spoke to those in attendance and thanked them for allowing me to be their “Representative”. I am very cognizant that in whatever I do I represent where I come from. The group and I reflected quite a bit on the elementary school teachers who cared for us as if we were their own children. Oftentimes a fan will ask for my autograph. When they see the item autographed, some will compliment me on my penmanship. I, in turn will say my penmanship is the legacy of my first-grade teacher Mrs. Washington. Which is true because, all of my classmates write similarly.

I don’t usually get excited by too many things but being able to reconnect with my classmates and friends from as many as 60 – 65 years ago has been a very special time for me. It has indeed been one of the highlights of my life…!

Top 10

It has been almost 36 years since I walked off the football field for the last time. I was very much content with the body of work I did as a football player for the New York Football Giants. I only had one goal as I started my football career in 1976 out of South Carolina State University. That goal was to be mentioned in the same breath as some of the names I became familiar with when I arrived in the Giants locker room. Huff, Modzelewski, Robustelli, Tittle and Gifford were names that were synonymous with New York Giants football.

It has been almost 36 years since I walked off the football field for the last time. I was very much content with the body of work I did as a football player for the New York Football Giants. I only had one goal as I started my football career in 1976 out of South Carolina State University. That goal was to be mentioned in the same breath as some of the names I became familiar with when I arrived in the Giants locker room. Huff, Modzelewski, Robustelli, Tittle and Gifford were names that were synonymous with New York Giants football.

I left the game when I was ready to move on with my life. I had the opportunity to go to several teams when I left the game but I turned down offer after offer. I was content to leave the game and solely be recognized as a New York Giant. In 2006 I was elected and inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. That in and off itself is a huge honor but here comes another honor that is huge.

This year is the New York Football Giants 100th Anniversary in the National Football League. The Giants commissioned individuals from the sport who knows the history of the organization and have a sense of players who played for the team. Their mission was to select the best 100 players to ever play for the Giants since 1925. Their mission was also to select the top 10 players to ever play for the organization. The results were recently released and announced. I am happy to announce that out of the more than 5000 players to wear the New York Giants uniform I was named as a member of the “Top 10” Players to ever play football for the Giants.

I am honored to be in the company of all New York Giants players whether they were in the “Top 10”, “Top 100” or the remaining “Top 4900”. To be recognized and honored for what I did more than three decades ago is mind blowing! I know better than anyone else that me being recognized as one of the greatest players was not a “solo act”. I am the by-product of players I played with in high school, college and professionally. I am eternally grateful to my coaches like Willie Jeffries at South Carolina State University, Giants Coaches Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick. I especially owe much of my Giants and NFL success to Marty Schottenheimer who was the Giants Defensive Coordinator and Linebacker Coach.

It was Marty who chose me out of any other player in the 1976 NFL Draft as the second pick in the 4th Round. It was his idea and he put his faith in this player from a small school in South Carolina. It was on Marty’s shoulders to teach me that young football player how to play a position he had never played before that was considered (at that time) “a thinking man’s position” and of being the “inside run defender” and a leader of the New York Giants defense the team needed.

With this recognition during the 100th Anniversary of the Football Giants, I am humbled that my name will forever be mentioned in the same breath as so many other New York Giants…!

Harry Carson

A Softer side of Carson

Here’s an article I wrote for Odyssey Couleur Travel Magazine about my wife Maribel and I having a couples getaway in sunny Orlando. I thought some of my fans might enjoy seeing a different side of me, as well as reading about some nice, warm weather during this brutally cold January. You can find the article in the winter edition of the magazine, if you’re interested in picking it up.

 

It’s very seldom that my wife Maribel and I get an opportunity to spend real “quality” time together without family or job expectations. We are both guilty of putting family first and too often our careers over pleasure. Maribel is a Sales Manager with Continental Airlines and I’m a Sports Consultant, which includes but is not limited to owning my own business, Harry Carson Inc. I also do broadcasting with the New York Giants and I am Executive Director of the Fritz Pollard Alliance, which works with the NFL to create more diversity in the league in such positions as general managers, head coaches, assistant coaches, scouts, front office personnel and game day officials.

We’ve both visited Orlando many times before, but in each case it was job-related or about making the kids and family members happy. Traveling to Orlando had never really been about us – until now! We were presented with an opportunity to spend several days exploring an area that most people only see as a Mouse Kingdom. Just being able to step away from every- thing for a day was enough for me, but to get away for several days with my wife was all I needed to enjoy myself.

Read The Article – Orlando For Adults (PDF)