NFL.com's Scott Pioli looks back at legacy of Roosevelt Brown

Throughout the franchise's storied history, the Giants have had many prominent figures enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Tim Mara and Mel Hein were the first two Giants inducted into the Hall of Fame back in 1963, while George Young (2020) and Michael Strahan (2014) are the two most recent inductees. But one of the league's toughest Hall of Famers solidified his place in Canton back in 1975 following a long and impressive career as an offensive tackle with the Giants.

Of course, I am referring to Roosevelt "Rosey" Brown.

After a collegiate career at Morgan State in which he was twice named all-conference at offensive tackle, Brown was drafted by the Giants in the 27th round (321st overall) of the 1953 NFL Draft. NFL.com's Scott Pioli, as well as many others around the league, consider the selection of Brown to be one of the biggest steals in draft history.

Brown went on to play all 13 seasons of his NFL career with the Giants. He was selected to the Pro Bowl and named an All-Pro nine times apiece, and was a key part to the Giants' run to a championship in 1958.

The legendary offensive tackle was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1975, making him just the second player to be elected to the Hall on the performance of his offensive line play alone.

Upon the completion of his playing career, Brown stuck around with the Giants for nearly another 40 years, serving first as a coach before turning his attention towards scouting.

Between his time as a player, coach and scout, Brown's tenure with the Giants lasted more than 50 years. He was a member of the inaugural class of the New York Giants Ring of Honor, and was named to the NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.

Pioli took a look back at the legacy of Roosevelt Brown and his path to the NFL through an HBCU.

Here is an except from Pioli's article on NFL.com:

"As a New Yorker growing up with a father from the Bronx, I was expected to know the Giants' history as well as I knew my schoolwork, and as you might expect, my knowledge of the franchise's history was far greater than my grasp on 10th-grade geometry. Truthfully, football history has been far more useful in the my life. (I tried telling my teachers back then, but they just wouldn't listen.) My father, a blue-collar worker, loved the Giants and Rosey Brown, gravitating to linemen: "The grunts that do the dirty work," as he'd say. Thus, I knew about Brown as a kid and read about his college career at Morgan State. Though I never got to see him play, I remember studying the backs of football cards and making the Morgan State connection to some of my favorite players: Willie Lanier, Leroy Kelly, Raymond Chester and John "Frenchy" Fuqua. I took special care of their cards, because they went to the same school as Brown -- and yes, I still have those cards today."

Inside the Numbers: Giants vs. dual-threat QBs

Four quarterbacks are listed among the NFL's top 40 rushers this season. The Giants have faced two of them this month. On Sunday, they will try to restrain a third, and he happens to be the league's reigning MVP and the most productive runner at his position.

Lamar Jackson is 12th in the NFL and leads the Baltimore Ravens with 828 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground. In his breakout 2019 season, he rushed for 1,206 yards and seven scores. Jackson is the first quarterback in NFL history with at least 800 rushing yards in consecutive seasons.

The Giants' defense is getting accustomed to playing against dual-threat quarterbacks. On Dec. 6, Russell Wilson ran for 45 yards on seven carries, the longest a 19-yarder, in the Giants' 17-12 victory in Seattle. Wilson is currently 40th in the league with 475 rushing yards.

One week after facing Wilson, the Giants went up against Arizona's Kyler Murray, who ran for 47 yards on 12 attempts, none longer than 12 yards. Murray averaged 3.6 yards a carry vs. the Giants, well below his season average of 6.0 yards.

Murray is tied with New England's Cam Newton for the league lead among quarterbacks with 11 rushing touchdowns, but like Wilson, did not score on the ground vs. the Giants. Murray's 741 yards place him 18th in the NFL.

Jackson has twice exceeded 100 yards in a game this year, including a season-high 124 against the Browns eight days ago. He averages 6.1 yards a carry. Jackson has rushed for four touchdowns in the last three games.

The Giants will present Jackson, as well as running backs Gus Edwards and rookie J.K. Dobbins, with one of the NFL's best run defenses. They are sixth in both yards allowed per game (101.8) and per carry (3.9), their best ranking and lowest average since 2016, when they tied for third by giving up 88.6 yards a game on the ground. That was the only season between 2011 and 2019 in which the Giants ranked higher than 14th and allowed fewer than 108.9 rushing yards a game.

Opposing teams have rushed for less than 100 yards in half of the Giants' 14 games. Only one individual runner, Pittsburgh's Benny Snell, Jr. on opening night, has exceeded the century mark. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Giants are one of 10 teams to allow one or less 100-yard rushers this season, including four with zero. Their 13 consecutive games not allowing one is the NFL's fifth-longest current streak.

The Giants will do all they can to keep Jackson in line with the other outstanding running quarterbacks they've faced this month.

Joe Judge Report: Importance of field position

In the latest episode of the Joe Judge Report, the head coach uses the telestrator to break down film from the Week 15 loss against the Cleveland Browns.