Football: Ex-players reminisce about doomed Giants Stadium

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Long before he became one of the best all-purpose players in the history of the New York Jets, Bruce Harper would drive from his nearby home past the spot where Giants Stadium was rising out of a New Jersey swamp and wonder if he had what it took to play at football's highest level.

Stephen Baker's introduction to the stadium nearly ended his career, to hear him describe it.

Their reminiscences were among many offered by former players Thursday at the announcement of a sale of memorabilia from Giants Stadium, a structure often ridiculed during its 34-year lifetime but the subject of fond memories as it nears demolition this year.

"This stadium was always a very fun place to play, and it's the place where I set all my records," said Joe Morris, 49, who retired in the early 1990s as one of the Giants' all-time leading rushers. "When this place is torn down I'm going to be sad."

Steiner Sports Collectibles, a company that also is selling memorabilia from the old Yankee Stadium, is offering items ranging from pieces of turf to seats to section signs to, yes, the goal posts - one in small pieces and the other whole, according to Steiner's A.J. Romeo, who said the company has received interest from fans, as well as former players.

The goal post will be auctioned off, as will items such as swaths of turf from either end zone bearing the teams' logos. Pieces of turf can be had for as little as $29.99, while a pair of seats will cost $499.99.

The items won't be removed from the stadium until the Jets are assured of not hosting a postseason game - they would host the AFC championship game if they beat San Diego this weekend and Baltimore beats Indianapolis.

Proceeds will go to the corporation formed by the Giants and Jets to build a new stadium, which they'll both use starting this fall, and tear down the old one.

The Giants opened the stadium in 1976 after incurring the wrath of many New Yorkers who felt betrayed that the team left the city while keeping "New York" in its name. The Jets joined them eight years later, and the teams spent the next 26 years in an uneasy partnership in which Jets fans often complained of second-class treatment.

On the field, the teams rarely faced each other during the regular season but played often in the preseason, and the players remembered those games as having a playoff-like intensity.

"We knew it was the only time we'd see Mark Gastineau in person," Morris said. "We'd try to do anything we could to keep him off Phil (Simms)."

Gastineau, 53, recalled Thursday how, after he had just driven Simms to the turf, the feisty quarterback would jump up and let loose a string of expletives at him.

"I remember thinking, 'Man, this guy's got some guts,'" he said.

Other players offered a range of recollections. Harper, 54, remembered pulling over to the side of the highway and peering through the fence at the half-built stadium, dreaming of roaring crowds.

Baker, whose nickname with the Giants was "Touchdown Maker," recalled working out in the empty stadium in front of head coach Bill Parcells and dropping pass after pass because the empty seats provided a confusing backdrop.

"I thought I was going to be going home really quick, if anybody remembers how Coach Parcells was," said Baker, now 45.

O.J. Anderson, the Giants running back who was named MVP of Super Bowl XXV, recalled a fan who changed his tune after Anderson, who had visited the stadium as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals, was traded to the Giants.

"He'd stand over the tunnel where we came out and scream things that your kid shouldn't hear," said Anderson, 52. "Then I get traded and the same guy who'd hated my guts is leaning over yelling, 'O.J., I love you man, you're the greatest.'"

The new stadium will host its first event, a college lacrosse tripleheader, in April with only the lower bowl accessible, according to Mark Lamping, chief executive of New Meadowlands Stadium, the corporation formed by the Giants and Jets. A Bon Jovi concert in late May will officially open the stadium.