During our first meeting with the New York Giants, I shared with the team a story about how my wife’s grandmother and grandfather had their first date at a Giants game. Her grandfather had just returned from World War II and her grandmother was gifted tickets to the game by team owner Wellington Mara himself. Needless to say the rest is history.

Over 60 years later, I was at my parents’ house watching the Giants take on the undefeated New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII. I had just returned from meeting my soon-to-be wife’s family for the first time. I spent the night bragging to my family about my wonderful girlfriend in between the highs and lows of what was one of the most incredible football games I had ever witnessed, but always coming back to cloud nine. The Giants ended up doing the impossible and beat the unbeatable. I proposed to my girlfriend a few months later and needless to say, the rest is history.

Now it’s important to know that I grew up a Jets fan. My memories of watching games with my father and brothers were centered around the color green, not blue. The reason I share this information is because I realized that the Giants were not just a football team, but an institution in and around the city of New York. Whether you were a fan or not didn’t matter, because the team probably still had an impact on your life at some point. Every New Yorker has a Giants story.

Which brings us to 2024. I stand before legendary writer, performer, director and New Yorker Chazz Palminteri. What was our first conversation? A wild story from his teen years revolving around the Giants of course. And the rest, as you know, is history.

Jon Contino
Creative Director, CONTINO