Sports

Carl Banks reveals Lawrence Taylor's contention Giants legends would have played better against Vikings

Published

2 years ago

September 11, 2024

Carl Banks reveals Lawrence Taylor's contention Giants legends would have played better against Vikings

New York Giants fans are reeling after watching what unfolded at MetLife Stadium in a 28-6 loss to the Minnesota Vikings in Week 1, but it isn’t just fans going through a whirlwind of emotions.

Former players are frustrated too, including one of the franchise’s legends.

The Giants wore their century red uniforms to commemorate the team’s 100th season, and several team legends were honored at the stadium among the franchise’s 100 greatest Giants.

Lawrence Taylor is surrounded by Giants fans during Fan Fest at MetLife Stadium to celebrate 100 seasons of the New York Giants Friday, Sept. 6, 2024. (IMAGN)

Among them were Lawrence Taylor and Carl Banks, two vital members of the Giants teams that brought home Super Bowl titles in 1987 and 1991. Taylor ranked first overall among the 100 greatest Giants ever, while Banks was 17th.

During an appearance on the “Bleav in Giants” podcast, Banks revealed that, after watching the first half the Giants played against the Vikings, Taylor wanted to put his pads back on.

“I can tell you when we were lining up to be introduced as the top 100 players, a guy who never really comments on games because he doesn’t watch many of them was Lawrence Taylor. He looked at me and — this is a true story, folks. If you want to know what we [the 100 greatest Giants] were thinking at halftime,” Banks explained.

VIKINGS CREATE HAVOC FOR DANIEL JONES; GIANTS FALTER IN FRONT OF ORGANIZATION’S LEGENDS

“Lawrence looked at me at halftime and said, ‘Carl, I could pick 22 of us right now and go out and play better than these guys. We’d be in this game.’ The youngest guy in that line was probably 50 years old. Lawrence Taylor looked at me and said, ‘I can get 22 of us right now and go out there right now and whoop these guys’ a–.’”

The championship pedigree that was most recently seen during the 2011 NFL season hasn’t shined in East Rutherford, New Jersey, for some time. The Giants have only made the playoffs twice since then, the most recent coming in 2022 during head coach Brian Daboll’s inaugural season.

New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones jogs off the field during the first half of a game against the Minnesota Vikings Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

And it doesn’t look like a championship-caliber team in the Giants’ locker room this season after the disaster that unfolded Sunday. Quarterback Daniel Jones and the Giants’ offense were booed off the field after an atrocious outing that resulted in no touchdowns.

Jones has been the target of Giants fans after Week 1. He went 22-for-42 for 186 yards with two interceptions while getting sacked five times in the loss. Entering his sixth season, and, more importantly, the second year of the four-year, $160 million deal he signed before last season, Jones is expected to be leading the Giants back to the playoffs like he did in 2022.

Instead, in his first game after tearing his ACL midway through the 2023 campaign, Jones appears to have regressed.

The Giants have a chance in Week 2 against the Washington Commanders, a team that was blown out by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 1.

But the product Taylor and the rest of the sold-out crowd in MetLife Stadium witnessed has the former linebacker wanting to help his old team out because the grit and fight just wasn’t there.

New York Giants legend Lawrence Taylor enters the field before a game between the New York Giants and the Minnesota Vikings at MetLife Stadium. (John Jones-Imagn Images)

“To start your season off looking the way you did on both sides of the ball … you look like you’re stuck in 2023,” Banks said.

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Scott Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital.

Sports

Loyola wins Southern Section Division 1 lacrosse championship

Published

1 minute ago

May 17, 2026

Press Room

Loyola wins Southern Section Division 1 lacrosse championship

There’s no denying that Loyola’s lacrosse program is best in Southern California and could be that way for years to come with the number of elite young players participating.

On Saturday night, the Cubs (16-3) won their latest Southern Section Division 1 championship with a 14-6 win over Santa Margarita. The Cubs have won three title since the sport was adopted as a championship event in the Southern Section. Defense has been Loyola’s strength all season.

Senior defenders Chase Hellie and Everett Rolph and junior goalkeeper William Russo led one of the best defenses in program history under coach Jimmy Borell.

Senior Cash Ginsberg finished with five goals and junior North Carolina commit Tripp King finished with two goals.

In girls Division 1, Mira Costa upset top-seeded Santa Margarita 12-6.

Sports

Napoleon Solo wins 151st Preakness Stakes

Published

11 hours ago

May 17, 2026

Press Room

Napoleon Solo wins 151st Preakness Stakes

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Napoleon Solo took home the 2026 Preakness Stakes on Saturday, the 151st running of the race.

The favorite in Taj Mahal, the 1 horse, was in the lead from the start until the final turn until Napoleon Solo made his move on the outside and took the lead at the top of the stretch. As Taj Mahal fell off, Iron Honor, the 9 horse, snuck up, but the effort ultimately was not enough.

Napoleon Solo opened at 8-1 and closed at 7-1. Iron Honor, at 8-1, finished second, with Chip Honcho fishing third after closing at 11-1. Ocelli, one of just three horses to run both the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago and Saturday’s Preakness, finished fourth at 8-1.

A Preakness branded starting gate is seen on track prior to the 151st Preakness Stakes at Laurel Park on May 16, 2026 in Laurel, Maryland. For the first and only time, Laurel Park is hosting the Preakness Stakes which is the second race of the Triple Crown jewel due to the traditional home of the race of the Pimlico Race Course undergoing complete renovations. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

A $1 exacta paid out $53.60, while a $1 trifecta brought in $597.10. But someone out there is very lucky, as a $1 superhighfive – picking the top-five finishers in order – paid out $12,015.70.

Even moreso, a 20-cent Pick 6 – picking the winners of the six consecutive races, with the final being the Preakness, paid out $33,842.34.

The race was run without the Kentucky Derby winner for the second year in a row. After Sovereignty did not run the Preakness last year – and wound up winning the Belmont Stakes – the training team of Golden Tempo opted to skip the Maryland race.

From 1960 to 2018, only three Derby winners did not run in the Preakness. Three Derby winners have skipped the Preakness in the last five years, and for the sixth time in eight years, for various reasons, the Triple Crown had already been impossible to accomplish by the time the Preakness even rolled around.

“I understand that fans of the sport or fans of the Triple Crown are disappointed, but the horse is not a machine,” Golden Tempo’s trainer, Cherie DeVaux, told Fox News Digital earlier this week.

Paco Lopez, right, atop Napoleon Solo, edges out Iron Honor, ridden by Flavien Prat, to win the 151st running of the Preakness Stakes horse race, Friday, May 15, 2026, at Laurel Park in Laurel, Maryland. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

CHERIE DEVAUX REFLECTS ON MAKING KENTUCKY DERBY HISTORY AS FIRST FEMALE TRAINER TO WIN THE RACE

Only three horses from two weeks ago – Ocelli, Robusta, and Incredibolt, were back at the Preakness. Corona de Oro, the 11 horse on Saturday, was scratched well ahead of the Derby, and Great White, who reared up and fell on his back after becoming startled shortly before entering the Derby gate, took the 13 post on Saturday.

The Preakness went off roughly 24 hours after a horse died following the completion of his very first race.

Hit Zero, trained by Brittany Russell, came into the race as the favorite. However, he finished last in the race, which was won by another one of Russell’s horses, Bold Fact — and upon crossing the finish line, Hit Zero reportedly began coughing, dropped to his knees, then put his head down and died.

The Preakness took place at Laurel Park as Pimlico undergoes renovations. It was the first time ever that Pimlico did not host the race, moving roughly 20 miles south.

Paco Lopez, atop Napoleon Solo, wins the 151st running of the Preakness Stakes horse race, Friday, May 15, 2026, at Laurel Park in Laurel, Maryland. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

The Belmont Stakes, the final Triple Crown race, will take place on June 6. The race will return to Saratoga for a third year in a row as Belmont Park continues to be renovated.

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