Hakeem Nicks Number 95 on Giants’ top 100 players list
To celebrate the Giants’ 100th season, an independent committee of award-winning journalists, NFL and Pro Football Hall of Fame executives, and superfans have ranked the Giants’ Top 100 players. Hakeem Nicks secured the 97th spot on their Top 100 List.
Giants select Hakeem Nicks from the University of North Carolina with the 29th pick in the 2009 NFL Draft.
Nicks left a lasting mark on the program at North Carolina. He ranks second in school history with 2,840 receiving yards and 21 touchdowns, and is third all-time with 181 receptions before being selected by the Giants.
Hakeem Nicks was a standout player from the start with the Giants named the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Month to kick off his professional career. In 76 games across six seasons with Big Blue, Nicks caught 318 passes for 4,676 yards and 27 touchdowns. He currently ranks ninth in receiving yards and 10th in receptions on the Giants’ all-time leaderboard.
Performance when it counted.
He played a key role in the team’s run to Super Bowl XLVI when he reeled in 28 passes for 444 yards and four touchdowns in those four postseason games. Nicks started strong with six catches for 115 yards and two touchdowns in the Wild Card victory against the Atlanta Falcons.
The following week, in Green Bay, he had seven catches for 165 yards and two touchdowns. This included a 37-yard Hail Mary catch right before halftime. Eli Manning described the play:
“We’re kind of just thinking, ‘Hey, let’s get a run, and maybe we pop one, and we’ll take a shot and see what happens.’ Sure enough, Ahmad Bradshaw gets the first down, breaks some tackles, reverses field, and gets out of bounds just in time for us to take a shot. And Hakeem makes that catch, and we got the lead – another big play at a critical moment right before the half that just can change the momentum of the game.”
Eli Manning on Hakeem Nicks.
This all lead up to Super Bowl XLVI grabbing 10 receptions for 109 yards against the Patriots. His 444 receiving yards is the second-most in a single postseason in NFL history.
Nicks run with the Giants was coming to an end hampered by injuries, and trades swirling he eventually left in free agency. On November 17, 2015, Nicks returned to the Giants, signing a one-year deal. In six games, he recorded seven receptions for 54 yards.
As a Giants fan and blogger, I can’t wait to see who else made the list and relive these incredible moments!
