Sixty legacy legends athletes were recently announced as having advanced in the Seniors category for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025. Three of those 60 were members of the New York Giants.
Here are the legacy players who advanced.
Ottis Anderson (RB)
Anderson began his pro career with the St. Louis Cardinals (now Arizona Cardinals). He burst onto the scene after being selected as the eighth overall pick of the 1979 NFL Draft.
In his NFL debut, the rookie running back contributed 193 rushing yards. He finished his rookie campaign with 1,605 rushing yards on 331 carries and earned Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro honors, plus a spot on the 1979 NFL All-Rookie Team.
Between 1979 and 1984, he had five 1,000-yard seasons (a streak that may have continued had the 1982 player’s strike not occurred). He continued to impress, but the Cardinals averaged only six wins per season during his time with the team. After eight seasons, Anderson was traded to the Giants midway through the 1986 season, where in his first two and a half years as a Giant, he didn’t record a single fumble.
Named the 1989 NFL Comeback Player of the Year, Anderson, who had just three fumbles during his stint with the Giants, helped New York win two Super Bowls, XXI, and XXV, the latter of which he was named the game’s MVP. He finished his career as the eighth player in the NFL’s history to contribute 10,000 rushing yards, finishing his 14-year career with 10,273 rushing yards and 81 touchdowns.
Anderson was inducted into the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame in May 2022.
Carl Banks (LB)
Carl Banks was the third overall pick in 1984 and the last linebacker the Giants selected in the first round of the draft. He was part of New York’s star-studded “Big Blue Wrecking Crew,” which also included fellow linebackers (and Hall of Famers) Harry Carson and Lawrence Taylor.
Banks, a two-time Super Bowl champion, had one of his finest games in Super Bowl XXI when he tallied 14 tackles with tackles for loss against John Elway and the Denver Broncos.
Banks was named a first-team All-Pro in 1987 and a Pro Bowler that year as well. He was voted to the NFL’s 1980s All-Deade Team and to the Pro Football Writers of America’s All-Rookie Team.
After nine seasons with New York, Banks spent a season in Washington and then two with Cleveland where his head coach at the time was none other than Bill Belichick, the Giants' defensive coordinator for Super Bowls XXI and XXV, who had moved on to begin his head coaching career with the Browns in 1991.
Banks was a steady competitor who contributed to the team’s winning records in six of his nine seasons as a Giant.
Everson Walls (DB)
Everson Walls spent the majority of his career with the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent out of Grambling State starting in 1981. He was waived by Dallas after the 1989 season and signed with the Giants on a two-year contract the following season, where he played safety.
A three-time league leader in interceptions (1981, 1982, and 1985), Walls set a single-season franchise record with his 11 receptions in his rookie year, an accomplishment broken by Trevon Diggs of the Cowboys in 2021.
Walls earned four Pro Bowl titles and three First-Team All-Pro selections throughout his 13-year career. During his two seasons with the Giants, Walls recorded his lone career defensive touchdown when he made the pick-6 in a winning effort over Washington.
Walls was also instrumental in the team’s 1990 championship season. In Super Bowl XXV against the Buffalo Bills, he stopped Buffalo running back Thurman Thomas, who was likely on his way toward a touchdown with less than two minutes to play in the game.
Walls, who made Sports Illustrated cover history when he was captured on film throwing his arms up in the air in celebration following Bills kicker Scott Norwood's missed field goal that gave the Giants their second championship, was released by the Giants midway through the 1992 season. He finished his career with Cleveland under Belichick, then the Browns head coach.
