Tag Archives: George Martin

Giants React to the Passing of Andy Robustelli

by Charles Costello on June 1st, 2011 at 5:26 am

Reaction to the death of Andy Robustelli, the former Giants’ defensive end and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, who passed away Tuesday morning at the age of 85:

“He was one of the greatest players in franchise history, and one of the finest, most dignified gentlemen you could ever meet. Andy was a man’s man in every respect.” (John Mara, Giants co-owner)

“Andy was a great leader. When he came to us from the Rams, it turned everything around defensively. He fit perfectly into Tom Landry’s defense. Tom Landry was such a leader in putting defense into pro football and Andy was one of the key components of that. He was far and away above the other defensive ends of his era. Andy was not all that big, but he was very quick. With Andy and Tom Landry, it was almost scary the anticipation that they had of what was going to be run. He and Tom were very, very close. Whereas Tom was the overall defensive coach, Andy basically ran the defensive line along with the linebackers. He was the leader. Everyone knew that. He was the leader in the clubhouse. He was quiet, but when Andy talked, everyone listened.” (Frank Gifford, former teammate)

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