The 50 Greatest Players in New York Giants Football History by Robert W. Cohen

Author:Robert W. Cohen [Cohen, Robert W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Published: 2014-04-08T04:00:00+00:00

25

Alex Webster

One of the most popular players in Giants’ history, Alex Webster used his toughness, desire, and determination to become a star in New York in spite of his somewhat limited natural ability. Blessed with good size but only average speed, Webster willed his way into becoming a significant contributor to Giants teams that appeared in six NFL Championship Games between 1956 and 1963. Speaking of his longtime teammate, Frank Gifford once marveled, “He [Webster] was always amazing to me. He was always in the worst shape of anyone who ever played, probably. He smoke and drank, not to excess, and then he’d come out and play a whole game and run over people. He was one tough dude.”1

Webster’s toughness enabled him to establish himself as the Giants’ all-time leader in rushing yards (4,638) and rushing touchdowns (39) at the time of his retirement in 1964. He continues to rank in the top five in both categories. He also earned two Pro Bowl nominations and two Second-Team All-NFL selections during his 10 years in New York. Webster’s many accomplishments tend to support the contention made by former All-Pro tackle Al DeRogatis, who originally discovered him while scouting another player in the Canadian Football League. Speaking of the man who eventually became known to his teammates as Big Red, DeRogatis noted, “If you looked at Alex from the standpoint of his natural talent, from the standpoint of speed—the ingredients that we see today in the great athlete—well, that wasn’t Alex Webster. But, if you look for a man who was a great fighter, a guy that you wanted on your side when the going really got tough, then you’d want Alex Webster to be with you.”2

Born in Kearny, New Jersey, on April 19, 1931, Alexander Webster lost his father to cancer at an early age in 1941. Nevertheless, young Alex learned to excel in sports, starring in football at Kearny High en route to earning an athletic scholarship to North Carolina State University. After performing extremely well in college as a single-wing tailback on offense and a safety on defense, Webster was selected by the Washington Redskins in the 11th round of the 1953 NFL Draft with the 123rd overall pick. However, after trying him out exclusively in the secondary, the Redskins elected to cut Webster, telling the young man that they considered him to be too slow to play safety in the NFL.

Undeterred, Webster traveled north to Canada, where he spent the next two years starring at running back for the Montreal Alouettes. Webster eventually returned to the United States, though, thanks to Al DeRogatis, who urged the Giants to sign the NC State product after watching him play one day. DeRogatis, who was on assignment in Montreal to scout quarterback Sam Etcheverry for the Giants, later recalled, “When I came back, I told the Giants that Webster was the big man they had been looking for.”3

Standing 6’3” and weighing 225 pounds, Webster had good size and strength. He

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