ALLIE SHERMAN
Head Coach
"During the course of a year, Allie Sherman looks at more film than Federico Fellini. That's the way it should be, for in Allie's line of work, he has to demand even more perfection from his players than even Fellini does from his. With Allie, coaching is a full time occupation. He scarcely takes any time for himself during what most of us euphemistically call the off-season. Fact is, the months between January and July may be when he works the hardest, as he sits in darkened rooms projecting game films over and over again, looking for clues to why previous losses turned out that way. During the season, he spends at least one night a week locked up with quarterback Fran Tarkenton in his Westchester home, where they go over films and plot the strategy for that week's game.
Allie is also the complete coach, involving himself in every facet of his team's operation. He leaves nothing undone. This has opened him up to criticism from some people who think he takes too much upon himself and should delegate some of the authority to his assistants. Even his most strongest admirers believe that Allie's forte is designing imaginative offenses, and that defensive football still puzzles him a little.
In his eight years as Giant coach, he has heard the songbirds in the stands serenade him with the choruses of 'Good-Bye Allie' when the team hasn't done well. Allie claims he doesn't hear them. As a one-time left-handed quarterback who played his college football for Brooklyn College, he's learned not to hear many things."
-Jack Zanger, Pro Football 1969
ALEX WEBSTER
Head Coach
"The wheel horse of the offense, Alex can smash a line, run wide and nail passes. He can play halfback and fullback.
Drafted by the Redskins, Alex was released before he played a game and went to Canada, where he was named that country's top player. He joined the Giants in '55.
Alex lives in East Brunswick, New Jersey."
-Pro Football Handbook 1959
"A series of injuries curtailed some of his '59 activities.
Alex is a halfback who runs like a fullback and nails passes like an end. He gained 250 yards as a carrier and 381 as a pass receiver.
Alex was first drafted by Washington in '53 but he failed to impress the coaches. He went to the Canadian League where he was a top player for two seasons, becoming a Giant in '55.
Born in Kearney, New Jersey, Alex is a bread-and-butter banger who gets the call when clutch yardage is needed."
-1960 Pro Football Handbook
"Comeback kid of the 1961 tournament was Alex Webster, the bruising halfback-fullback who was in danger of being cut in pre-season camp. The Kearney (New Jersey) crusher, a victim of shoulder and leg ailments, whipped himself into such superior shape that he was the league's No. 3 rusher and gained 1,241 yards a runner and pass receiver. Alex was outstanding at picking up that vital third-down yardage.
He first starred in the Canadian loop before joining the Giants in 1955."
-Don Schiffer, 1962 Pro Football Handbook
"In the best year of his career in 1961, Alex was third in the NFL in rushing."
-1962 Topps No. 105
"For a halfback who needs most of the summer to get into shape, Alex Webster has no reason for apologies. Big Red led the Giants in 1962 with 743 yards rushing, and his pass receptions added 477 yards. He's really a polished blocker, too.
Alex was born in Kearney, New Jersey and watched Giant games from the bleachers as a youth. He starred as a North Carolina State line-smasher, then played two years in Canada. This is season No. 9 with the Giants."
-Don Schiffer, Pro Football 1963
"Every winning pro football team needs a bull-necked fullback to grind out those precious yards for a first down, and the New York Giants have had one of the best human battering rams in the business ever since 225-pound Alex Webster first joined the team in 1955. Webster has never enjoyed the publicity gained by such NFL fullback luminaries as Cleveland's Jim Brown and Jim Taylor of the Green Bay Packers, but in the opinion of Giants' coach Allie Sherman, 'He is one of the greatest clutch runners in the game of football. Alex is the fellow we want carrying the ball when the pressure is on.'
The 32-year-old graduate of North Carolina State has played a major role in New York's 1961 and 1962 Eastern Conference championships. In 1961 he gained 928 yards in 196 carries, finishing third in ground-gaining honors behind Brown and Taylor. He also caught 26 passes, good for 313 yards, and furnished many a key block from his fullback position. Last year Webster's rushing yardage total dropped to 743 in 207 tries but he also snared 47 passes for an additional 477 yards. His career total of 4,340 yards gained rushing puts him in first place among all-time New York Giant backs.
Alex also has scored 49 touchdowns during his eight years with the New Yorkers, more of them from within the five-yard line than any other player in Giant history.
'And it's those last five yards that are always the toughest,' says coach Sherman.
Born and reared in Kearney, New Jersey, Alex was an All-State high school back in 1949. After college he had a brief trial with the Redskins but failed to click with coach Curly Lambeau. However, he did catch on with Montreal, playing Canadian football under the colorful Peahead Walker for two years, tearing the league apart in 1953 and 1954.
Spotted by New York scout Al DeRogatis, Webster joined the Giants in 1955 and has been wearing their red, white and blue to good advantage ever since."
-1963 Official Pro Football Almanac
"Another old pro among the Giants, Alex Webster looms as a question mark this year, his 12th counting two in Canada. Bothered by a back ailment during the closing games of last season, he gained a season total of only 255 yards on 75 carries for four touchdowns.
At North Carolina State, he was All-Southern Conference but the Redskins cut him and he played with Montreal in the Canadian Football League before joining the Giants in 1955.
Born April 19, 11931, he's a solid pass blocker."
-Dave Anderson, Pro Football Handbook 1964
"Sidelined most of the 1963 campaign by a back injury, Webster is rated a question mark for 1964. But if spirit and desire are the answer, then you can be sure Alex will be back at his old fullback spot. Despite being hampered, Alex nevertheless was able to gain 255 yards in 75 carries last year, an average of 3.4, and tally four touchdowns. He also caught 15 passes for 128 yards.
During a long and brilliant Giant career, Alex has gained a grand total of 4,695 yards (the all-time Giant mark), scoring 53 touchdowns altogether.
Drafted 12th by Washington in 1953, Alex was cut and played with Montreal of the Canadian Football League in '53 and '54, joining New York in '55. He was a halfback until switching to full in 1961. His best campaign occurred in '61 when he gained 928 yards on 196 tries, an average of 4.7 per carry."
-Complete Sports 1964 New York Giants
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