Tag: Ron Johnson

Giants greats Phil Simms, Ron Johnson among 18 inductees for NJHOF’s class of 2024

Former New York Giants greats Phil Simms and Ron Johnson have been named to the New Jersey Hall of Fame’s Class of 2024.

New York Giants legends Phil Simms and Ron Johnson are among 18 luminaries marked for induction into the New Jersey Hall of Fame’s Class of 2024.

Other notables to be inducted along with Simms and Johnson are actress Meryl Streep, actor Paul Rudd, founder and CEO of Jersey Mike’s Subs Peter Cancro, singer-songwriter Lesley Gore, Olympic gold medal figure skater Dick Button, former USMNT goalkeeper Tim Howard, author Gay Talese, filmmaker Kevin Smith and Nobel Peace Prize mathematician John Forbes Nash, who was the subject of the award-winning film, “A Beautiful Mind.”

Simms, who was born in Kentucky, has been a New Jerseyan (Franklin Lakes) since being drafted by the New York Giants out of Morehead State in 1979. A quarterback for 15 seasons, he is one the greatest players in team history, leading the Giants to victory in Super Bowl XXI in 1987, their first NFL championship in 30 years.

Johnson was a star running back at Michigan who began his NFL career with the Cleveland Browns but was traded to the Giants in 1970 and became a two-time Pro Bowler and the first giant to ever rush for over 1,000 yards in a single season. He settled in Madison, New Jersey, and lived there until his death in 2018.

Simms and Johnson will be the sixth and seventh members of the Giants family presented for induction, joining Wellington Mara (2012), Harry Carson and Bart Oates (2018), Eli Manning (2019-20), and Tiki Barber (2023).

From the NJHOF:

The Inductees will be honored at the 16th Annual New Jersey Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. This year’s ceremony will be a pre-taped television special on location at the 10,000-square-foot New Jersey Hall of Fame at American Dream and other Hall of Fame satellite exhibits. The ceremony will be aired beginning November 13 on Fox 5 My9 and social media. Dozens of Inductee events will be open to the public throughout the year on Inductee birthdays, beginning as early as this summer.

“The 2024 class of Inductees of the New Jersey Hall of Fame illustrate the New Jersey ethic of hard work, determination, and grit,” said Jon F. Hanson, Chairman of the NJHOF. “We are thrilled to celebrate the contributions of 18 new Inductees so future generations can learn about their journeys.”

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Throwback Thursday: Giants, Oilers meet for first time in 1973

In the first Throwback Thursday of the season, we travel in time to 1973 when the New York Giants and Houston Oilers met for the first time.

The New York Giants have only met the Tennessee Titans 12 times since the NFL and AFL merged in 1970. The first meeting occurred on September 16, 1973, when the Titans were the Houston Oilers. It would be the only meeting between the clubs until they met again in 1982.

The 1973 meeting was the season opener and took place at Yankee Stadium. It would be the Giants’ next-to-last home game at The House That Ruth Built in the Bronx. They moved to the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut the next week.

The move was not being received well by Giant fans as the game drew just under 58,000 fans — the lowest attendance in five years and the first non-sellout since 1960.

The Giants took a 27-0 halftime lead on two Pete Gogolak field goals, two one-yard rushing touchdowns from running back Ron Johnson and a 14-yard pass play from Norm Snead to Don Herrmann.

The Oilers turned a pair of interceptions into touchdowns in the third quarter to narrow the score to 27-14. The Giants closed out the scoring with a one-yard plunge from running back Joe Orduna to ice the game, 34-14.

The win would be only one of two the Giants would record on the season. They finished the year at 2-11-1. The Oilers didn’t fare that well, either, going 1-13 on the season.

As a result, the Oilers would earn the top pick in the 1974 NFL draft but could don’t capitalize on it as they had dealt it earlier in the year to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for defensive end Tody Smith and wide receiver Billy Parks.

Dallas ended up drafting Tennessee State defensive end Ed “Too Tall” Jones with that No. 1 pick and then used the other selection they got in the deal — a 1975 third rounder — to take quarterback/punter Danny White. Ouch.

The Giants held the third overall pick in 1974 and selected Ohio State guard John Hicks.

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Throwback Thursday: Giants defeat Saints at Yankee Stadium in 1972

In the latest Giants Wire Throwback Thursday, we head to 1972 when the New York Giants beat the Archie Manning-led Saints at Yankee Stadium.

Professional football in New York was in a much different place back in 1972. There were two teams playing within the five boroughs, and there were enough fans to go around for both teams regardless of where they were in the standings.

In Flushing, the New York Jets were three years removed from their miracle Super Bowl upset, and Joe Namath’s knees were wearing thin. Up in the Bronx, the New York Giants were trying to find their way back to the NFL playoffs, a place they hadn’t been since 1963.

On Sunday, Oct. 8, the Jets were hosting the powerful Miami Dolphins at Shea Stadium. Miami was 3-0 coming into the game, and Jets were 2-1 after dropping the prior week’s game to the Houston Oilers, 26-20.

The 1-2 Giants were entertaining a winless New Orleans Saints team quarterbacked by Archie Manning.

From the New York Times:

New York was an autumn festival yesterday for pro football fans as both the Giants and Jets played home games. A total of 125,898 fans turned out at Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium.

At Yankee Stadium, Charlie Evans scored three touch downs to lead the Giants to an easy 45-21 victory over the New Orleans Saints before 62,057. The second‐year pro caught a scoring aerial of 10 yards from Norm Snead and tallied on runs of 24 and 8 yards all in the first half when the Giants were building a 31‐7 lead.

At Shea Stadium, 63,841 saw the Miami Dolphins continue as the only undefeated team in the National Football League with a 27‐17 triumph over the Jets. Bob Griese threw a 17‐yard touch down pass to Howard Twilley and set up two scoring runs by Jim Kiick with passes.

Lots to unpack here. First off, that’s a lot of people going to see football, but that day was perfect weather for it. The Jets sold enough tickets to lift the local TV blackout. The Giants did not — the near 80,000-seat Yankee Stadium was nearly impossible to sell out.

Who was Charlie Evans? Well, he was a 14th-round draft pick of the Giants out of USC in 1971 and was used in tandem with Ron Johnson. As a rookie in 1971, Evans scored three times in a game in San Diego.

This would be his other big game in a Giants uniform. Evans’ 87 yards on that day would be the most in his four-year career. He played in Washington in 1974 and was out of football after that season.

The Giants went on to finish 8-6 for head coach Alex Webster in 1972 but fell shy of the postseason. It would be their last winning season until 1981.

The Jets went on to a 7-7 year and lost to Miami twice. No big deal there as the Dolphins went undefeated that season.

But for those too young to know or remember, football was always a big draw in the Big Apple and this Sunday proved that.

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Logan Paul plans to return to the ring this winter

Logan Paul is partnering with American Dream Presents, Sterling Promotions and James Wilent of J3G Global to resume his career on Entrobox.

Logan Paul will soon be back in the ring.

The YouTube personality, who lost a split decision to fellow internet star KSI in his professional debut in November, is partnering with American Dream Presents, Sterling Promotions and James Wilent of J3G Global to resume his career on Entrobox.

He plans to fight again this winter, although a date, site and opponent haven’t been announced.

Paul will have gone about a year without fighting but plans to be more active in 2021, with multiple events in the works.

The fight against KSI was controversial. Referee Jack Reiss penalized Paul two points for punching KSI while he was down, which cost him the victory. KSI won the six-round cruiserweight fight by scores of 57-54, 56-55 and 55-56.

“I’m excited to hop back in the ring but win this time around. F— You Jack Reiss,” Paul said.

Said Ron Johnson, CEO of American Dream Presents and an active heavyweight fighter: “When Logan Paul enters the ring, it is must see TV. Logan may not have worked his way up the ranks in the amateurs, but over the last few years you can see the improvement he has made under his trainer, Milton Lacroix.

“Logan has major power in both hands, but more important he has the heart.”

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Logan Paul plans to return to the ring this winter

Logan Paul is partnering with American Dream Presents, Sterling Promotions and James Wilent of J3G Global to resume his career on Entrobox.

Logan Paul will soon be back in the ring.

The YouTube personality, who lost a split decision to fellow internet star KSI in his professional debut in November, is partnering with American Dream Presents, Sterling Promotions and James Wilent of J3G Global to resume his career on Entrobox.

He plans to fight again this winter, although a date, site and opponent haven’t been announced.

Paul will have gone about a year without fighting but plans to be more active in 2021, with multiple events in the works.

The fight against KSI was controversial. Referee Jack Reiss penalized Paul two points for punching KSI while he was down, which cost him the victory. KSI won the six-round cruiserweight fight by scores of 57-54, 56-55 and 55-56.

“I’m excited to hop back in the ring but win this time around. F— You Jack Reiss,” Paul said.

Said Ron Johnson, CEO of American Dream Presents and an active heavyweight fighter: “When Logan Paul enters the ring, it is must see TV. Logan may not have worked his way up the ranks in the amateurs, but over the last few years you can see the improvement he has made under his trainer, Milton Lacroix.

“Logan has major power in both hands, but more important he has the heart.”

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Nate Robinson works with ex-champ Ron Johnson for Tyson undercard bout

Former Boston Celtic reserve guard Nate Robinson is working with former champion boxer Ron Johnson ahead of his Tyson – Jones Jr. undercard bout.

Former Boston Celtic reserve guard Nate Robinson will take on YouTube celebrity Jake Paul in a boxing match planned as the undercard of the Mike Tyson – Roy Jones Jr. fight set to take place on September 12th, and has been training with professional boxers in preparation for the match.

Robinson has been training with heavyweight boxer Ron “The American Dream” Johnson in particular, putting out a video exclusive to USA TODAY discussing their partnership for this fight.

Johnson is a four-time boxing champion and current Current GBO Heavyweight Boxing Champ, one of several reportedly helping Robinson get his sea legs ahead of the high-profile bout.

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“Ron! Thank you my brother, I know this is last minute man,” began Robinson in the video.

“I know you’re a champ; I want to learn from you, bro. I appreciate you for opening your home to me, man — this is pretty cool. Shouts to all the people out there that’s trying to box, that’s trying to do it up.

I’m showing y’all that you’ve got to go for it and go do it. It’s been pretty cool. Great Day, learned some new tricks man and hopefully I can get this done and get this championship and kick Jake Paul’s ass — that’s what we’re here for, man.”

“Y’all know what it is, man,” he added. “Shout out to the peaceful — everybody, peace and love.”

Both fighters have released training montages on their respective Instagram accounts ahead of the contest.

The two Instagram clips feature each fighter in the ring sparring with a trainer.

Neither look especially skillful at the craft, which shouldn’t surprise too much given their non-professional status as fighters.

Thankfully, the mid-September match is far enough away still that both amateur boxers can pick up some more tricks to make the meeting as interesting of an affair as their hype videos wants us to expect.

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