BRAD VAN PELT SURROUNDED BY FORMER TEAMMATES HARRY CARSON AND LAWRENCE TAYLOR
It is with great sadness that I read of the passing of former Giants linebacker Brad Van Pelt today. Van Pelt reportedly died from a heart attack at the age of 57.
One of my all-time favorite players, Van Pelt brought some credibility to a Giants team that--during the mid to late 70's--seemed to be floundering in a perpetual state of incompetence.
Sadly, Van Pelt left the Giants just before the team would win it's first Super Bowl. The Giants Players of the Decade for the 1970's, Van Pelt only played on one winning Giants team in his eleven years with the club. He left the club three years before it developed into a Super Bowl winning club in 1986.
In 2005 he was nominated for the Hall of Fame. Given the Giants lack of success on the field during Van Pelt's tenure with the club, his chances of induction seem low.
Van Pelt was a former defensive back at Michigan State making him a formidable defender against the run and the pass. He was a five time pro-bowler and a Maxwell Award winner.
Van Pelt was a part of the "Crunch Bunch", a group of linebackers consisting of Van Pelt, Brian Kelley, Lawrence Taylor, and Harry Carson. That group would have to rank with the best linebacking crews in NFL history.
During Brad's stint with the team, the Giants posted a winning record just once (1981), when New York reached the playoffs for the only time in a 20-year stretch between 1964 and 1983.
Van Pelt left the Giants after Parcells selected another Michigan State standout, Carl Banks, in the first round of the 1984 NFL Draft.
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FROM NEWSDAY REPORT:
Brad Van Pelt, who helped form one of the most fearsome linebacking groups in NFL history, passed away on Tuesday from an apparent heart attack. He was 57.
Van Pelt, along with Hall of Famers Harry Carson and Lawrence Taylor and Brian Kelley, formed the Crunch Bunch for the Giants. He played for the team from 1973 to 1983, during which time he was selected to five Pro Bowls. It was the drafting of Carl Banks that effectively ended Van Pelt's career with the Giants; he played three more years in the NFL after leaving the Giants.
Van Pelt's tenure with the Giants preceded their Super Bowl era. He played on just one team with a winning record, in 1981, but was voted the team's Player of the Decade for the 1970s. A converted defensive back, he wore the number 10 for the Giants, having entered the league just before regulations regarding the jersey numbers that linebackers could wear.
He played in 184 regular season games and had 20 interceptions and (unofficially) 24.5 sacks.
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