The NFL playoffs kick off this weekend and Chula Vista resident Jerry Shay will be watching on television, as will many other South County residents.
But for Shay the playoffs will have a little more meaning. He is the proud recipient of four Super Bowl championship rings and one NFC championship ring.
“They’re all pretty memorable,” he said.
Shay earned the championship rings as a scout for the New York Giants.
The Giants won Super Bowl championships in 1987, 1991, 2008 and 2012, and finished runner-up in 2001.
Shay, who has lived in Chula Vista since 1971, keeps the rings in a safety deposit box and normally does not wear them.
“They’re too big and uncomfortable to wear,” he said.
But he remains immensely proud of them.
The Giants defeated the Denver Broncos, 39-20, to win Super Bowl XXI in Pasadena on Jan. 25, 1987. The Giants edged the Buffalo Bills, 20-19, in Super Bowl XXV played in Tampa on Jan. 27, 1991.
Shay won his third Super Bowl ring (Super Bowl XLII) as a member of the Giants organization on Feb. 3, 2008, in a 17-14 win over the New England Patriots in Glendale, Ariz. The fourth came on Feb. 5, 2012, in Super Bowl XLVI when the Giants defeated the Patriots, 21-17, in Indianapolis.
The Giants lost to the Baltimore Ravens, 34-7, in Super Bowl XXXV on Jan. 28, 2001, in Tampa.
Shay said all are obviously memorable. But does one stand out from the rest?
“When Buffalo missed a field goal to give us the win in Tampa,” he said.
Shay, originally from Gary Ind., played both college and professional football.
He was drafted in the first round as the No. 7 pick overall by the Minnesota Vikings in 1966. At that point in time the NFL was much reduced in size and a separate entity from the American Football League, which the Los Angeles/San Diego Chargers called home from 1960-69.
In fact, the AFL’s Denver Broncos also selected Shay during the same 1966 draft year.
Shay chose to play in the NFL. He played defensive tackle for the Vikings (1966-67), defensive end and defensive tackle for the Atlanta Falcons (1968-69) and defensive tackle and offensive tackle and guard for the Giants (1970-71). He played one season (1972) with the Edmonton Eskimos in the Canadian Football League.
“Back then the roster size was only 40 players,” Shay explained. “If someone got injured, you had to move up. You had to learn to play more than one position.”
Shay retains a lot of memories of playing pro football, especially his teammates. Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Fran Tarkenton, who played for both the Vikings and Giants, was a teammate of Shay’s on the Giants.
Shay played collegiate football at Purdue University where he was a member of the 1965 College Football All-America Team (along with quarterback Bob Griese, a Purdue teammate). Griese, who would go on to earn fame as a member of the Miami Dolphins’ undefeated 1972 team, was a junior when Shay was a senior.
Shay was inducted in the Indiana Football Hall of Fame in 1996 and into the Purdue University Hall of Fame in 2010.
Following his playing days, Shay served as a college scout for the Giants for 15 years. It was during this time that he won his Super Bowl rings.
Shay’s input was directly responsible for the Giants drafting such standouts as Harry Carson, Phil Sims, Michael Strahan and Lawrence Taylor. Simms was a two-time Super Bowl champion with the club (Super Bowl XXI and Super Bowl XXV) and Super Bowl MVP (Super Bowl XXI).
Shay said he enjoyed his career as a college scout. “I was on the road about 200 days during the year,” he recalled. “You got to meet the top college coaches, visit the top college programs, stay in nice hotels, you got to meet a lot of nice people.”
He continues to follow college football on television. “I really pull for (Alabama head coach) Nick Saban,” Shay said. “I root for anyone playing against Notre Dame. I think (San Diego State University’s) Rocky Long is a great coach.”
Now 73, Shay continues to keep an interest in the NFL.
This year’s playoff field should be rather refreshing to watch with eight of the 12 teams being newcomers from last season.
The Philadelphia Eagles (13-3) are the No. 1 seed among the six NFC teams, followed by the Vikings (13-3) at No. 2, Los Angeles Rams (11-5) at No. 3, New Orleans Saints (11-5) at No. 4, Carolina Panthers (11-5) at No. 5 and Atlanta Falcons (10-6) at No. 6.
The New England Patriots (13-3) are the No. 1 seed among the six AFC teams, followed by the Pittsburgh Steelers (13-3) at No. 2, Jacksonville Jaguars (10-6) at No. 3, the Kansas City Chiefs (10-6) at No. 4, the Tennessee Titans (9-7) at No. 5 and the Buffalo Bills (9-7) at No. 6.
The Patriots are the defending Super Bowl champions. Both New England and Pittsburgh are considered the cream of the crop among AFC teams.
By contrast, with injuries to key players, the NFC playoff field appears wide open, according to most analysts.
“I would really like Minnesota to be there,” Shay said. “If (Philadelphia quarterback) Carson Wentz could make it back, I’d watch out for them. I think he has the potential in a year or two to be the best quarterback in the NFL. Atlanta needs to show more consistency.”
Shay attended all three Super Bowl games to be played in San Diego — 1988, 1998 and 2003.
“The NFL regarded us as a Super Bowl city (at one time),” he said. “We have good weather, adequate security in the region and San Diego is also a prime vacation spot.”
With the right circumstances, of course, San Diego can be a Super Bowl city again. But that’s another story entirely.
NFL Star Watch
Kansas City quarterback Alex Smith (Bonita Vista Middle School/Helix High School) will lead the Chiefs onto the field in Saturday’s wild card game against the visiting Titans. Kick-off is 1:35 p.m. PT on ESPN.
Kansas City, braced by Smith, got off to a roaring 5-0 start to the 2017-18 season before the team began misfiring. At one point, the Chiefs, Chargers and Oakland Raiders were all tied with 6-6 marks atop the AFC West standings.
But Kansas City put on the brakes after dropping six of seven games and enters postseason play riding a four-game winning streak. The Chiefs regained control of the division standings with back-to-back wins over the Raiders (26-15 on Dec. 10) and Chargers (30-13 on Dec. 16) and defeated both the Miami Dolphins (29-13 on Dec. 24) and Denver (27-24 on Dec. 31) to end regular season play.
Smith, 33, did not play in last Sunday’s win over the Broncos. In 15 games this season, he has thrown for 4,041 yards with 26 touchdowns and five interceptions. He has a quarterback rating of 104.7.
Eastlake grad Tony Jefferson and the Baltimore Ravens fell short of qualifying for the playoffs after dropping a heart-breaking 31-27 decision to the visiting Cincinnati Bengals. The Ravens led, 27-24, but could not control the outcome as the Bengals marched down the field to score with 44 seconds left.
