Alex Webster Passes Away

Alex Webster Passes Away: One of the icons of the New York Giants’ franchise passed away yesterday. Alex Webster, who played running back for the Giants from 1955 to 1964 and who later served as head coach for the team from 1969 to 1973, died yesterday in Florida at the age of 80. Webster grew up in Kearney, New Jersey.

“Big Red” as he was fondly called was inducted into the Giants’ Ring of Honor on December 4, 2011. Webster is fifth on the Giants’ career-rushing list with 4,638 yards. He is also 14th in franchise history with 240 receptions and 10th on the career-scoring list with 336 points. Webster’s overall record as head coach was 29-40-1. He was named UPI “Coach of the Year” in 1970 after leading his team to a 9-5 record and a second-place finish in the NFC East.

“Alex was one of the all-time great Giants,” said Giants’ President and CEO John Mara. “He contributed so much to our team as a player, assistant coach and head coach. He was an even better person. We shall miss him dearly.”

“Some of my greatest memories growing up were my father taking me and my brother and sister to Giants games at Yankee Stadium,” said Giants Chairman and Executive Vice President Steve Tisch. “I knew early in life what a great Giant Alex Webster is and was and what he meant to our organization. We are all thankful and proud of Alex’s induction into our Ring of Honor this past fall.”

“Alex was a fantastic player,” said former Giants’ running back Frank Gifford. “He came down from (the Canadian Football League) when we were in a lot of trouble. He turned everything around for us. He played on the other side from me. The same things I was doing at the left halfback, he was doing at the right halfback.”

“He was a great guy,” Gifford said. “He was easy to get along with. Alex made you laugh all the time. He was fun and he had a great sense of humor. He was really a classy guy.”

“(As head coach), he inherited a team without much talent,” Gifford said. “He didn’t have anyone like himself. And he was really too good of a guy to do it. He was a guy’s guy. He was a hell of an assistant coach. But to make some of the decisions he had to make as a head coach would be very tough for Alex.”

For more on the football life of Alex Webster, see this article in The New York Times.

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