NY Giants Training Camps1974 - 1974 Fairfield University Fairfield, Connecticut
1961 - 1969 Fairfield University Fairfield, Connecticut
www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/nyg/training-camps.htm
Fans at a New York Giants intra-squad scrimmage.
George Albano Column: How the NY Giants once called Fairfield U. home.....During their 90-year history, the Giants held camp at a number of places, including St. Michael's College in Winooski, Vermont during the summers of 1959 and '60.
"They would start out at St. Michael's and then go to the Catskills when they started their exhibition season," Reilly explained. "They used to play one exhibition game every year at the Yale Bowl to benefit the Albie Booth Foundation."
That was the Giants' introduction to Connecticut. Booth was a New Haven native and multi-sport star at Yale, and the New Haven Register newspaper was involved with the Giants' annual charity game at Yale Bowl. It became known as the 'Albie Booth Memorial Game' with proceeds going to the Albie Booth Memorial Boys Club.
"A guy named Bill Kiesch, who was a reporter for the Register and a Fairfield grad, heard the guys in the sports department talking one day about how the Giants were looking to leave the Catskills and find a new place," Reilly said. "They checked out some fancy prep schools, but they didn't have the right facilities. Kiesch said why not check out Fairfield University. The gym was new. It just opened."
This is where John Reilly comes in. In 1960, however, while in between gigs at The Norwalk Hour, he was the Director of Public Relations at Fairfield University. Or, or to be more exact, he was the public relations department, heading a one-man staff by himself.
"One day I got a call from the Giants and they wanted to take a look at the college," he said. "Ray Walsh, the general manager, Jim Lee Howell, the head coach, Harland Svare, their line coach, and (team owner) Wellington Mara's son all came up and toured the place."
And Reilly was their official "tour guide" for the day.
"School was already done so there were no students around," he said. "We had one dorm open so I took them there to see it."
The Giants' brass came away impressed with the rest of Reilly's tour of the campus. Now came the hard part: Negotiating a deal.
"We sat down and Ray Walsh, the general manager, said 'We have 50 people who like to eat, so you better cook for a hundred," Reilly recalled. "He said the players liked steak and potatoes.
"Then he said, 'We don't expect to pay what we did at the Catskills.' That was too expensive, he said. He told us to come up with a figure."
So Reilly and other college personnel huddled and worked on a plan that would appease the Giants while the same time save them money. Remember, this was the early 1960s and NFL clubs weren't the multi-million dollar enterprises they are now.
"I told the other people in our group we would let the team use the dormitories for no charge," Reilly said. "Then I figured out the food and I told the Giants we could do it for $6 a player."
That's $6 a player for the whole day, all three meals.
"The whole day," Reilly said.
Even back then that was a bargain.
"When we gave them that price there was silence. I thought I had blown it," Reilly recalled. "Then Ray Walsh said, 'Are you sure that's enough? How about $6.50?' So that was the deal we made with them. They were going to be there for two weeks."
And that's how the New York Giants came to Fairfield University for nine straight summers.
www.thehour.com/sports/article/George-Albano-Column-How-the-NY-Giants-once-8098046.php
(From left) New York Giants head coach Allie Sherman, with Earl Morrall and Fran Tarkenton, at Fairfield University in 1967.
NY Giants At Fairfield U....The publicity for Fairfield University was worth the investment. Workouts were closed to the public. But an intra-squad scrimmage on the last day of camp was open to fans. The place was packed. Players like Frank Gifford and Y.A. Tittle trained at Fairfield. It was close to home for Stamford’s Andy Robustelli. Hungarian Pete Gogolak — pro football’s first soccer-style kicker — later made his home in Darien (and opened a soccer camp). Dozens of other players trained at Fairfield too. When they wanted a break, they’d jump on the “Connecticut Turnpike” (now I-95) to places like the Arrow restaurant in Saugatuck (now Mystic Market). Owner Lou Nistico always treated them well....
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