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Few understood what the New York Giants had in mind when they snagged Michigan State linebacker Carl Banks with the third overall pick in the 1984 NFL Draft.
After all, they already were strong at the position and possessed a formidable defense, right? Pro Bowl outside linebackers Lawrence Taylor and Brad Van Pelt, the latter of whom was disgruntled and had asked for a trade, were backed up by Byron Hunt and Andy Headen.
General manager George Young, however, explained that his hand was forced when Banks fell to him in the draft, which led to the deal that sent Van Pelt to the Minnesota Vikings in July.
''Prior to the draft, it wasn't our intention to trade Brad,'' Young told The New York Times at training camp.
''After the draft, when we were successful in getting Carl Banks, who we think is going to be an outstanding linebacker, we talked to different clubs about Brad.
A week before the draft, we didn't think we would be taking Banks.
We were more interested in offensive linemen.
But when he was still there, we couldn't help but pick him." Banks was voted to the All-Rookie team and went on to earn a starting job heading into the 1986 season, when he finished with 6.5 sacks and a career-high 113 tackles.
In Week 9, he also made a hit that rocked the NFC East.
The Giants entered their home matchup against Dallas in a three-way tie for the division lead with Dallas and Washington.
On the Cowboys' second drive, Banks came in clean off the left side of the defense and flattened quarterback Danny White with a fumble-causing sack, fracturing the wrist on the quarterback's throwing hand.
The Giants emerged with a 17-14 victorytheir second in a nine-game winning streak that captured the division crownand Dallas lost White for the remainder of the season.
Banks took his performance up another notch in the postseason with a combined 26 tackles over the three-game run to the title.
He paced the defense with 10 stops in the 39-20 win over the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXI.
On the game's first drive, Banks registered back-to-back takedowns of running back Sammy Winder on second-and-5 and third-and-2 that resulted in a Denver field goal.
In the second quarter, the Broncos had a first-and-goal from the 1-yard line, but were stoned on three straight tackles by Taylor (a loss of one), Harry Carson (no gain) and Banks (loss of four) before Rich Karlis went wide right on a 23-yard field goal attempt.
Late in the third quarter, Banks broke up a third-down pass intended for tight end Orson Mobley, and Denver punted.
Early in the fourth quarter, Banks made two tackles on a drive inside the red zone, including one on third down, to prompt another field goal, helping the Giants to secure their first-ever Super Bowl championship.
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Paul Dottino is an Emmy-award-winning broadcaster who has been a host/reporter on the New York Giants broadcast team since 2009.
He has worked on the New York Giants beat for several electronic and print media outlets since 1983, with various roles at NFL Network, WFAN-AM, ESPN New York, WOR-AM, WNEW-AM, and The (N.J.) Record.
During that time, he also has been a radio play-by-play voice for New York Giants preseason games and a TV play-by-play voice for Division I college football/basketball/baseball games carried by many national and regional cable outlets, including CBS Sports Network, FS1, YES, MSG, ESPN+, and SNY.