No. 64 and the New York Giants Player Who Wore It Best

The countdown to the start of the New York Giants’ 2025 season is underway, as we’re now 64 days away from the opening kickoff against the Washington Commanders. To count down the days until then, we look at the best players to wear the corresponding number for the Giants.

Who Wore #64 in at Least One Regular Season Game*

C David Baas (2001-13), OT Mike Black (1987), NT Jim Burt (1981-88), OG Mark Glowinski (2022-23), OG Andy Gross (1967-68), LB Matt Hazeltine (1970), C Shane McDermott (2016), DT John Mendenhall (1972-79), LB Raheem Orr (2004), OT Tom Rehder (1990), OG Aaron Stinnie (2024), OL-LB Mickey Walker (1962-65).

*Jersey numbers per Pro Football Reference.

Which Giants Player Wore It Best?

Defensive tackle John Mendenhall demoralized offensive lines by using a relentless motor, power, and athleticism to track down the ball and to get pressure on the quarterback. 

He was an interior force for a highly respected and overstressed front seven that received little help from the offense during his eight seasons with the Giants (1972-79). 

Mendenhall often drew double-teams and gained additional respect for flopping between nose tackle and defensive tackle in the team’s multiple front and fighting through an assortment of injuries – he played in 101 (98 starts) of 116 regular season games before the Giants waived him after the 1979 season. 

He spent one year with Detroit and then retired.

The Giants selected Mendenhall in the third round out of Grambling in the 1972 NFL Draft - he started every game and collected four sacks on his way to the NFL’s All-Rookie Team. 

The club finished 8-6 in its only winning season during his frustrating tenure. In his second season, he posted six sacks over the first eight games before being sidelined the rest of the way because of knee surgery. 

Mendenhall earned a 1974 All-NFC selection from United Press International after he came back to register seven sacks in 13 games. 

An ankle injury cost him five games in 1975, but again, he rebounded, collecting six sacks without missing a game and grabbing his only career interception (vs. Seattle) in 1976. 

He continued his assault on opponents with a personal-best 10 sacks in 1977, according to the Professional Football Researchers Association. 

(Note: Since sacks became an official statistic in 1982, Robert Harris (1997) and Keith Hamilton (2000) are the only Giants defensive tackles to put up 10 sacks in one season.)

Mendenhall always donned the No. 64, whether he was in college or the NFL, as a tribute to his older brother, Willie James Cooper, who was killed during the Vietnam War in 1966. Cooper had worn No. 64 while playing youth football.

In 2024, Mendenhall was named 77th on the list of the all-time Giants’ Top 100 Players as selected by an independent committee of journalists, NFL/Pro Football Hall of Fame executives, and superfans polled by the team.

Who’s Wearing It Now?

Guard Aaron Stinnie has worn No. 64 since signing with the Giants as a veteran free agent in 2024 after five years with Tampa Bay (2019-23) - that included a start in the win over Kansas City in Super Bowl LV. He entered the NFL with Tennessee (2018-19) as an undrafted free agent out of James Madison.

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