Number 24 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 24 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 No. 24 in at Least One Regular Season Game*

T Century Milstead (1925), B Red Howard (1927), B Snitz Snyder (1929), E Winnie Anderson (1936), E Will Walls (1937-43), E Charles Barnard (1938), DE Bolo Perdue (1940), FB/HB Howie Livingston (1944-45), HB Sonny Grandelius (1953), HB Wayne Berry (1954), HB Phil King (1958-63), RB Tucker Frederickson (1965-71), DB Chuck Crist (1972-74), RB Marsh White (1976), DB Terry Jackson (1978-83), DB Kenny Daniel (1984), RB Ottis Anderson (1986-92), DB Izel Jenkins (1993), DB Maurice Douglass (1995-96), DB Carlton Gray (1998), DB Bashir Levingston (1999-00), CB Will Peterson (2001-05), RB Robert Douglas (2007), CB Terrell Thomas (2008-13), CB Walter Thurmond (2014), CB Eli Apple (2016-18), DB Tony Lippett (2018), DB Julian Love (2019), CB James Bradberry (2020-21), S Dane Belton (2022- present) 

*Jersey numbers per Pro Football Reference.

Which Giants Player Wore It Best?

Running back Ottis Anderson was a fighter on the gridiron who overcame the injury bug that tried to rob him of his rushing prowess earlier in his career.

Answreson, however, wasn’t having it. Originally a first-round draft pick out of the University of Miami by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1979, Anderson, the 8th overall pick that year, went on to beat Giants quarterback Phil Simms for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year honors.

Within his first two seasons, Anderson was named to two Pro Bowls and was a first-team All-Pro as a rookie and a second-team All-Pro in his second season. He also finished fourth in the “Offensive Player of the Year” voting. 

Anderson’s durability soon became a concern for the Cardinals, who were also gravitating toward having Stump Mitchell as their main running back. This combination of factors led to the Cardinals trading Anderson amid the 1986 season to the Giants.

Anderson appeared in eight games for the Giants that first year, mostly as a short-yardage and goalline back whose ball security was pristine. Although he didn’t make much of a ripple in Super Bowl XXI, Anderson did score a touchdown in the Giants' win over the Denver Broncos.

Anderson gradually began to look like the top prospect he was in college, earning Comeback Player of the Year Honors in 1989. That year, he recorded his first (and what would be his last) 1,000-yard rushing campaign since 1984, finishing with 1,023 yards on 325 carries and a career-best 14 rushing touchdowns. 

In 1990, Anderson, now the lead back for the Giants, delivered 784 rushing yards on 225 carries, saving his finest performance for Super Bowl XXV. In that game, Anderson rushed for 102 yards on 21 carries and a touchdown. 

That touchdown made Anderson the third running back at the time to score a rushing touchdown in two different Super Bowls (Franco Harris and John Riggins having done it before him).

Anderson’s final season with the Giants was in 1992. Anderson is currently one of 33 running backs to have amassed 10,000 rushing yards in his career, and his 10,273 career rushing yards fall just behind Tiki Barber’s 10,449 in the franchise record book.

Anderson is a member of the Giants Ring of Honor and was voted No. 51 on the team’s Top 100 players of all time last year to mark the franchise’s 100th anniversary.