NEW YORK - Three longtime Redskins starters - two former Jets and a former Giants player - began their NFL careers by calling Giants Stadium home.
Barring a Redskins-Giants playoff matchup in January, Sunday’s game was their last in the place where they made their home debuts. The Giants and Jets are playing their last season in the stadium, which opened in 1976. Next season, they will move next door into Meadowlands Stadium, a $1.6 billion, 82,500-seat facility; it’s scheduled to be ready by August.
Receiver Santana Moss and guard Randy Thomas came up with the Jets, and defensive tackle Cornelius Griffin was drafted in the second round by the Giants in 2000.
“I have memories, good memories and bad memories,” said Griffin, whose first Giants team won the NFC championship. “I made a lot of plays in that stadium.”
Thomas, drafted by the Jets in 1999, said his most indelible memory in the stadium came in his second season when his team rallied to beat Miami on “Monday Night Football,” thanks in large part to a late touchdown catch by Jets offensive tackle Jumbo Elliott.
“It’s always nice to go back to New York and play, and it will be nice to close it out and look forward to a different stadium next year,” said Moss, whose brother Sinorice plays for the Giants. “Any memory when it comes to beating the Giants is a good memory.”
That hasn’t happened that often for the trio as Redskins, especially at Giants Stadium. With Sunday’s loss, Thomas is 2-5 for Washington against New York there. Griffin is 1-5, and Moss is 1-4.
- David Elfin
• David Elfin can be reached at delfin@washingtontimes.com.
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