New York Giants: Anniversary of Jason Pierre-Paul injury that changed the franchise

Today marks four years since an unusual incident happened that changed not only an NFL player’s life forever but also the direction of the New York Giants franchise

Jason Pierre-Paul was considered one of the best defensive linemen in the National Football League since being drafted by the New York Giants in 2010. His uncanny knack for getting to the quarterback with a fantastic variety of power and speed gave opposing offensive coordinators nightmares.

Pierre-Paul helped lead the Giants defense to another upset of the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI to cement himself as an elite defender in the league quickly. His two pro bowl selections and All-Pro honors in 2011 had him positioned to not only be the leader of the defense for years to come but the face of the franchise to levels not seen since Michael Strahan. Pierre-Paul’s unique athleticism allowed him to get his hand on many clutch field goal attempts while disrupting passes at the line of scrimmage fundamentally changing many aspects of the way teams ran plays.

The good times were expected to continue without interruption following Pierre-Paul’s 2015 season that saw him collect 12.5 sacks, 77 tackles, and three forced fumbles. However the unthinkable happened during that summer as the former South Florida collegiate star was critically injured due to a fireworks explosion destroying his right hand. The incident took place while at a holiday cookout in his hometown of Deerfield Beach, Florida as Pierre-Paul was having fun for the fourth of July holiday accidentally damaging several fingers on the hand.

The injury concerned the Giants so much so that instead of initially signing Pierre-Paul long term they opted to franchise tag him for the upcoming season knowing he would miss significant time. The Giants struggled without Pierre-Paul defensively and had to wait for his return in Week 9 only to get a shell of his former self now wielding a heavily wrapped club on his damaged right hand.

New York ranked fourth in the NFL with 47 total tea sacks in 2014 were affected profoundly without Pierre-Paul and finished 30th in 2015 with only 23. JPP only managed one sack for the season, leaving many people to wonder if he’d ever been the same player again that dominated games?

Pierre-Paul would eventually become a good player again just not as dominating as he was before the injury eventually earning a contract extension that kept him with the Giants until being traded in 2018 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. His Giants career was disrupted heavily on this fateful day four summers ago and has opened the discussion regarding his legacy with the franchise.

Could Pierre-Paul have been the long term captain similar to Strahan and led the team to winning seasons? It’s all just another head scratcher in regards to sports we will never understand.