If you were playing fantasy football back in 2014, there is a very high chance you remember where you were on September 25. That was the night Larry Donnell, an undrafted tight end from Grambling State, turned into prime Rob Gronkowski for precisely three hours. He torched the Washington Redskins for three touchdowns on national television. It was electric. It was unexpected.
Honestly, it felt like the Larry Donnell New York Giants era was about to become a decade-long dynasty of red zone dominance. But then, as quickly as the hype arrived, it sort of vanished into a cloud of injuries and "what-ifs."
The Night the League Noticed Larry Donnell
Let's talk about that Thursday Night Football game. Eli Manning looked his way constantly. Donnell finished with 7 catches for 54 yards, but the three scores were the story. He became the first Giants tight end since Joe Walton in 1962 to grab three TDs in a single game.
The funniest part? Donnell famously benched himself in his own fantasy league that week. He started Vernon Davis instead. Davis got injured after 8 yards. Donnell put up nearly 30 points on his own bench. You can’t make this stuff up. It was the peak of his career, a 6-foot-6 target who seemed impossible to cover in the end zone because he was basically a former quarterback playing a new position.
A Journey from the Bayou to the Big Apple
Donnell wasn't a blue-chip recruit. He played at Grambling State, where he actually started as a quarterback. Imagine a guy that big under center. Eventually, he moved to tight end, but the NFL didn't come calling on draft day in 2011.
🔗 Read more: Men's Sophie Cunningham Jersey: Why This Specific Kit is Selling Out Everywhere
He had to grind.
The Giants signed him in 2012, but he spent that whole year on the practice squad. Most guys in that position wash out. Larry didn't. He worked his way onto the 53-man roster by 2013, mostly playing special teams. By 2014, Ben McAdoo’s new West Coast offense needed a big body who could find the soft spots in a zone. Donnell was that guy. He ended that breakout 2014 season with 63 receptions for 623 yards and 6 touchdowns. For an undrafted kid, those are Pro Bowl-caliber flashes.
The Injury That Changed Everything
In the NFL, the cliff is usually steep. For Donnell, it was a literal neck injury.
On November 1, 2015, during a wild 52-49 loss to the New Orleans Saints, Donnell tried to do a somersault over a defender. It looked spectacular for a second, but he landed awkwardly on the side of his head. He initially thought it was just muscle spasms. It wasn't. It was a serious neck injury that ended his season and put his entire career in jeopardy.
💡 You might also like: Why Netball Girls Sri Lanka Are Quietly Dominating Asian Sports
He missed the final eight games of 2015. While he did eventually get cleared and re-signed with the Giants for the 2016 season, he was never quite the same player. The explosiveness was dampened. The confidence to go airborne—which was his signature—seemed understandably shaken.
Beyond the Field: The Delta Flight 1086 Crash
People often forget that Donnell’s life almost changed forever off the field, too. In March 2015, he was a passenger on Delta Air Lines Flight 1086. The plane skidded off the runway at LaGuardia Airport in New York and crashed into a fence, nearly sliding into the icy Flushing Bay.
Donnell walked away physically unhurt. He even posted video of the evacuation to his Instagram while standing in the snow. It was a surreal moment that put the "life and death" stakes of a football game into some serious perspective.
Why We Still Talk About Larry Donnell
The Larry Donnell New York Giants story matters because it represents the "lightning in a bottle" nature of the NFL. He wasn't a bust. He wasn't a superstar. He was a guy who beat the odds to become Eli Manning's favorite target for a glorious, brief window.
📖 Related: Why Cumberland Valley Boys Basketball Dominates the Mid-Penn (and What’s Next)
By 2017, the Giants decided to move on. They didn't re-sign him, and though he had a brief cup of coffee with the Baltimore Ravens in the 2017 preseason, he was released during final cuts. He finished his NFL career with 110 catches and 9 touchdowns.
Lessons from the Donnell Era
If you're a Giants fan or just a student of the game, Donnell’s career offers a few real insights:
- Verticality is a Weapon: His 6-foot-6 frame proved that even an unpolished route runner can dominate if they can high-point the ball in the end zone.
- The Quarterback Conversion: Like many successful tight ends (think Logan Thomas), Donnell’s background as a quarterback helped him understand timing and defensive spacing better than most.
- Health is Everything: In a league where "availability is the best ability," a single freak landing can derail a trajectory that looked destined for the record books.
Donnell might not be in the Ring of Honor, but for one night in Landover, Maryland, he was the best player on the planet. And honestly? Most players would give anything for a night like that.
If you want to dive deeper into the Giants' history of finding gems, you should check out the scouting reports on undrafted free agents from the Jerry Reese era—it was a hit-or-miss period that defined the post-Super Bowl XLVI years. You could also look into the specific mechanics of the "somersault" tackle that ended his 2015 run to see how the NFL has changed its coaching on player safety since then.