SEATTLE — There were Super Bowls XLII and XLVI, when the predators of the Giants defense harassed and hounded Tom Brady enough to allow Eli Manning to Eli Manning when it was winning time.
Before that, there were Jim Burt knocking out Joe Montana with a concussion in the 1986 playoffs and Leonard Marshall wrecking him four years later with a Super Bowl on the line.
And long before that, there was Sam Huff eagerly welcoming the great Jim Brown into his violent world.
And I haven’t even mentioned Lawrence Taylor, Harry Carson and Carl Banks.
The Post learned that Michael Strahan, one of the Hall of Fame symbols of those proud Giants defenses of yesteryear, paid a timely and uplifting visit to the facility Thursday.
“The legacy he’s left, it almost like blesses me with the opportunity to chase what he left behind,” Kayvon Thibodeaux told The Post.
Strahan’s message resonated. It always does.
Brian Burns: “Pretty much just blocking out the noise. Focusing on people in this building, focusing on the team and just getting better every day.”
Thibodeaux: “Just to have fun. Things get hard, but at the end of the day, we all chose to be here, and we just got to make the best of it.”
Micah McFadden: “He’s just encouraging us. Obviously, whenever you have somebody like text, he’s been on our shoes, but in this building for a long time, and did it at a very high level for a while. He has a lot of knowledge about it, and he knows what’s important, and he knows how to win, because he’s been on those teams. Just passing down knowledge, just passing down mindset that he has and he carries with him every day.”
And that mindset? “Focus on the goal and none of the outside noise,” McFadden said.
And have fun.
“He talked a lot about having fun,” McFadden said. “It’s definitely the most important part about it. It’s easy to not have fun when you’re not getting the results you want. But at the end of the day, it’s a game, right? You got to approach it with the mindset that whatever happens out here, I got to enjoy it first and foremost. I got to truly love what I’m doing. So keeping that just in the thought process when you’re attacking every day in practice.”
Daniel Jones will need all the help he can get. His offense averages 15 points per game, and that’s largely thanks to dynamic rookie star Malik Nabers, back home still shaking off the effects of his concussion against the Cowboys. Running back Devin Singletary is doubtful. And oh, the crowd noise from the legendary 12s.
Against a formidable offense and a dangerous Geno Smith, the Giants defense will need a Herculean effort from yesteryear to give Jones a chance to get the Giants to 2-3.
“Yeah, it’s crucial,” McFadden said. “Obviously every week we want to do our part. We got to be detailed at all levels for sure.”
That would be Déjà Big Blue.
“Obviously, I know this past decade hasn’t been where the standard is for this organization,” McFadden said, “but a lot of respect for the Giants before who brought this organization to where it is.”
GM Joe Schoen drafted Thibodeaux and traded for Burns to flank Dexter Lawrence and wreak havoc just as the Super Bowl champs did it.
“Just full of great pass rushers,” Burns said, “especially in that span where Strahan, [Justin] Tuck and Osi [Umenyiora] were here. Yeah, just relentless. They [also] had one of the best — ***** the ***** best defensive player really ever to play the game.”
Lawrence Taylor would make life easier for the secondary, and the onus is on the law pass rushers to cover for an inexperienced and vulnerable secondary. The Giants have two games with one sack, one with five and one with eight.
“Michael Strahan is somebody growing up coming out of high school a lot of people kind of compared me to with my personality, and who I was on and off the field,” Thibodeaux said. “And obviously, Lawrence Taylor [is a] legend. And just knowing that they did it at the highest level, right? And if you want to be considered a legend, you got to do what the guys in Big Blue did.”
One legendary game now would be a start.