Tag: John Mara

Eli Manning admits Giants’ losing wore on him

New York Giants co-owner John Mara regrets wasting Eli Manning’s final years, and now Eli admits the constant losing took a major toll.

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When New York Giants great Eli Manning announced his retirement in January of 2020, he knew he was done. There was no questioning it or second-guessing it in his mind — he had had enough.

“I knew I was ready to retire. That’s kind of the only thing I knew was I was done, and I wasn’t going to second guess. I wasn’t going to look back and worry about it,” Manning told reporters on Thursday. “I knew that I was ready to be done playing football and when I look back on my time, I was just going to reflect on the good moments and the happy moments and the friendships I made, the wins we got to celebrate and remember those things. That was such a strange time and I wanted to take time away.

“Football takes up a lot of your time during the season, during the offseason, at nights, so I wanted to take the year off and just be around my family and see if there was anything else I wanted to pursue or wanted to be interested in and just kind of step away. With the pandemic, it made it easy to do that because there wasn’t many options going on.”

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And Manning doesn’t have the itch to return. There will be no Brett Favre moment; no shocking return to the league when he gets bored at home or tires of the normal routine.

Ultimately, Manning says, he doesn’t want to take the hits anymore. And if he’s being honest, he doesn’t want to experience the losing anymore, either.

“There was no interest in coming back. I saw the hits the quarterbacks were taking, and I said I do not want to experience that anymore. I like how I feel every Monday morning when I wake up,” Manning said. “It’s not just the hits, it’s just everything. I enjoyed the preparation. I could’ve gotten back into that part, but just the losing, the everything, just the grind of it all. I think I don’t know if I could have totally got back into all of that.

“The losses hurt more. They affect your sleep. They affect your week. It affects family life with my wife and kids and it just got too much. I like watching the games and I root for the Giants and I feel for them after a loss. But you know what, I go to bed very easily on Sunday nights and wake up and feel good about the upcoming week, and it’s not something that lingers for three or four days like it used to.”

Giants co-owner John Mara has admitted that one of his biggest regrets was wasting Manning’s final years. Had that not occurred and the team was winning, would Eli have stuck around?

“Well, I mean, hey, with the contracts and the contract was up and it was time to be done. So, I wasn’t playing at the level I used to be playing and so it was just time to hang it up and I said I had a good run and now it’s time to be done,” Manning said.

It’s hard to play at a high level when you aren’t surrounded with the appropriate talent, but in typical Manning fashion, he refused to throw anyone under the bus. Instead, he blamed himself.

The fact is, had the Giants been winning and making quality personnel decisions, Manning likely would have stuck around. But they weren’t, his contract was coming up and they had already decided to move on to Daniel Jones.

The writing on the wall was clear and rather than turn it into something it didn’t need to be, Manning did right by the Giants one final time and called it a day.

Ex-GM shreds Giants’ Dave Gettleman, Jason Garrett: ‘They’re stuck in time’

Michael Lombardi takes aim at New York Giants owner John Mara, GM Dave Gettleman and OC Jason Garrett: “They are stuck in time!”

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Michael Lombardi has been a successful NFL scout, personnel director and general manage for nearly 40 years. He has been working in media imparting his wisdom for various media outlets since the 1990s and is generally a respected voice on the football landscape.

During a recent appearance on the 94 WIP Podcast, Lombardi laced into the New York Giants after their flaccid 27-13 loss to the Denver Broncos last Sunday. His first first salvo was aimed at general manager Dave Gettleman and the front office.

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“They can’t evaluate their own players. They over-judge their own players. They’re not good,” Lombardi said. “They’re not even good on D. Everybody thinks, ‘well, we’re good on defense,’ — they gave up 420 yards!”

Unfortunately, that is all true. The Giants have drafted poorly, picking players in the wrong spots and ignoring important needs. They have become a team that swings and misses in the draft and then is forced to overpay in free agency in attempt to make up for those misses.

Lombardi then moved on to offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, who has the offense sputtering to the tune of 17 points per game going back to the beginning of last year. His style and results have fans clamoring for days of Kevin Gilbride.

“There’s no imagination,” Lombardi said. “I mean, there’s no design in the running game. The Clapper refuses to design a run game, this is just not a misdemeanor. But look, the Giants have been bad for five years. They’re 28th in win percentage over the last five years, they’re 26th over the last 10 years. This isn’t just a one-time thing. … It’s one of the worst offenses to watch, and you’re not helping the quarterback.”

Lastly, Lombardi took a shot at ownership, which we have been suspect of when it comes to their competence.

“John Mara is one of the nicest human beings on planet earth. Unfortunately, John Mara can’t have an honest conversation about his organization or evaluate himself. That’s just a problem. It’s just a hard thing. He’s loyal to people, he likes people. They’re stuck in time. They can’t get out of it,” Lombardi said.

Again, bingo, right on the money. They need modern day thinking in the building and they don’t have it. At one time, they were on the cutting edge. Now they are doormats and not even trying to copycat the successful teams in the league.

We’re not sure why Lombardi is attacking the Giants out of the blue, so to speak. Perhaps he was shunned employment by them at one time (?) or maybe he’s a simply a fan who is sick and tired of being sick and tired. There’s plenty of those these days.

Or, it’s just disgusting to watch and the subject is low-hanging fruit for the media. The league is better when the Giants are competitive and this organization has lost its way and doesn’t know how to get off the treadmill of losing.

Regardless, there is no legitimate rebuke to Lombardi’s analysis. The numbers are what they are as Bill Parcells once reminded us.

Lombardi and I are around the same age and remember when the Giants were turned around by George Young in the 80s and were handed off to Ernie Accorsi in the late 90s. Accorsi and his assistant, Jerry Reese, kept the ball rolling and built a team in the 2000s that won two Super Bowls.

Gettleman also worked under Accorsi but this is 2021. All the methods on how to build and run a team we knew to be sound in the days of Young and Accorsi are no longer sound. The league is run by 21st Century thinkers. The Giants are still stuck in the 20th Century.

Giants will retire Michael Strahan’s No. 92 on November 28 vs. Eagles

The New York Giants will retire Michael Strahan’s No. 92 jersey on November 28 during halftime of a game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

The New York Giants announced on Wednesday their plans to retire Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive end Michael Strahan’s No. 92 jersey.

The number will enter Big Blue history in a halftime ceremony on November 28 when the Giants host the Philadelphia Eagles at MetLife Stadium.

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“Michael Strahan was one of the greatest players in franchise history,” said Giants co-owner John Mara. “He deserves to have his number retired as other Giants immortals have, including Mel Hein, Frank Gifford and Lawrence Taylor. Michael’s career was defined by his achievements, his consistency and his leadership. Very few defensive ends played the position as well as Michael. He was a tremendous run defender as well as a great pass rusher. And he realized a goal every player aspires to, but few achieve, winning a Super Bowl in his final game. We are grateful for all his contributions and are happy to officially say no Giants player will ever wear No. 92 again.”

“Michael Strahan was a Hall of Fame player and he is a Hall of Fame person,” added Giants chairman co-owner Steve Tisch. “Only the very best players get their jerseys retired and Michael is in that category in Giants history and NFL history, as well. He was the consummate defensive end, a team captain and a winner who helped lead us to the greatest victory in our history in Super Bowl XLII.”

Strahan’s jersey retirement will be the second such ceremony held this season by the Giants. On September 26, Eli Manning’s No. 10 will be immortalized during halftime of the game against the Atlanta Falcons.

From the Giants:

Strahan owns the franchise career record with 141.5 sacks. It was the fifth-highest total in NFL history when he announced his retirement on June 9, 2008 and 14 years after he played his final game, it is still the sixth-highest total (since 1982, when sacks became an official statistic). Strahan is the only Giants player to twice lead the league in sacks. He also holds the Giants’ postseason record with 9.5 sacks.

The 6-5, 255-pound Strahan was credited with 868 regular-season tackles. He was a first-team All-Pro in 1997, 1998, 2001 and 2003. Strahan was selected to his first Pro Bowl in 1997 and his seventh in 2005. Only four Giants played in more Pro Bowls and all are Hall of Famers: Taylor (10), linebacker Harry Carson (9), offensive tackle Rosie Brown (9) and cornerback Emlen Tunnell (8).

Strahan’s number will be the 14th retired by the Giants after Manning. The others are No. 1 (Ray Flaherty), 4 (Tuffy Leemans), 7 (Mel Hein), 11 (Phil Simms), 14 (Ward Cuff and Y.A. Tittle), 16 (Frank Gifford), 32 (Al Blozis), 40 (Joe Morrison), 42 (Charlie Conerly), 50 (Ken Strong) and 56 (Lawrence Taylor).

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Giants’ faith in Daniel Jones, Saquon Barkley has not waned

New York Giants co-owner John Mara and GM Dave Gettleman continue to express their faith in QB Daniel Jones and RB Saquon Barkley.

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Did the New York Giants make the right decision by selecting quarterback Daniel Jones sixth overall in the 2019 NFL draft? Were they foolish to draft running back Saquon Barkley at No. 2 overall in 2018?

Those are questions that continue to persist and even gain steam with each passing year.

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Jones was less than stellar in 2020 despite making some marginal improvements, while Barkley has endured back-to-back injury plagued seasons and has yet to participate in a full practice this year.

On Tuesday, Giants co-owner John Mara and general manager Dave Gettleman were both pressed on those decisions and each remain confident that the right choices were made.

“We believe in Daniel, we’re excited to see what he’s going to do in the second year in the system. Before this last year, it was his third system in three years, so this’ll be the second year in a system. You know how diligent the kid is, we’ve talked about it all the time. He works just as hard on the field as he does off the field. He’s more comfortable, he’s more prepared. It’ll be fun to see what happens when we finally give him a full complement of players out there,” Gettleman told reporters.

Mara was a bit more reserved when it came to Jones, but expressed a hope that the young quarterback plays so well it makes a future decision on his contract an easy one.

“Well, I think before you make that type of decision, yes, you have to know, and this will be his (third) season. Hopefully he stays healthy, hopefully he’ll make it an easy decision for us by the end of the year,” Mara said.

Asked if acquiring an additional 2022 first-round pick from the Chicago Bears was a sort of security blanket in the event Jones falters this season, Gettleman was quick to dismiss that notion.

“Not even a thought. No. The trade was made because the opportunity was there and there was an opportunity to get an incredible amount of value and we really liked the position that we were in. So, no, that was not done as any kind of hedge,” the GM said.

Gettleman was even more bullish on his 2018 selection of Barkley.

“Absolutely. Absolutely,” Gettleman said when asked if he’s still passionate about the Barkley pick. “Stuff happens, not everything’s perfect and there are guys all over this league who get hurt, big-time players. He’s done a great job and I feel the same way about him. He’s different and he’s going to be ready to go when he’s ready to go.”

Meanwhile, Mara stopped short of saying Barkley is guaranteed a long-term contract extension, but he sure made it sound like the potential is there for one.

“Well, you need to see him back on the field producing, which we expect that to be the case. Our medical people feel very good about where he’s at right now. I like what I’ve seen from him out on the field and hopefully that’ll be an easy decision for us as well,” Mara said.

There is no sway in these Giants. They have hitched their wagon to Jones and Barkley and believe the pair will eventually lead them back to the promised land.

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Giants maintain universal confidence in offensive line

New York Giants co-owner John Mara, GM Dave Gettleman and coach Joe Judge continue to insist they’re confident in the team’s offensive line.

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The New York Giants have issues along their offensive line. No matter how many puppy dogs are introduced and rainbows are painted, there’s no way around that reality.

Following the retirements of Joe Looney and Zach Fulton, coupled with injuries to Kyle Murphy (out for season), Nate Solder, Shane Lemieux and Jonotthan Harrison, the overall lack of depth has become apparent. And it’s jarring.

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In a moment of desperation last week, assistant offensive line coach Ben Wilkerson was forced to step in and take second-team reps at guard. And while the have Giants vowed to add linemen prior to their trip to Cleveland, the clock continues to tick without any new signings.

In the face of all that, Giants brass remains defiant. And in unison on Tuesday, they expressed their confidence in not only the starting five, but their very limited depth.

“I have confidence in that group. Did we do enough? I think time will tell. I like those guys,” co-owner John Mara told reporters. “I think we’re always looking to upgrade where we can. Do we have enough depth there? I’m not sure about that yet, but I think we’ll get a better indication of that over the next couple of weeks when we’re practicing against some pretty good teams.

“I think all five of the starters, plus a couple of the backups are good quality players. I know our coaching staff feels good about them. Obviously, there’s going to be skepticism about them until they do it on the field and they start producing some complete games and some wins. I do like the people that we have up there, and I do have confidence in them.”

Mara persisted.

“I think they have the potential to be a very good offensive line, but again, until they do it out on the field and we start producing some good offensive performances, there’s going to be that skepticism and I understand it,” Mara said, adding that any O-line issues are the result of poor drafting in the past.

General manager Dave Gettleman, who is responsible for building the offensive line, echoed Mara’s sentiments.

“Four of the five starters were out there Saturday night and the offensive line really played pretty well,” Gettleman said. “Obviously, we didn’t expect [Looney and Fulton] to retire, but they had their reasons and it’s their lives. I wish them the best and respect the decisions they made. They made tough decisions. Training camp is not over, the roster building season never ends. We’ll get to where we need to get to.

“I think that we believe in Will, we believe in (OL) Shane Lemieux.”

But even Mara and Gettleman know they need reinforcements. And once again, the Giants vowed to look.

“My gut tells me that there’ll be more movement of those types of players that you feel good about after the second preseason game and maybe even after the cut because you’ve got to remember you now have a full week. Going to cut to the 53, Coach (Joe Judge) is left a couple of practices, players have Friday, Saturday and Sunday off, so I think you could see some horse trading going on during that period of time,” Gettleman said.

Judge, however, has softened his tone a bit on potential additions. He’s gone from “we will” to “we’ll see.”

“We’ll see. We’re always talking through the entire roster,” Judge said. “We’re always looking at personnel at all times. That’s our job, to know who’s available based on what we need and what the team needs for competition. In terms of will we bring somebody in, I won’t rule that out. I’m not saying that’s an absolute or that we have to do it, but we’ll see where the person on the street is available and we’ll see where we are as a team.”

There were no workouts, tryouts or visits listed for the Giants on Tuesday which means any potential addition would still have to go through COVID-19 protocols. As a result, unless they’ve already had someone in the building who has gone through all of that, there are unlikely to be any O-line additions prior to departing for Cleveland.

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Fans roasted Giants owner John Mara after he said that nobody wants to see players taunting

Speak for yourself, John.

This season, the NFL has instructed officials to place added emphasis on enforcing taunting penalties. And we’ve already seen that play out in the preseason with some awfully weak calls.

If the emphasis carries on into the regular season, we’ll undoubtedly see a questionable taunting call impact a game — it’s inevitable. We’ll have the NFL Competition Committee to thank for that because they got “tired” of seeing all the talking, apparently.

During a Tuesday press conference, Giants owner and Competition Committee member John Mara answered a question about the vote to ramp up the taunting penalties. Mara said that they didn’t want to take the fun out of the game, but at the same time, the committee members didn’t want to see players taunt each other.

Giants’ John Mara press conference: 8 takeaways

New York Giants co-owner John Mara held a press conference on Tuesday and discussed Dave Gettleman, Joe Judge, Odell Beckham Jr. and more.

New York Giants co-owner John Mara met face-to-face with the media for the first time since Eli Manning’s retirement press conference on Tuesday and shared many of the same mundane statements we’ve become accustomed to.

Mara addressed the vaccination status of both his players and the fans, his views on general manager Dave Gettleman and Joe Judge, as well as a slew of other topics.

Here’s a look at some notes and takeaways.

John Mara believes Giants are ‘ready to start making a move’

New York Giants co-owner John Mara is feeling confident entering the 2021 season and believes the team is “ready to start making a move.”

There is a lot of expectations around the New York Giants as they open their 2021 training camp this week. Co-owner John Mara, who has been more than patient watching his team finish with losing records in seven of the past eight seasons, is optimistic the last wander into the wilderness is over.

Mara is looking forward to camp this year after his team had an active — and hopefully fruitful — offseason.

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“I always look forward to it but maybe a little more so this year because of the prospect of having fans in the building again and because I think we greatly improved our team,” Mara told Steve Serby of the New York Post. “There’s always a certain amount of anticipation. I would say this year, I’m looking forward to it even more than I usually do.”

Why Mara feels that way is evident. A 15-33 record under general manager Dave Gettleman should have sent him into a firing frenzy but instead, he showed restraint and decided to give the current course one more year. It may have just paid off.

“I feel like we’ve got the right pieces in place, I feel like we’ve improved the team through free agency and the draft,” he said. “I’m very confident that we have the right coach in place, so I think we’re ready to start making a move, but until we start winning games, words are meaningless.”

That coach is Joe Judge, the former Bill Belichick confidant who went 6-10 last year but had the team on a competitive trajectory. The Giants missed out on the division title by a single game last season and hopefully will get there this year. Mara says there is no postseason mandate from him, however.

“I don’t think it does you any good to do that. I don’t think I need to say anything or do anything to motivate our coaches or our players any more than they already are. I think, when you issue mandates like that, they tend to backfire,” he said.

True, but Mara also made it clear that he expects this team to compete for a playoff spot again this year.

“I mean be a playoff team. Be a playoff team and start to contend for championships,” Mara said of his expectations. “Again, I don’t think we’re a finished product just yet, but I think we have enough pieces in place to certainly be a factor this season.”

So do many fans and pundits. The Giants should be a factor this season barring anything unforeseen. It’s been a long time coming.

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Giants’ John Mara: Dave Gettleman not on the hot seat

New York Giants co-owner John Mara is pleased with the combination of Dave Gettleman and Joe Judge, saying the GM isn’t on the hot seat.

In the eyes of many, New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones is on the hot seat. He has to prove his worth in Year 3 or potentially be sent packing in 2022.

Many also believe the future of general manager Dave Gettleman is tied to the success or failure of Jones. If Jones goes, Gettleman goes… Just don’t tell that to team co-owner John Mara.

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During a Tuesday Q&A with Steve Serby of the New York Post, Mara — for the first time — said point-blank that Gettleman is not on any sort of hot seat.

“No, you’re on the hot seat if you write any more stupid comments like that,” Mara told Serby with a chuckle.

Asked again, Mara was a bit more blunt.

“No,” he said.

So what gives Mara such confidence in Gettleman? It’s the roster-building success that has come since head coach Joe Judge’s arrival. Mara believes the two are like peas and carrots, and he sees no reason to consider breaking that up.

“Listen, I was frustrated the first couple of years the way the [seasons] ended. But the combination of Dave and Joe has produced very good personnel decisions, be it in free agency and in the draft. It’s a very good combination,” Mara said. “We’ve made a lot of changes to our football operations staff, added some talented new people. I just feel like we’re moving in the right direction. I think there’s a certain amount of confidence and a certain buzz in the building that maybe we haven’t had for a while. The combination of Dave and Joe is just the right mix for us.”

And there you have it. If you take Mara’s words at face value, Gettleman appears safe.

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Giants will celebrate 10th anniversary of Super Bowl XLVI championship in 2021

The New York Giants will celebrate the 10th anniversary of their Super Bowl XLVI championship throughout the 2021 season.

The New York Giants announced on Wednesday that they will honor and celebrate the 10th anniversary of their Super Bowl XLVI championship throughout the 2021 season.

“Winning Super Bowl XLVI was an incredible achievement in our franchise’s history. We look forward to recognizing that historic season with the enthusiastic support of our fans, and the players, coaches and staff who dedicated so much that season to help us reach our ultimate goal of winning a championship,” said John Mara, the Giants’ president and chief executive officer.

“The exhilaration you feel while hoisting a championship trophy is extraordinary. While we work to again savor that feeling, we are excited to celebrate the 10th anniversary of our Super Bowl XLVI championship team,” said Steve Tisch, Giants chairman and executive vice president.

As part of the celebration, the Giants have teamed with Carl Banks and the Starter brand to create an “All In” collectors series t-shirt and an equally unique varsity jacket.

Additionally, the Giants will air an eight-part podcast series beginning in August that will feature guests such as Victor Cruz, Justin Tuck, Eli Manning and Antrel Rolle. There will also be various virtual/interactive events for Giants fans.

Finally, the Giants will hold a reunion weekend on October 17th at MetLife Stadium against the Los Angeles Rams.

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