Tag: John Mara

Giants owners attended team meeting on racial injustice

New York Giants co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch attended Friday’s team meeting on racial injustice in America.

The New York Giants have held multiple team meetings in regards to the death of George Floyd, the ongoing protests and racial injustice in America.

By all accounts, head coach Joe Judge has done a tremendous job handling what is an emotionally-charged topic, but he hasn’t been alone.

The Giants have led from the top and during Friday’s virtual team meetings on the subject, co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch were in attendance, reports the New York Post.

The meeting did not only include Judge and his players. Co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch participated, The Post has learned, for the purpose of listening and understanding the issues being discussed, and the thoughts and emotions of those logging into the meeting remotely from all over the country.

This was not the first time Judge and his players talked about these issues. Judge had discussions with players all week and called a meeting Friday to specifically share his thoughts and hear what his players are thinking and feeling. Mara and Tisch listened in.

This is not the first time Mara and Tisch have addressed Floyd’s death, having previously released a statement on the matter.

“George Floyd’s senseless death is the type of tragedy we have seen too often for far too long. Over the past week, our players and coaches have talked about the hurt, the pain, the frustration and the anger. Each of us is feeling some or all of that. We continue to talk about what we can do to help unite and heal and, more importantly, create real opportunity and meaningful change. We have a responsibility as citizens to work in a constructive way. What we do to make a difference is what is most important. We have the ability to advocate for social justice and sustained change,” the statement read.

“We know that to make lasting change, it needs to start at the community level. That is why we are committed to continuing to strengthen the alliances we have with groups like the Vera Institute of Justice, the Newark Bronze Shields, The Bronx Defenders, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, RISE and our local law enforcement agencies to understand and support each group’s good work. We will continue to expand our relationships where we can have a meaningful, positive impact and make a difference.”

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Giants’ coaching staff will work virtually until training camp

Although they are now permitted to return, the New York Giants’ coaching staff will continue to work virtually until training camp in July.

The New York Giants began to reopen their East Rutherford facilities earlier this week in accordance with New Jersey State guidelines. Among those to return were co-owner John Mara and general manager Dave Gettleman.

Just days after those two returned to work, the NFL announced that coaches would also be permitted to return to facilities, potentially allowing first-year head coach Joe Judge to get comfortable with his new digs.

That will not happen, however.

Although Judge is currently in New Jersey, neither he nor any other members of the team’s coaching staff will return to team facilities until the start of training camp in late July. Instead, they will continue to work remotely from across the country.

Not that it was unexpected, but with the coaching staff staying away from facilities until training camp, that means there will be no minicamp or organized team activities this year.

Those may not have happened anyway as restrictions still remain on who is able to return to team facilities. Currently, although the coaching staff is permitted, healthy players are not allowed on the premises — only injured or rehabbing players are allowed in the building.

Even when Giants players do return for training camp, they can likely expect to be quarantined for two weeks, reports NJ Advance Media.

Before entering the facility, there is a warning sign asking that anyone who has tested positive for COVID-19, is exhibiting symptoms (i.e. cough, fever, sore throat, diarrhea, etc.) of the virus or travelled outside of the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut area over the last 14 days is asked not to enter the facility.

There are many notable Giants players not currently staying in New Jersey, with some in California, Arizona and Florida, among many other states. If that guideline sticks when players are welcomed back — which isn’t a guarantee with nearly two months until camp — a large portion of the roster would likely have to return to New Jersey at least two weeks before the start of training camp in order to be cleared to participate on time.

Many things could change between now and the start of training camp, but the Giants are taking no chances. Consider this the “new normal.”

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Giants reopen facilities with limited employees

The New York Giants have reopened team facilities in East Rutherford, but have limited the number of employees in the building.

The New York Giants reopened their East Rutherford, New Jersey facilities on Wednesday with a small group of employees returning, marking the end to a near three-month shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Art Stapleton of USA TODAY Network reports that those who returned are from the business, building operations and football operations departments, including co-owner John Mara and general manager Dave Gettleman.

A small group of employees in the business, building operations and football operations departments returned to work at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center under guidelines established by local and state authorities and the NFL, a source told NorthJersey.com and USA TODAY Network.

The numbers will increase over the next couple weeks, but for the most part, the Giants anticipate that those who can continue to work from home will.

New Jersey governor Phil Murphy announced last week that area sports teams were permitted to reopen and return to their facilities, but the Giants took a slow approach to ensure the safety of their personnel.

While the number of employees in the building will increase over the coming weeks, the NFL will not permit the return of their coaches or any healthy players until all 32 teams are afforded that same luxury. As things sit, several states remain locked down as a result of COVID-19.

The Giants were initially slated to hold minicamp this month, but that is unlikely to happen. Rather, do not expect the full team to resume activities in East Rutherford until training camp gets underway at the end of July.

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Giants’ Steve Tisch, John Mara among NFL’s least-wealthy owners

Although the New York Giants are one of the most valuable franchises in sports, their owners, John Mara and Steve Tisch, are not.

One would think that the owners of the New York Giants, one of the NFL’s flagship franchises for nearly a century, would be among the wealthiest in the cadre of billionaires who make up the NFL’s ownership fraternity.

Think again. The Giants’ owners are among the least wealthiest in the NFL.

In a new listing of NFL ownership net worth from Celebrity Net Worth, the Giants owners are near the bottom of the list. Steve Tisch is reportedly worth $1.2 billion while John Mara is estimated to be worth less than half of that at $500 million.

The wealthiest owner in the NFL is the newest — David Tepper of the Carolina Panthers — whose estimated net worth is $12.6 billion. He is followed by Shad Kahn, Jacksonville Jaguars ($9 billion); Jerry Jones, Dallas Cowboys ($8.5 billion); Stephen Ross, Miami Dolphins ($7.7 billion); Stan Kroenke, Los Angeles Rams ($7.7 billion) and Robert Kraft, New England Patriots ($6.2 billion).

The least wealthiest are Detroit’s Martha Firestone Ford ($800 million) and Mark Davis of the Las Vegas Raiders ($250 million).

Tisch and Mara both inherited their stake of the Giants from their fathers. Mara’s grandfather, Tim, founded the Giants in 1925 paying a reported $500 for the club in the fledgling National Football League.

When Tim died in 1959, he left the team to his sons, Wellington and Jack, who ran the team together until Jack’s death in 1965. Jack’s half of the team was taken over by his son, Tim, who had his own ideas of how the club should be run and a feud between the two sent the Giants into a decade-and-a-half tailspin until NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle intervened and got both owners to agree to hire George Young to run the football operations.

Bob Tisch, Steve’s father, bought 50 percent of the team in 1991 (estimated at $80 million) from Tim, who, even though the Giants had won two Super Bowls, was still not on good terms with his uncle, Wellington. Tim passed away in 1995, but not before Frank Gifford brought the two men together for a reconciliation.

Wellington Mara passed away on October 25, 2005. Bob Tisch died three weeks later. John Mara was named CEO and Steve Tisch the Chairman after their deaths. The Giants were recently valued at $3.9 billion by Forbes Magazine.

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Eli Manning hopes to stay involved with Giants after taking a year off

Retired QB Eli Manning hopes to remain involved with the New York Giants, but only in 2021 after he’s taken a year off.

Retired New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning is taking a year off from the NFL in the wake of his retirement, but come 2021, he may look to get his foot back in the door.

What that will entail remains to be seen, but Manning guarantees it will not come in the form of an NFL coach, but he does hope his next role involves the Giants.

“I really wanted to try to take a year off and just try to gather my bearings and get settled with my family and figure out what I want to do in that next chapter,” Manning told ESPN on Thursday. “I know one thing: I don’t want to be an NFL coach. I’ve seen what our coaches do and the hours they put in, and I enjoy being with my family and enjoy coaching some of their sports teams.

“Football is my love and passion. It is all I’ve known for the last 25 years and all I’ve been doing. I don’t think I can stray too far away from that. I’d like to hope to do something with the Giants, stay involved with them. I probably need a little break right now just because it’s so new. So I’m going to take a little time, enjoy some family time, but I assume I’ll be jumping back into football in some way.”

Giants co-owner John Mara has been vocal about his desire to see Manning remain involved with the organization, leaving the door open to a multitude of roles.

“I’ve mentioned to him the possibility of thinking about other roles in the organization, and he’s just undecided right now,” Mara said before Manning had made the decision to retire. “I told him there’s no time limit on that. We’ll talk whenever he’s ready to sit down and talk again.”

If Manning does not return to the Giants in some capacity, he’s given at least some thought to broadcasting of coaching at a High School level, which would a manageable commitment compared to coaching in the NFL.

“I don’t know if I want to do announcing … yet. Or go into that field. I might want to stay more hands-on with either the Giants or some coaching with a high school team,” Manning said.

Odds are, Manning will return to the Giants in some capacity in 2021.

Giants again defer season ticket payments due to COVID-19

The New York Giants have again deferred season ticket payments as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout.

Back in mid-March, New York Giants co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch penned a letter to season ticket holders informing them that payments for the upcoming season would be deferred as a result of the coronavirus.

In the letter, Mara and Tisch broke down the deferment based on which payment plan the season ticket holder had opted into. However, across the board, an initial payment was not expected from any until May 13.

With that date approaching, the Giants decided to one again defer payments.

On Monday, Mara and Tisch penned another letter to season ticket holders acknowledging the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and announced that the first payments would again be deferred, this time until July 1, 2020.

The team will automatically update the payment plan (six-month, four-month and pay-in-full) for all season ticket holders to reflect the new July 1 first payment date.

Currently, the NFL plans to release their full 17-week schedule on Thursday, May 7, but there are contingencies in place in the event stay-at-home orders are extended.

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John Mara pleased with Giants’ draft, but offers stern warning: ‘We better be a better team’

New York Giants co-owner John Mara is pleased with the team’s offseason, but warns: “We better be better’ in 2020.

New York Giants co-owner John Mara, like many others around the football world, came away impressed with the team’s 2020 NFL Draft haul, which featured additions such as offensive tackle Andrew Thomas and safety Xavier McKinney.

Mara also feels comfortable with what the Giants did during free agency, and believes they should be a better team in 2020.

Of course, Mara also recognizes that fans have heard similar optimism before.

“I do believe that we’re on the right path,” Mara told the New York Post. “But I’m sure our fans are saying, ‘I’ve heard you say that before.’ So until we start winning games, I understand there’s gonna be some doubt. But I do feel good about where we are right now.”

Mara’s encouraging take didn’t come without a caveat, however. He also made it abundantly clear that the team must meet some of those higher expectations in 2020.

“We should be a better team this year; we better be a better team this year,” Mara said.

The good news? Mara is happy with his decision to bring back Dave Gettleman, and is additionally pleased with how he and head coach Joe Judge communicated and operated throughout the draft process.

“It was terrific, they had great communication,” Mara said. “There’s a lot of discussions, a lot of meetings, and I was really pleased with the way the whole team operated. They obviously respect one another, and I was very pleased with how it all worked out. You never know how that’s gonna work out with a new head coach and a general manager that’s been around the league for a while, and I thought that their communication was excellent.

“I thought it went far more smoothly than I ever could have imagined. . . I don’t think they agree 100 percent of the time, but I think they have a lot of respect for one another and they talk it through, and that was pretty evident during this entire process.”

Like many others, Mara has also seen a little Bill Parcells and Tom Coughlin in Judge, the way he operates and the message he spreads.

“He’s very thorough. He does his homework. He’s got great relationships with other coaches around the country who he communicates with. He sees the big picture and so far so good,” Mara said.

Mara is quick to acknowledge that the Giants’ rebuild is far from over, but he likes where the team is headed and is pleased with the talent they have begun to amass.

Still, Mara isn’t ready to make any sort of bold prediction.

“It’s a little bit early to be making predictions,” Mara said. “Obviously we’re all hopeful we’ll have a season [at all].”

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Dave Gettleman appears to be on thin ice with Giants

Jay Glazer reports that the New York Giants are giving GM Dave Gettleman just one more season to turn things around or be fired.

The New York Giants have not been good for a long time and there is plenty of blame to go around. In recent years, we’ve seen an uncharacteristic shuffling of staff as ownership tries to steady course, but those rough seas may not have passed just yet.

Following the conclusion of the 2019 season, the Giants fired head coach Pat Shurmur and the majority of his staff, and they nearly parted ways with general manager Dave Gettleman as well.

Gettleman managed to talk his way back into the fold, but he hadn’t exactly been given a long leash.

In a Monday column for The Athletic, NFL insider Jay Glazer noted that Gettleman was nearly sent out to pasture earlier this year before being given one more season to turn things around.

“I don’t know if he’ll end up retiring but yeah, I think he was close this year. He made a case to ownership to come back. He presented a plan for how he’ll turn it around in a year. That needs to happen. If it doesn’t happen, he’ll be gone and rightfully so. If he doesn’t follow through, it’s time to go. I would hope that Gettleman has also learned a bit about himself and his interactions with people during this process. Anytime you’re on the hot seat, you have to look inside yourself and say, ‘What’s my responsibility in this?’ and make changes,” Glazer wrote.

One of the major knocks on Gettleman isn’t necessarily his ability to evaluate talent or his roster building skills, but his interpersonal skills. He’s not well-versed in the societal subtitles during conversation and that tends to rub people the wrong way — other executives, players and especially the media, who hang on his every word.

Of course, Gettleman also completely overhauled the team’s roster and left glaring weaknesses at several positions, but Jerry Reese deserves a part of that blame as well.

Ultimately however, the onus of success falls squarely on the shoulders of Gettleman, who campaigned to replace Reese in the first place, so at this point, there are no other excuses to be had.

As Glazer alludes, if Gettleman is unable to up his batting average, as co-owner John Mara put it earlier this year, then he’ll end up riding pine right alongside Reese.

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Giants defer 2020 season ticket payments due to the coronavirus

New York Giants co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch announced on Wednesday that they are deferring 2020 season ticket payments.

New York Giants co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch penned a letter to season ticket holders on Wednesday evening, informing fans that payments for the 2020 preseason and regular season will be deferred as the result of the global coronavirus pandemic.

The Giants value our fans and we trust that you and your families are safe and healthy during this difficult time. We thank you for your loyalty to the Giants.

As part of our commitment to you, we want to share the following updates regarding 2020 season ticket payments:

For those enrolled in our six-month payment plan:

Your next two season ticket payments scheduled on March 20 & April 13 will now be deferred. Your next payment will not be due until May 13. The final two payments on your six-month payment plan will be moved to August 13 & September 14.

There is nothing you need to do to take advantage of this change. We will automatically enroll you in the new payment plan immediately.

For those selecting our Pay-In-Full option:

• We have extended our pay-in-full deadline from May 1 to June 1 if you would like to remain on the single payment option; or

• We have created a four-month payment plan option where your first payment is not due until May 13. This will provide you more flexibility if needed. You can choose this option by logging onto your account at www.giants.com/myaccount.

We continue to closely monitor the latest developments so that we may ensure the safety and health of our players, staff and fans. We will communicate any updates as needed. If you have any questions or would like to connect with a Giants representative, please email us at premium@nygfootball.com and we will get back to you shortly.

We understand that this is an unsettling time for everyone. We will get through this together. We appreciate your continued support and look forward to seeing you at MetLife Stadium this season.

Sincerely,

John K. Mara | Steve Tisch

Should things not clear up across the country in the coming months, the Giants have left room for additional payment deferments. However, any decisions on that will be made further down the line.

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Are Giants really set to spend big in free agency?

The New York Giants have $79 million to spend in free agency and many think they’ll spend it all, but John Mara cautions against that.

The NFL’s legal tampering window is tentatively scheduled to open on Monday, March 16. Whether that changes due to fears over the coronavirus or not, the New York Giants will have upwards of $80 million to spend once the free agency frenzy does begin.

But just how much of that money are general manager Dave Gettleman & Co. going to dump on players of need? Well, that depends on who you ask.

Despite their abundance of cash, Giants co-owner John Mara said in January that the team does not intend to go “hog wild” in free agency.

“The thing with free agency, it’s a double-edged sword. I mean, you can fix some holes pretty quickly, but long-term, I’m not sure that it really works,” Mara said. “You still have to build your team through the draft. I think the best thing in free agency is it allows you to fill some needs so you can go into the draft and just take the best player available.

“If you think free agency is going to fix all your problems, you’re going to be sadly disappointed. So yes, we do have probably the most space we’ve ever had before, but we’re not going to go hog wild in there and spend it all. I think if you do that, you’re making a big mistake. We’re going to try to do it wisely, try to get the right guys in here, guys that we hope are going to be here for a while. But still, you have to emphasize the draft, and that’s still the most important thing in building a franchise.”

That seems cut and dry, but those at ESPN aren’t buying what Mara is selling and recently listed the Giants as a team that’s set to spend big.

Overall cap space: $79,290,136

Offense: $83,444,509

Defense: $23,227,343

Special teams: $4,480,000

Analysis: The Giants have money to spend this offseason. A good chunk will have to be earmarked for their defense, which currently accounts for 11.5% of their total cap. The Giants’ top eight against the salary cap are all offensive players. Second-year defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence ($3 million) is their most expensive defensive player, followed by veteran safety Antoine Bethea ($2.875 million). Clearly there’s a need for an influx of talent on defense. Expect investment in the defense in free agency.

The Giants do appear to be focusing heavily on landing a big-name cornerback, which is not going to come cheap. They’re also going to have to pay defensive lineman Leonard Williams the big bucks after blowing two draft picks in order to acquire him during the 2019 season. But beyond that, how much will Big Blue invest?

There have been some pre-free agency rumors that they’re interested in several different linebackers, but it’s been tier 2 guys who aren’t going to land a massive top-end deal. There’s also the need for an offensive tackle, but they may wait on that until the 2020 NFL Draft.

So, where will the remainder of their money go? Do the Giants really intend to just sit on it or will Mara’s warning ring hallow as the team makes it rain like they did in 2016?

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