John Mara

New York Giants: John Mara Denies Losing Touch

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New York Giants, John Mara

The New York Giants have suffered from a number of problems over the past years, where the team has had a number of losing seasons and has often found themselves picking high in the NFL Draft, but the man that’s largely at the head of the organization isn’t concerned right now about having lost touch with his role.

That man is of course John Mara, who co-owns the team but tends to be the public face with more of their decisions than fellow co-owner Steve Tisch – and during the past couple of offseasons, Mara has gained criticism for how he’s handled several things, not the least of which is decisions that have led to the Giants trying multiple half rebuilds instead of burning things down and starting from scratch… Something that has likely impacted their results in a negative way and kept the Giants from even having much of a chance going into their last couple seasons.

Despite the criticisms, Mara is still confident going into the 2020 season where he made the decision to bring on Joe Judge as the new head coach.

“I don’t fear that I’ve lost the touch. But I certainly understand our fans’ lack of trust in what we’re doing right now. And the only way to win that back is to start winning games. I get that,” Mara told NJ Advance Media.

“The record is what it is, and I can’t defend that. I don’t feel any differently about myself and my judgment now than I did in February of 2012. Certainly, the record doesn’t bear that out. But I have just as much confidence in myself now as I did in 2012,” Mara continued.

Objectively, however, the Giants are a worse team than they were in 2012, to put it lightly – it seems that a fair amount of blame for that naturally falls on Mara’s shoulders as the top decision maker and the one with the power to hire and fire General Managers and coaches. Just as a player or coach may be thought of as in decline, it should also be possible for an executive to be considered declining.

We’ll have to see how things turn out this season, however, to see if Mara really has lost touch with running the team or if the last years were an anomaly rather than the new norm – the new coaching hires look quite good so far, but in the NFL, nothing is certain until games are played in the regular season.

New York Giants: The most memorable moments from Eli Manning’s retirement conference

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New York Giants, Eli Manning

Friday morning was an emotional time for New York Giants fans, as quarterback Eli Manning announced his retirement in front of a crowd of reporters, family, and friends.

Manning featured with the Giants for 16 seasons, amassing incredible achievements.

Eli Manning’s career achievements:

  • 2x Super Bowl winner

  • 2x Super Bowl MVP

  • 57,023 passing yards (7th all-time)

  • 366 passing TD (7th all-time)

  • 4x Pro Bowler

  • Walter Payton Man of the Year winner in 2016

  • Never missed a game due to injury

  • 13x team captain

His speech was short and to the point, expressing his appreciation for the family, he had accrued during his time with Big Blue and ensuring that he was only ever going to be a Giant.

Eli Manning: “No one loved and appreciated wearing the Giants uniform more than I have.”

“To the Giants fans, you’re definitely unique, and I love you for that”

John Mara’s speech was full of tears and inability to speak, as his relationship with Manning bled through his word. At the end, he powerfully stated, “no Giant will ever wear #10 again.”

Manning will also be inducted into the Giants Ring of Honor in 2020, joining some of the biggest and brightest names in football. While this day was full of tears and sadness, it’s also a moment of happiness, a fresh start into the future, and the appreciation of class and dedication for 16 years. Manning epitomized quality and respect, being his true self throughout his career.

Not only will Eli’s memory be alive for eternity, but we will never forget the magnificent moments and miracles he orchestrated during his career.

Even Tom Brady took to Twitter to ensure Eli was appreciated for his efforts, stating:

“Congratulations on your retirement, and a great career Eli! Not going to lie though, I wish you hadn’t won any Super Bowls.”

A friendly slight towards Eli, but with the utmost respect.

New York Giants: What’s Next For Eli Manning?

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New York Giants quarterback, Eli Manning.

The New York Giants are entering a new era. No longer are we in the Eli Manning era. With the close of the decade came the end of Manning’s tenure as New York’s starting quarterback. We now enter a new, young, and exciting era. The era of Daniel Jones is upon us.

Daniel Jones took over as the starter in Week 3 of the 2019 NFL season. Eli Manning did get to make two more starts towards the end of the season with Jones injured, but those games were not a “welcome back” to Eli, they were more of a “farewell.”

Since the season’s end, there has been some speculation as to what Eli Manning will do next. When asked about coaching, Manning explained that he “felt like” he was a coach this year. Eli also stated that he “didn’t enjoy it that much.” However, more recently, Giants’ owner John Mara refused to close the door on Eli Manning.

John Mara made it clear that he would welcome back Eli Manning as a backup quarterback if that is what Eli wanted. However, Eli still does not know what he wants. John Mara explained that Eli is not fully decided on what he wants to do yet and that the two of them would discuss things further in the near future.

The question is, what are Eli’s options? What is it that Eli Manning is contemplating in his final decision? Obviously, retirement must sound appealing to a 39-year-old father and husband. But will Eli’s love for the game suck him back into the NFL?

Continue As Daniel Jones’s Backup

Eli Manning started four games for the New York Giants in 2019. The season’s other twelve games featured rookie quarterback Daniel Jones in the starting role. Eli had to succumb to a new role as a backup quarterback- a role of which Eli has stated he was not a big fan.

“I doubt it. I doubt it,” Manning said the day after the Giants completed a 4-12 season where he spent most of his time as the second-string quarterback. “Backing up is not real fun.” – via Jordan Raanan of ESPN

It is hard to believe there is a market for Eli Manning outside of New York. Yes, Eli is a highly-accomplished NFL quarterback. But there are not many teams around the league looking for 39-year-old quarterbacks to thrust into the starting role and build around. The league is getting younger, faster, and more dynamic. Teams are looking for succession plans, not recession plans. If Eli wants to continue playing football, he will likely have to stay where he is and continue as Daniel Jones’s backup.

Retirement

Eli Manning has been in the NFL for 16 years. He has played in 236 football games and has won two Super Bowls and two Super Bowl MVPs. Manning is one of the most accomplished quarterbacks in the history of football and is sure to be in the Hall of Fame one day.

For all the peaks that Giants fans have witnessed Eli climb, they have seen him fall into quite a few valleys as well. The Giants won only eight games with Eli Manning as their starting quarterback in 2017 and 2018. Manning has been benched twice in the last three years. The most recent benching, however, is permanent. The Giants are Daniel Jones’s team now. He is the face of the franchise.

All good things come to an end, which includes Eli Manning’s prestigious career as the New York Giants’ quarterback. No one has ever embodied what it means to be a New York Giant, both on the field and off the field, more than Eli Manning. But do Giants fans really want to watch Eli Manning lose more games?

It would be tragic to see Manning’s perfectly even career record of 117-117 fall below .500. Maybe now is the perfect time for Manning to kick his feet up, crack open a cold one, and watch some football at home on Sundays.

New York Giants Want To Build Through Draft Rather Than Spending

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New York Giants, John Mara, Dave Gettleman

Everyone knows that the New York Giants are in need of a rebuild, but not everyone is in agreement on what method that should take. The team has more cap space this year than they did in the recent past and a high draft position will bring at least one high value rookie into the lineup, even if that won’t be Chase Young thanks to the Giants’ failure to beat the Redskins out for the second pick.

The one that has the most control over the direction that the Giants go this offseason, of course, is John Mara, as the co-owner of the team who tends to act as the public face and make more of the big decisions. It was likely by Mara’s decision that the Giants retained General Manager Dave Gettleman for another year despite the disastrous results from his first couple seasons with the team.

Mara is also the one that recently spoke to WFAN about free agency and what strategy the Giants might be going with headed into it.

“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… 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,” Mara said.

The Giants have done alright in the draft since Dave Gettleman showed up, but have still made a number of moves that can likely be considered mistakes at this point. Gettleman, however, has promised to put more faith in analytics from here on – we’ll see if that’s true or not starting with the upcoming draft and free agency period.

“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,” Mara continued. “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.”

At the end of the day, the Giants still have a number of holes to fill and whether they use all their cap space or not, free agency will be a crucial part of the offseason. One of the most interesting times of the year will almost certainly be when the Giants begin making acquisitions and giving fans a better idea of what their lineup will look like going into the 2020 season.

John Mara, Giants, Open to an Eli Manning Reunion

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Eli Manning, New York Giants

Could a reunion between Eli Manning and the New York Giants be in the works?

Don’t rule it out, said Giants co-owner John Mara on WFAN on Friday morning. Mara has been in touch with Manning, who he says is mulling his options at the moment. Manning’s contract expires at the end of the NFL year in March and he has yet to decide whether he wants to continue playing or delve into another type of job within the game.

Mara told WFAN’s Marc Malusis and Maggie Gray that the Giants are not averse to having Manning back in the fold.

“I haven’t closed any doors on that,” Mara said. “Eli came to see me a few days ago, and we had a nice, long talk, but I don’t think he’s fully decided yet what he wants to do. And I’ve told him just take his time, think about it some more and then come back and see me again.

 

“Obviously, he’s been the best representative of this franchise, maybe that we’ve ever had — I mean, both what he’s done on the field, the way he conducts himself off the field, the professionalism that he shows. You can’t ask for a better representative than Eli Manning. So he’s going to take his time, and we’ll hopefully have another discussion at some point in the future.”

It’s hard to imagine Eli agreeing to return as Daniel Jones’ backup. He surely doesn’t need the money. Plus, there is the issue of the new head coach, Joe Judge, and general manager Dave Gettleman agreeing to have Manning forced on them by ownership.

Manning, 39, could seek a front office position with the Giants, although handing anything outside of something honorary seems unlikely. He’s not John Elway. Plus, he recently said he is not interested in coaching.

Odds are if Eli can’t find an opportunity to start for an NFL team this fall, he’ll have no choice other than to retire.

Giants CEO John Mara ‘Excited’ About What Joe Judge Brings to Big Blue

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New York Giants, John Mara

The New York Giants had a number of qualified candidates apply for their head coaching vacancy these past two weeks, but it was obvious today that New England Patriots assistant Joe Judge was the man for the job.

The Giants’ brass is smitten with Judge and can’t stop heaping praise upon him. We got our first taste of Judge today at his introductory press conference and were nearly as impressed as one could be, considering this is his first head coaching job on any level.

Giants CEO John Mara was very candid about his feelings for Judge and what he can bring to the dormant Giants.

“I’m just excited about what he brings to the table here. He has a certain poise and presence about him. You guys have pointed out the last couple of years that I’ve had a lot of experience interviewing coach candidates. I’m just telling you, that’s the best interview I’ve ever been a part of right now for a lot of different reasons. When you train under Nick Saban and then you end up on Bill Belichick’s staff, that’s something you take notice of. He’s obviously had great training, a great background. He’s used to winning, he knows what winning looks like, and we’re excited to have him here.”

Mara was asked what moment during Judge’s interview on Monday sold him on the 38 year-old Pennsylvania native.

“I would say it was a little more than halfway through. To be honest with you, I went into the interview not really expecting all that much, just because I didn’t really know him. I certainly knew of him. But the more we went on, the more impressive he became. When we finished, I looked at Dave and Kevin, and we were ecstatic. We said, ‘This is our guy. This has got to be our guy.’ He just had a certain poise. He didn’t have any notes with him. He just was so confident and poised, and had such great knowledge about how to build a winning program. What they did in New England, what they’ve done at Alabama, the people he’s been around, his beliefs, his philosophies. He checked all of the boxes for us.”

Judge has a daunting task in front of him. The Giants are mired in another “wilderness” period and have to learn how to win as a team again.  Judge outlined his vision for the Giants in emphatic fashion. He’s a take-charge guy who will instill discipline and order to a team that has lacked precision and focus under their prior two head coaches, Pat Shurmur and Ben McAdoo.

“He has a big task. He’s 38 years old and he’s never been a head coach, so yeah, it is going to be a daunting task,” added Mars. “But everything we know about him and everything he showed in our interview with him tells us that he’s ready for it.”

Mara also said that he felt Judge was “somebody that could be a leader” and “someone who had poise and a presence about him, somebody who was a teacher, and somebody who knows what a winning program is supposed to look like.”

Many of these Giants don’t know what that looks like. Hopefully they will find out soon.

New York Giants: Head coach candidates update – who are the favorites?

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New York Giants considering Matt Rhule for head coach.

The New York Giants fired head coach Pat Shurmur on Monday morning, hitting the restart button after two seasons of porous play. During Shurmur’s tenure, Big Blue managed only nine wins, most of which came towards the end of the season against sub-.500 teams.

The latest two victories against the Miami Dolphins and Washington Redskins put the team in the right direction. Still, owner John Mara stated that he and Steve Tisch had been mulling the head coaching position over for weeks.

The two co-owners were reported as being divided on the state of the Giants, with Tisch in favor of a full-restructuring of the front-office. However, Mara advocated for their similar approach:

“Our relationship, contrary to what I read the other day, has never been better. We communicate on any issues regarding the team all the time. This has been a conversation we’ve been having for at least the last few weeks, anyway.”

With the head coach search underway, we can assume that the process will go quickly, considering how fast the Washington Redskins locked up Ron Rivera. Reports of Baylor stud HC Matt Rhule being a suitable option have bubbled to the surface.

Rhule, who completely revitalized the Baylor Football Program in three years, taking them from a 1-11 record to an 11-1 record this season, is considered to be a top candidate with the Giants. He has past connections with GM Dave Gettleman and would hold the vacant head coaching position with the Giants in high regard. Some have said that Rhule would consider it his “dream job.”

Just last season, the New York Jets took a stab at Rhule, who turned them down to remain with Baylor. However, reports have indicated that Baylor players wouldn’t be surprised if he walked in favor of the NFL, and he even told them as much. Having grown up in New York, the connection with Big Blue makes perfect sense, and his progressive eye would give the Giants an advantage moving forward.

Mara mentioned the increase in analytical depth this season, and Gettleman has been at the forefront, even after his “nerd” comment upon his inception in East Rutherford. Nonetheless, the beginning of a new age might be upon us, but it all starts with Gettleman, who, according to the two owners, needs to improve in free agency, especially with approximately $80 million available this offseason.

New York Giants: Mara, Not Tisch, May Hold Final Decision On Monday

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New York Giants, John Mara

It’s not a secret that a lot of the fans of the New York Giants want a change – the team’s performances haven’t been getting better from year to year and if it wasn’t for some wins against very bad teams, the worst teams in the league more often than not in fact, the Giants would be on pace to have their worst season ever… Pat Shurmur isn’t a very popular coach within the fanbase right now for obvious reasons and General Manager Dave Gettleman is hardly better off in the popularity race.

But the fans, unfortunately, don’t have much power over the team’s destiny. They can apply pressure and make their voices heard, but at the end of the day the decisions will fall to the team ownership.

The problem, in this case, is that the Giants have two owners. And on this specific matter, they may not have the same ideas.

According to SNY, Steve Tisch may only be venting when expressing his frustrations with the team, rather than seriously planning to challenge the more patient approach of co-owner John Mara, who owns the other half of the team but tends to be the head figure when it comes to making decisions.

In fact, multiple NFL sources have told SNY that they believe Steve Tisch, the co-owner of the Giants, is “very frustrated” with the current direction of his organization and will push for sweeping changes when he meets with co-owner John Mara after the season finale on Sunday. However, others believe Tisch has just been “venting” privately in the wake of a third straight miserable season and will defer to Mara in the end.

Mara, of course, seems more likely to stick with Dave Gettleman for another year – and if the coach can pick up another win on Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles this time, which would knock the Eagles out of the playoffs, Pat Shurmur may find himself keeping his job too if Mara’s opinion is the only one that matters in this.

It’s a dangerous way of thinking, of course. It’s easy to forget about losses during a stretch of winning, but three straight wins, two of them against some of the league’s worst teams, doesn’t change a history of losing over the past couple of years under a head coach that has directly blown games for the Giants with his coaching skill or lack thereof.

Of course, that assumes that Mara will go with a more usual patient approach – by most factors, this is one of the worst seasons in recent memory for the Giants, if not in franchise history. The Giants have a reputation as a patient team, but could that change because of the current circumstances? We may just find out the answer on Monday, when the firings will likely begin league wide for the personnel who just didn’t make the cut this season.

New York Giants news, 12/11 – John Mara won’t fire Dave Gettleman

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New York Giants, John Mara, Dave Gettleman

Good Morning, New York Giants Fans!

One of the reasons Dave Gettleman locked down the vacant general manager spot with the New York Giants was due to his previous experience with the team. Gettleman has been friends with the Mara’s for quite some time, which makes the relationship between him and John Mara complicated.

Ultimately, this could play a big part in Mara’s reluctance to fire him. Instead, he could give head coach Pat Shurmur the ax. That’s a realistic scenario that could play out, considering Shurmur’s inability to go a single game without make time management and personnel mistakes.

Gettleman has made his fair share of mistakes as well, counting the Leonard Williams trade and a slew of draft picks who have looked defeated after a poor season. Again, even the best players are held back by a lack of good coaching, and that’s a problem the Giants will face this upcoming offseason.

If they do not believe Shurmur is the right fit, moving in a different direction might be in the best interest of the team. However, sticking with a proven coach that has ample experience seems like a safe move. An option like Ron Rivera glistens a bit more than others, especially after references from tight end Greg Olsen and others. The Giants should stay far away from Mike McCarthy and his offensive scheme that reincarnates Ben McAdoo’s system with a bit more blandness.

Finding a replacement head coach is not an easy task, especially with the current state of the Giants roster and a lack of talent at essential positions. Hopefully, Gettleman will strike gold in the 2020 NFL Draft, as it’s expected he will have a top-3 pick to work with. That’s if Gettleman survives the next few months.

Nonetheless–

Your top news of the day:

Michael Eisen – Injury Update: Daniel Jones returns to practice in limited role

Alexander Wilson – Giants’ Eli Manning hints at retirement following loss to the Eagles

Paul Schwartz – Only firing question left for Giants: Is Dave Gettleman gone with Pat Shurmur?
Jordan Raanan – Giants’ Janoris Jenkins tweets insult to fan during practice
Mike Moraitis – Ron Rivera may be looking for something the Giants can’t provide

Giants’ Co-owner Steve Tisch asks fans to be patient

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New York Giants, Dave Gettleman

The owner of the New York Giants finally spoke to the media today but it wasn’t the owner you’re thinking of. John Mara has yet to opine on his team’s horrific season and no one is sure when he or his general manager, Dave Gettleman, will come out of hiding and face the masses.

Today, co-owner Steve Tisch spoke with WNBC Ch 4’s Bruce Beck at the March of Dimes event and shed a little light on the current state of Big Blue.

“It’s been a very frustrating season,” Tisch said as per Beck’s Twitter feed. “At the end of the season John Mara and I are gonna get together and discuss the future. As partners we have to be very honest with each other about where we see this team going into the 2020 season.”

Tisch had a message for Giant fans, who are at the end of their collective rope.

“I’m asking for patience. I’m being patient which you know at times is challenging. Please be understanding and patient. I want Giants fan to feel that their voice is being heard.”

Beck asked Tisch is he still believed in Gettleman and head coach Pat Shurmur, who are off to a 7-21 start with the Giants.

“Those decisions & conversation are not going to be made this morning,” said Tisch. “It’s really at the end of the season that John and I are going to sit down and talk about these issues.”

This is all generic information. Tisch is not heavily into the football end of the business but does hold some weight in the decision-making process. Right now, fan confidence is low and the results have been embarrassing for one of the league’s most storied franchises.

The average price of a ticket to a Giants game is $115, which is eighth-highest in the NFL. Every seat in the stadium also has a personal seat license which can cost in the tens of thousands of dollars.