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New York Giants co-owner John Mara has been accused of being a lot of things, but uncaring is not one of them. The third-generation scion of the Giants' dynasty perhaps cares too much.
Mara, who recently disclosed he is being treated for cancer, is constantly around the team, very much like his father, Wellington, was. He genuinely cares for the people he employs and wants to win more than anyone.
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The winning was there when Mara and his partner, Steve Tisch, took over the team in the mid-2000s after both their fathers passed. They were winning Super Bowls, beating the GOAT, Tom Brady, twice. Since then, the Giants have found themselves in a vortex of losing that is on the verge of becoming historical.
Mara is not dodging blame, and neither are the players and coaches blaming him or Tisch for the sorry level the franchise has sunk to. The treatments have kept Mara away from the team more this year, but he has still managed to be present when he can.
Paul Schwartz, who has covered the Giants for the New York Post for over 30 years, polled several players regarding Mara this week as the team closes out another lost season. The caring, it seems, cuts both ways.
"It’s a great feeling,” left tackle Andrew Thomas told The Post. “You can tell he cares about this place; there’s a lot of legacy with his family, it means a lot to him, and it’s not just his words, it’s his actions. He’s there; a lot of owners don’t commit that much. We definitely appreciate that.
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"We want to win every game we play, and more importantly, we want to do it more consistently. That’s our goal, and I’m sure that would make Mr. Mara happy. We know he’s going through a tough situation, so we’re praying for him and hoping he can get healthy and come back out there with us.”
Other players recognize Mara's greater absence this year, and it eats away at them.
“He’s usually there every single practice and we usually see him around, but now we don’t get to see him too much,” wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson told The Post. “When we do see him, you can tell he’s battling and doing everything he can. That’s part of the reason you want to go out there and win. I know he feels a little bit better whenever he does see us win.”
Recently, Mara found a way to show up at an event put together by wide receiver Darious Slayton. The veteran took note.
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“I think it shows he cares,” Slayton told The Post. “It’s important to him. He hurts just as bad as we do in the losses, and he’s just as happy as we are when we win. For a lot of owners in the NFL or in any franchise in sports, it’s a bottom-line of a business; at the end of the day, they want to turn a profit and it’s all just numbers to them. And obviously, to some degree, he’s a businessman, so there’s something to do with that. But you can tell he genuinely cares about the outcome of our games, he wants to win and he wants this franchise to be great.”
Last January, Mara decided to retain both head coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen after a two-year stretch that saw them go 9-25. Their reprieve would not last long if the results didn't change quickly. They didn't. The Giants are 3-13 heading into the 2025 season finale, and Daboll was canned before Thanksgiving.
Schoen, however, escaped the axe. In fact, Mara has placed him in charge of finding the team's next head coach, a move many feel is a mistake.
"If we're standing here, if I'm standing here a year from now and we're having the same conversation, I'll take the heat for it," Mara told reporters a year ago.
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Well, we are having the same conversation. Mara is absorbing the heat and has already acted, shredding the team of Daboll. Now comes the hard part, again.
Caring is not the issue. Competence is. They've gotten it wrong for a decade. Mara needs a change of fortune, a stroke of luck. At some point, the good guys gotta win, you know?
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: New York Giants players want to win for John Mara: 'He genuinely cares'
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