Giants owner, NFL patriarch Mara dies at 89

NEW YORK (Reuters) – New York Giants owner Wellington Mara,
a link to the earliest days of the National Football League who
was tied to the storied franchise for 80 years, died on
Tuesday, the NFL said. He was 89.

Mara, who was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in
1997, died of cancer at his home in Rye, New York, surrounded
by his wife, his 11 children and many of his 40 grandchildren.

Mara was 9 years old when his father, Tim, bought the New
York City franchise in the fledgling professional football
league for $500 in 1925.

He started as a water boy for the Giants and as a ticket
hawker drumming up business for the professional team.

Over time he graduated to the administrative ranks of the
family-controlled club, working as a scout and then vice
president before becoming team president in 1965 after the
death of his older brother, Jack.

The Giants dedicated their dramatic, come-from-behind 24-23
victory over the Denver Broncos on Sunday to Mara and his
co-owner Robert Tisch, 79, who is suffering from brain cancer.

“Wellington Mara is the face of not only the New York
Giants, but the NFL,” Giants tight end Jeremy Shockey told
reporters after Sunday’s game.

“He’s a pioneer and the guy that everybody in this game
looks up to.”

Mara joined the Giants staff full time in 1938 as club
secretary. Over the years, he scouted for the club, engineered
trades, made draft picks and negotiated contracts on the way to
becoming president of the club.

A fixture in the Giants clubhouse, at practices and at
training camps, Mara helped preside over a golden age for the
Giants from 1956 to 1963, when the team won six NFL Eastern
Conference championships and claimed the 1956 NFL title.

Those teams also produced a pair of future coaching legends
in assistant coaches Vince Lombardi and Tom Landry.

In all, the Giants have won 18 NFL divisional titles and
six NFL championships, including Super Bowl XXI and XXV under
coach Bill Parcells.

Mara also served on numerous executive panels for the NFL,
including its labor council and competition committee.

Players from all generations attended his Hall of Fame
induction in 1997.

“He’s been as much my family as my family is,” said Frank
Gifford, a star running back and receiver during the Giants
heyday of the 1950s and ’60s.

“He could be the perfect father, you’d be blessed to have
him as a brother, and more than anything he’s the best friend
you can ever have.”