One of the real good guys of the NFL, someone up there with the likes of the Rooney family, Wellington Mara, has died:
Wellington Mara, the co-owner of the New York Giants of the National Football League, a presence with the franchise since his father founded the team in 1925, and the senior management figure in pro football, died today at his home in Rye, N.Y. He was 89.
The cause was cancer of the lymph nodes, according to a statement by the Giants.
Mara became the patriarch of a marquee family on the New York sports scene. He was the N.F.L.’s last link to an era when teams like the Pottsville Maroons, Dayton Triangles and Rochester Jeffersons played in the shadow of the college game and Red Grange of Illinois embodied the football hero.
On to the big grid-iron in the sky, with ya. Art has a cigar waiting for you.
jaime
At least he got to see the future of his franchise in Eli, Shockey, and Plaxico.
farmgirl
I think I went to school with one of those Rooneys…
If so, he was (and I’m sure is) a great guy. I think he went into the Marines.
(Is this post random enough yet?)
Veeshir
Now I’m depressed. Mara had class.
You can’t say that about many NFL owners these days.
I hope his family carries on the way he did. I think they will, he’s trained his sons to take over and hopefully they follow his example.
At least he got to see one last win Sunday.
Steve
A quote to remember from the 2000 season:
Rick
RIP, etc. But I hope that “one last win” goes for pretty much the rest of the season. Particularly this Sunday, as my single particle of common ground with the egregious O. Willis is that we are both Redskins fandhoodlums.
Cordially…
SeesThroughIt
I can’t stand the Giants, but for as long as I’ve been aware of him, I’ve had respect for Mara. This is more than a loss for the Giants; it’s a loss for the entire NFL.