Wellington Mara

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Wellington Timothy Mara (August 14, 1916 – October 25, 2005) was the owner of the NFL's New York Giants from 1959 until his death and one of the most influential and important figures in the history of the National Football League. He was the younger son of Tim Mara, who founded the Giants in 1925. Wellington Mara was an alumnus of the Jesuit schools, Loyola School and Fordham University in New York City.

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[edit] Biography

In 1930, Tim Mara split his ownership interests between Wellington (then 14) and his older brother Jack. Soon after graduating from Fordham, Wellington moved into the Giants' front office. He served as Assistant to the President and Treasurer, 1937; Secretary, 1938-1940; Vice-President and Secretary, 1945-1958; Vice-President, 1959-1965; President, 1966-1990; President and Co-Chief Executive Officer, 1991-2005. For his first 28 years in the organization, he handled the franchise's football decisions.

During the early 1960s, Wellington and his brother Jack, the owners of the NFL's largest market, agreed to share television revenue on a league-wide basis, dividing the amounts of money available in cities like New York with smaller market teams such as the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Green Bay Packers. That concept of revenue sharing allowed the NFL to grow and is still being used today. This is certainly Mara's lasting contribution to his game.

Under Mara's direction the New York Football Giants had won six league championships (including two Super Bowls), nine conference championships, and thirteen division championships. Also, the Giants have accumulated the third highest number of victories in National Football League history. Mara was also well liked by the Giants' players, and was known to stick by them even when they struggled with the off-the-field problems. When Lawrence Taylor was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1999 he credited Mara for supporting him even during the the worst times of his drug addiction saying, "He probably cared more about me as a person than he really should have."[1] Taylor has since lived a clean life style and credits Mara with helping him fight his addiction.[2]

The grave of Wellington Mara in Gate of Heaven Cemetery
The grave of Wellington Mara in Gate of Heaven Cemetery

He had surgery in May 2005 to remove cancerous lymph nodes from his neck and under his armpit, but was initially given a good prognosis by his doctors who said the cancer had not metastasized, according to his son, John Mara, who is the Giants' co-chief executive officer.

He succumbed to lymphoma at age 89. Wellington Mara in interred at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York. He is survived by his wife, Ann, 11 children, and 40 grandchildren. His team honored him after his death by defeating the team he always viewed as the Giants' biggest (and oldest) rival, the Washington Redskins, 36-0 at Giants Stadium. The 80,000 fans in attendance gave his mention a standing ovation.

Besides his contributions to football Mara was known for being a strong Catholic and a Pro-Life supporter. He also served as a Lieutenant Commander during World War II for the Navy in both the Atlantic and Pacific. That period during the war would be Mara's only prolonged time away from the Giants.

The Wilson football used in NFL games prior to the AFL merger (1941-69) was nicknamed "THE DUKE" after Mara. For the 2006 season and beyond, a new version of "THE DUKE" will be used in NFL games.

He was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1997.

[edit] Quotes

  • "This team was referred to as the worst team ever to win the home-field advantage in the National Football League. And today, on our field of painted mud, we proved we're the worst team ever to win the NFC championship. In two weeks, we're going to try to become the worst team ever to win the Super Bowl." — Remarks following Giants' NFC Championship, January 14, 2001 [1]
  • In a rare response to a sportswriter, frustrated with poor performance from the also-ran Giants of the 1970s, asking, "What can you expect from an Irishman named Wellington, whose father was a bookmaker?" Mara later said:
"I'll tell you what you can expect—you can expect anything he says or writes may be repeated aloud in your own home in front of your own children. You can believe that he was taught to love and respect all mankind, but to fear no man. And you could believe that his abiding ambitions were to pass onto his family the true richness of the inheritance he received from his father, the bookmaker: the knowledge and love and fear of God and second to give you (our fans and our coach) a Super Bowl winner"

[edit] References

  1. ^ sportsillustrated.cnn.com, Five for the ages: Pro Football Hall of Fame inducts five more members, accessed February 17, 2007
  2. ^ Dave Anderson, PRO FOOTBALL; Losing Himself to Find Himself, New York Times, November 28, 2003, accessed February 24, 2007

[edit] Sources

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Class of 1996		 Pro Football Hall of Fame
Class of 1997		 Succeeded by
Class of 1998
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