When You Say New York Giants, You Also Say “Mara Family”

The football Giants and Mara family have been inseparable for nearly a century.

In 1925, the National Football League was in need of a franchise in a big metropolitan market. NFL President at the time, Joseph Carr, traveled to New York City to meet with boxing promoter, Billy Gibson, about owning an NFL franchise.

Gibson refused and referred him to a friend, Timothy J. Mara, who was a well-known local bookmaker. Mara was interested but he also didn’t know much about pro football. A friend–Dr. Harry March, former team physician for the Canton Bulldogs–did. So Mara agreed to jump in, making the purchase for a cool $500.

He named the franchise the Giants and signed a nationally known name, Jim Thorpe, to play quarterback.

Back then, though, pro football was struggling. The big gridiron game was college football and the Giants were losing money. Attendance was the reason. The team wasn’t drawing well against teams like the Buffalo Bisons, Rochester Jeffersons, Providence Steam Rollers, and Columbus Tigers.

Tim Mara (photo, Giants.com)

Mara needed to come up with an idea. He did. He’d pit New York against Chicago. It worked. Giants vs. Bears played to a sold-out Polo Grounds. The year was 1925.

For Mara, football was a family thing. A few years later–in 1930 to be specific–he expanded family ownership to include his son, Wellington, who was 14 years old at the time, and his older brother, Jack.

After college, Wellington moved into the Giants’ front office, serving as the team treasurer and as an assistant to his father and, later, as VP. When Jack died in 1965, Wellington became president.

The family legacy continues to this day. Wellington’s son, John, is co-owner and president of the franchise today. Chris Mara, the Giants’ VP of Player Evaluation, has two daughters, both of whom are in the theatre–Rooney, an Oscar-nominated actress, and sister Kate.

New York. The New York Giants. The Mara family. They’ve been connected for nearly 100 years.