Wellington Mara
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Wellington Timothy Mara (August 14, 1916 – October 25, 2005) was the co-owner and co-CEO of the NFL's New York Giants. He was a son of Timothy Mara, who founded the Giants in 1925. Wellington Mara is an alumnus of the Jesuit schools, Loyola School and Fordham University in New York City.
He had been a front office executive for the Giants his entire adult life, serving 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. He was enshrined to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1997.
During the early 1960s, Wellington and his brother Jack, the owners of the NFL's largest market, agreed to share television revenue on a leaguewide basis, dividing the amounts of money available in cities like New York with smaller market teams such as Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers. That concept of revenue sharing allowed the NFL to grow and is still being used today. This is perhaps 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 amount of victories in National Football League history.
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 New York Giants co-chief executive officer.
He succumbed to lymphoma on October 25, 2005 at age 89. 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 Giant 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.
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"
