Giant
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- Mar 19, 2019
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Giant co-owner John Mara admitted yesterday that he’d prefer to see rookie Daniel Jones sit all year, because that would likely mean Eli Manning had the team winning.
Of course, winning would be new around there, and hardly expected after offseason departures of a number of stars including Odell Beckham Jr.
According to Tom Rock of Newsday, Mara joked that his 7-year-old grandson asked if it was still OK for Beckham to be his favorite player, acknowledging the long shadow his trade to Cleveland has left on the organization.
“You don’t like to see all of that talent go out the door,” Mara said referring to Pro Bowlers Landon Collins and Olivier Vernon as well. “But let’s face it, we’ve had one winning season, 2016, here and the other five or six years have not been so good since we won that last Super Bowl. So we needed some drastic changes.”
They accomplished that goal, all right, and Mara endorsed the guy who made those moves, General Manager Dave Gettleman.
“I think the best thing for me about Dave is he makes decisions that he feels are in the best interest of the franchise,” Mara said. “He doesn’t give a damn what people think about it, be it media or be it fans or anybody. He has the courage of his convictions and you have to have that. He set about to try to rebuild this team, change the culture in the locker room.”
Stacking up draft picks and adding a young quarterback to develop for the future — whether he plays this year or not — is a good start. But as Mara acknowledged, it’s likely to be a longer build for Gettleman and coach Pat Shurmur, since the Giants haven’t been good for some time.
“I’m not satisfied with five wins,” Mara said, “but I think [they] have us headed in the right direction. We have a lot of confidence in them. . . .
“Until we start winning games, it’s hard to sell people on that notion, but it’s what I believe.”
And if that happens, his grandson might develop a new favorite.