Some snippits from the Athletic, Duggan the real Dan dropping Dimes:
"Williams isn’t the only player to invoke the perfect storm that allowed the Giants, who finished 6-10, to remain in the NFC East race until the final game of last season. The players can’t be faulted for failing to recognize that staying in contention in a historically bad division wasn’t an achievement. They’re merely following the lead of a franchise that has mastered the art of self-delusion.
Giants leadership has opted to squint and tilt losing seasons until an angle can be found to glean positivity rather than making the necessary hard evaluations of a franchise that has lost more games than any team in the league over the past five seasons."
"Defenders of Gettleman used to point to the situation he inherited: a 3-13 team with locker room problems. But general manager jobs typically don’t become open unless things are bad. What does it say about Gettleman’s evaluation skills that he assessed the state of the team and determined he could turn it around immediately? He hatched an ill-fated plan to win while rebuilding and failed on both fronts.
Despite a 5-11 record in 2018, there remained a sense of denial surrounding the franchise. Gettleman laughably touted the Giants leading the NFC East in points scored after finishing in last place in the division. He said the team was headed in the right direction because it went 4-4 in the second half of the season despite losing its final three games.
No franchise puts more stock in winning meaningless December games. The Giants went 1-3 and were outscored 92-49 in their final four games last season, yet there was Gettleman after the season crowing about how the team had made progress in learning how to win. Somehow, the Giants convinced themselves that they were close to contending and went all-in this offseason with a spending spree."
"The Giants need to run a real search for their next general manager, and candidates from other teams can’t be interviewed until after the season. An outside voice is desperately needed to provide a George Young-level organizational shakeup."
https://theathletic.com/2897500/2021/10/18/another-miserable-start-must-be-a-wake-up-call-for-a-giants-franchise-that-has-lost-its-way?source=user-shared-article
Hell, I might just print it out & mail it to the team.
"The Giants need to run a real search for their next general manager, and candidates from other teams can’t be interviewed until after the season. An outside voice is desperately needed to provide a George Young-level organizational shakeup."
"The Giants need to run a real search for their next general manager, and candidates from other teams can’t be interviewed until after the season. An outside voice is desperately needed to provide a George Young-level organizational shakeup."
There's going to be a fan base revolt & media meltdown if it's someone hired from within.
Boy ain't that the truth.
Wake up, Mara.
Wake up, Mara.
GT, if this doesn't wake him up & realize big changes need to be made...well, I fear we're fucked for a long, long time.
Wake up, Mara.
Especially the stretching to put a positive spin on things. When we called that out (you especially) we were told we're not real fans. Huh.
No franchise puts more stock in winning meaningless December games. The Giants went 1-3 and were outscored 92-49 in their final four games last season, yet there was Gettleman after the season crowing about how the team had made progress in learning how to win."
No franchise puts more stock in winning meaningless December games. The Giants went 1-3 and were outscored 92-49 in their final four games last season, yet there was Gettleman after the season crowing about how the team had made progress in learning how to win."
No no no. A lot of us saw through the bull****. It was just fans like GettleDogMan.
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"
No franchise puts more stock in winning meaningless December games. The Giants went 1-3 and were outscored 92-49 in their final four games last season, yet there was Gettleman after the season crowing about how the team had made progress in learning how to win."
No no no. A lot of us saw through the bull****. It was just fans like GettleDogMan.
Every year we have the argument of draft position vs wins. It's not just the weird users. No matter how terrible the team has been for 10 years people still really, really care about meaningless end of season games as proof of a growing culture.
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In comment 15420373 Ten Ton Hammer said:
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"
No franchise puts more stock in winning meaningless December games. The Giants went 1-3 and were outscored 92-49 in their final four games last season, yet there was Gettleman after the season crowing about how the team had made progress in learning how to win."
No no no. A lot of us saw through the bull****. It was just fans like GettleDogMan.
Every year we have the argument of draft position vs wins. It's not just the weird users. No matter how terrible the team has been for 10 years people still really, really care about meaningless end of season games as proof of a growing culture.
That's true. Maybe I just tune it out. The other interesting thing is there is probably data that show (either way) whether late season wins yield momentum or growth or whatever. It's not some un-answerable mystery. Probably just need the right regression.
Sorry for the cursing, but I'm fed the fuck up, Haha.
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"
No franchise puts more stock in winning meaningless December games. The Giants went 1-3 and were outscored 92-49 in their final four games last season, yet there was Gettleman after the season crowing about how the team had made progress in learning how to win."
No no no. A lot of us saw through the bull****. It was just fans like GettleDogMan.
And it'll happen again. I am fairly sure that we'll win a game or two we're not supposed to win this year against a quality opponent, and somehow that win will offset 5 losses in their mind and will represent progress, or an ability to play with anyone so long as we're not unlucky, or some bullshit like that.
you might be on to something. Maybe we should all put in and hire a plane with a banner.
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on a banner ?
you might be on to something. Maybe we should all put in and hire a plane with a banner.
There are definitely enough pissed off people on this site with spare change that we can do a banner or billboard. Someone trustworthy just needs to organize it.
& I'd argue those BBIers are a very small minority.
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who want to ride or die with Jones. It's completely stupid. It's so obvious he can't play. We are a laughingstock. Non-Giant fans think the team is an irrelevant joke.
& I'd argue those BBIers are a very small minority.
I sure hope so. I think this it is crazy that we have a QB that is playing like a back-up and some people don't see it.
Having given them lots of chances to see if it works, I'm at the point where I don't need to see any more. This ownership and upper management have proven that THEY don't work. Same problems year after year, nothing gets fixed.
DG is just a symptom. This is very deep rot.
2013: 7-9 “but we finished 7-3!”
2014: 6-10 “but we finished 3-1”
2015: 6-19 “but Eli played great, and McAdoo will fix everything”
2017: 3-13 “but Eli just needs a running game, did you see how good they looked running the ball against the Redskins in the last game of the season!”
It’s systemic. No one in that building wants to face hard truths. Or they’re afraid to speak truthfully.
Do you have any examples of those people “riding or dying” with Daniel Jones? Or are you just making shit up again?
2013: 7-9 “but we finished 7-3!”
2014: 6-10 “but we finished 3-1”
2015: 6-19 “but Eli played great, and McAdoo will fix everything”
2017: 3-13 “but Eli just needs a running game, did you see how good they looked running the ball against the Redskins in the last game of the season!”
It’s systemic. No one in that building wants to face hard truths. Or they’re afraid to speak truthfully.
We played 25 games in '15? Haha.
No, but I get what you're saying. Mara needs to stop this façade of pretending how we finish one year is going to translate into the next year. This isn't the '80s. There's so much turnover.
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who want to ride or die with Jones. It's completely stupid. It's so obvious he can't play. We are a laughingstock. Non-Giant fans think the team is an irrelevant joke.
Do you have any examples of those people “riding or dying” with Daniel Jones? Or are you just making shit up again?
If you read the board you will see them. They still have doubts. Many posters on here.
Are you able to converse without being such an asshole?
The entire mentality of the team is in the stone age.
I believe they put too much weight on things that are not of utmost importance.
For example, hiring a GM who knows the organization already. All that means is John Mara feels comfortable with the guy and not that he is the best candidate.
Danny Dimes - the connection to Eli and coach Cutcliff. The fact that he has a similar demeanor to Eli. All of that in my opinion played too much of a role when deciding which QB to draft.
Sounds like a guy that posts here on BBI, or maybe two.
You look at the names on some of these lists that come out.Whether it be for coach or GM,and you could end up with someone who talks like a General Manager,but wouldn't know LT from a BLT.
I believe they put too much weight on things that are not of utmost importance.
For example, hiring a GM who knows the organization already. All that means is John Mara feels comfortable with the guy and not that he is the best candidate.
Danny Dimes - the connection to Eli and coach Cutcliff. The fact that he has a similar demeanor to Eli. All of that in my opinion played too much of a role when deciding which QB to draft.
If this doesn't change in the next hire, we're in for ten more years of this.
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he has no idea who to hire as the GM or coach.
I believe they put too much weight on things that are not of utmost importance.
For example, hiring a GM who knows the organization already. All that means is John Mara feels comfortable with the guy and not that he is the best candidate.
Danny Dimes - the connection to Eli and coach Cutcliff. The fact that he has a similar demeanor to Eli. All of that in my opinion played too much of a role when deciding which QB to draft.
If this doesn't change in the next hire, we're in for ten more years of this.
I actually thinkk it will never end until John Mara and the family just steps away from ANY decision making at all for this team.
The only thing John Mara can decide is what food he wants in his owner's box on Sunday. Outside of that.. he needs to stay clear of this team. Otherwise, it will be more than 10 years.
But good for Duggan for re-packaging a lot of what is discussed on this board and giving it more light in The Athletic. Can't hurt.
-- John Mara, January 2021, State of the Union
Until the Broncos started to pull away week 1, I think the entire Giants leadership was convinced the team was emerging as a contender. I don’t know why they thought that, but they did. All the actions taken point to that being the consensus.
The last few weeks have to have been a shock to them.
But good for Duggan for re-packaging a lot of what is discussed on this board and giving it more light in The Athletic. Can't hurt.
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“There’s no defending the record,” Mara said. “We haven’t won enough games. Listen, we made some miscalculations in 2018, but in the past two years we’ve seen significant improvement. To break that up now, to bring someone new from the outside was not going to be beneficial for us. If our fans continue to stay patient with us, they’ll see a winning team soon.”
-- John Mara, January 2021, State of the Union
Was that soon in normal time or geologic?
And then you read quotes like this from Ralph V, and you really REALLY worry: "But the bigger question is whether Mara will go outside the organization for the first time since the NFL forced George Young on the Mara family back in 1979 -- something, by the way that he absolutely, positively doesn't want to do."
This organization is so screwed up.
All Jones needs is a legit RT1 and two guards and a swing tackle who can pass block (there’s tons of those available late in the summer which is the perfect time to look for bargain O line) and a healthy Saquon and Kenny G and Toney and fire Garrett and promote Freddy Kitchens (a proven winner!) and let Joe Judge pick the new GM and get an edge in the draft (after we get a DT1 with our 1st pick) and we’re right back in the hunt.
Somebody tell Dan “know it all” Duggan and anyone else in lame stream sports media with their fancy paywalls and statistical numbers that this submarine doesn’t have any windows!
All Jones needs is a legit RT1 and two guards and a swing tackle who can pass block (there’s tons of those available late in the summer which is the perfect time to look for bargain O line) and a healthy Saquon and Kenny G and Toney and fire Garrett and promote Freddy Kitchens (a proven winner!) and let Joe Judge pick the new GM and get an edge in the draft (after we get a DT1 with our 1st pick) and we’re right back in the hunt.
Somebody tell Dan “know it all” Duggan and anyone else in lame stream sports media with their fancy paywalls and statistical numbers that this submarine doesn’t have any windows!
Lmao
All Jones needs is a legit RT1 and two guards and a swing tackle who can pass block (there’s tons of those available late in the summer which is the perfect time to look for bargain O line) and a healthy Saquon and Kenny G and Toney and fire Garrett and promote Freddy Kitchens (a proven winner!) and let Joe Judge pick the new GM and get an edge in the draft (after we get a DT1 with our 1st pick) and we’re right back in the hunt.
Somebody tell Dan “know it all” Duggan and anyone else in lame stream sports media with their fancy paywalls and statistical numbers that this submarine doesn’t have any windows!
Is this parody?
You would think being the worst team in the sport the past 5 years would demand wholesale changes from ownership and fanbase. But just like other years I could see the Giants win some meaningless games to get to 5 or 6 wins and the excuses will start piling in and "progress" is being made.
Time to move on from Judge, Gettleman, and our putrid offensive and defensive coordinators. So frustrating to see another year of games where we do not contend. I am losing all desire to watch the games and I have loved watching them for well over 30 years.
He never should have been hired. He fucked up badly in nearly every single off-season he has been here.
The frightening thing is the owner bought into everything that the delusional fan base did.
And the fan base buying in that way absolutely hurt the team. If the owner had more heat from the fan base to fire him he may have done it, but instead half of the fan base actually thought they were moving in the right direction.
No one is angrier about this than me.
I'm frustrated too just like the fans.
I think we have some good young talent.
There were games where we could have won and we'd have a better record if we did.
Next year I need to see progress.
Everyone is on notice.
Thanks guys see you next year.
Rinse, wash, repeat. Every freaking year, every time. That's it, that's all he will ever give you.
John Mara is James Dolan who got lucky twice.
John Mara is James Dolan who got lucky twice.
Got lucky twice? That’s where you lose me. He gets credit for retaining Coughlin & Eli after 2006. He stayed out of the way during that run which helped them win both SB’s.
Can he get rid of his brother and nephew though? People are starting to realize that might be where the real problem has been all along.
He never should have been hired. He fucked up badly in nearly every single off-season he has been here.
The frightening thing is the owner bought into everything that the delusional fan base did.
And the fan base buying in that way absolutely hurt the team. If the owner had more heat from the fan base to fire him he may have done it, but instead half of the fan base actually thought they were moving in the right direction.
Experiment.
The Giants the day Reese was fired, vs the Giants right now. Who wins?
That should say it all.
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Many in this board have said for years, and they got called fake fans.
John Mara is James Dolan who got lucky twice.
Got lucky twice? That’s where you lose me. He gets credit for retaining Coughlin & Eli after 2006. He stayed out of the way during that run which helped them win both SB’s.
Those were two of the best days of my life but let’s be honest, they got lucky and caught lightning in a bottle twice. Neither of those teams were top caliber teams.
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In comment 15420634 ajr2456 said:
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Many in this board have said for years, and they got called fake fans.
John Mara is James Dolan who got lucky twice.
Got lucky twice? That’s where you lose me. He gets credit for retaining Coughlin & Eli after 2006. He stayed out of the way during that run which helped them win both SB’s.
Those were two of the best days of my life but let’s be honest, they got lucky and caught lightning in a bottle twice. Neither of those teams were top caliber teams.
And Mara's role was "didn't do anything".
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how many people on here defended Gettleman at every turn.
He never should have been hired. He fucked up badly in nearly every single off-season he has been here.
The frightening thing is the owner bought into everything that the delusional fan base did.
And the fan base buying in that way absolutely hurt the team. If the owner had more heat from the fan base to fire him he may have done it, but instead half of the fan base actually thought they were moving in the right direction.
Experiment.
The Giants the day Reese was fired, vs the Giants right now. Who wins?
That should say it all.
It would be interesting to see JPP and Vernon vs Solder and Peart.
John Mara is James Dolan who got lucky twice.
I still don't understand the fake fans thing. Go to the Yankees threads or the old Knicks threads, nobody got called "fake" for being down on the team or the franchise. Very weird sentiment for Giants fans; we're not allowed to call out organizational rot or we're fake?
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how many people on here defended Gettleman at every turn.
He never should have been hired. He fucked up badly in nearly every single off-season he has been here.
The frightening thing is the owner bought into everything that the delusional fan base did.
And the fan base buying in that way absolutely hurt the team. If the owner had more heat from the fan base to fire him he may have done it, but instead half of the fan base actually thought they were moving in the right direction.
Experiment.
The Giants the day Reese was fired, vs the Giants right now. Who wins?
That should say it all.
The day reese was fired easily. It's nearly impossible to get worse after 4 years of having top 10 picks and spending a ton of money in free agency but Gettleman has somehow pulled it off.
The mess he is leaving the next GM, ugh. Cap situation is really, really ugly. It's mind blowing that even one person thought DG deserved to stay after each of the last two seasons. Yet at least half of the board was in favor of him returning.
As Go Terps said yesterday I believe, DG is lapping Ray Handley
He may be a problem, but he's a relatively small problem.
The GM is the biggest problem with this team by far. He's the worst GM in the league and worst GM the Giants have ever had.
Own level.
And the beats I do respect are plenty critical of the organization. They’re just professionals and actually intelligent.
The hyenas are out. This is easy money. Lazy money too.
I believe they put too much weight on things that are not of utmost importance.
For example, hiring a GM who knows the organization already. All that means is John Mara feels comfortable with the guy and not that he is the best candidate.
Danny Dimes - the connection to Eli and coach Cutcliff. The fact that he has a similar demeanor to Eli. All of that in my opinion played too much of a role when deciding which QB to draft.
You think Mara dictated that they draft Jones?
Wake up, Mara.
been spot on for too long
Own level.
And the beats I do respect are plenty critical of the organization. They’re just professionals and actually intelligent.
The hyenas are out. This is easy money. Lazy money too.
What was unprofessional or unintelligent about this? I'm not following. Why are we treating this as if the NY post ran it?
Own level.
And the beats I do respect are plenty critical of the organization. They’re just professionals and actually intelligent.
The hyenas are out. This is easy money. Lazy money too.
Duggan is our best beat guy, he's always been fair. This article is spot-on and there was nothing lazy about it.
But now if the Giants hired George Young he would be inheriting an unchecked John Mara as CEO, Chris Mara as SR VP of Player Personnel and their nephew Tom McDonnell as Co Director of Player Personnel.
Which of the best and brightest rising front office NFL stars would want to walk into a situation like that? It's true GM jobs don't usually open up on good teams and there are only 32 of them in the world but the guys who are responsible for the worst team in the NFL since 2017 aren't going anywhere. They own the team.
Gettleman was hired because he was a known quantity by the Mara's and also knew what his role would be and where he would rank in the hierarchy. The Giants GM is the media face and the fall guy who takes the heat and keeps it off the Mara family who remain untouchables in the NY Sports media. I posted something about this yesterday and I'm going to drop it into this thread too since I think it's relevant.
All Jones needs is a legit RT1 and two guards and a swing tackle who can pass block (there’s tons of those available late in the summer which is the perfect time to look for bargain O line) and a healthy Saquon and Kenny G and Toney and fire Garrett and promote Freddy Kitchens (a proven winner!) and let Joe Judge pick the new GM and get an edge in the draft (after we get a DT1 with our 1st pick) and we’re right back in the hunt.
Somebody tell Dan “know it all” Duggan and anyone else in lame stream sports media with their fancy paywalls and statistical numbers that this submarine doesn’t have any windows!
Come on man, this is exactly the delusion Duggan is referring to. What in the last 5 years makes you think this year was going to be any different? This was an awful team last year, yet many allowed one good win to obscure the gaping holes. Most of those holes are still there.
As Go Terps said yesterday I believe, DG is lapping Ray Handley
I think DG has already lapped Ray Handley a number of times. For as bad as he was, Handley didn't do any long-term damage to the Giants, hell, they won 11 games the year after he was fired. DG's damage is going to take years to fix.
You think Mara dictated that they draft Jones?
I don't think he "dictated" drafting Jones, but it is part of the "Giants Way" group-think. By continually hiring from within or former Giants to run personnel, you are always going to get guys who think that way.
It's a public trust, a for profit business but privately owned. It's a monopoly. Pretty much every team is owned by egomaniac billionaires using their teams as a play toy. In the Giants case that only applies 50%.
But every organization the size of an NFL team has a culture similar to every business from 100 employees to 100,000 employees.
The Giants were started by Tim Mara in 1925. Tim had two sons Jack the oldest and Wellington. When Tim died Jack and Wellington each inherited 50% of the Giants. Jack had one son Tim J. Mara and Wellington had 11 children. Jack died just before the 1965 season and his 50% was left to Tim J. Mara. Tim J sold his 50% in 1991 to Robert Tisch who died in 2005 and left his 50% to his 3 children. Wellington died in 2055 and left his 50% to his 11 children.
The 3 Tisch owners are each billionaires from their inheritance and own Loews Corp among other holdings. Steve is the Giants chairman and Jonathon is the Giants Treasurer. They do not appear to be involved with the day to day football team and seem to enjoy being billionaire owners from a distance.
The 11 Mara owners own 50% of the Giants from their inheritance. The Giants are their family business. Their only business. The current Mara 11 are the third generation of Giants owners.
The oldest John Mara is the CEO, The 3rd oldest Chris Mara is Senior Vice President of Player Personnel. Susan Mara is the 2nd oldest and her son Tim McDonnell was promoted to Co-Director of Player Personnel in May of 2021.
Dave Gettleman is Senior Vice President and General Manager. In most NFL organizations player personnel falls under the GM who is the primary decision maker on all things on the field or the head of player personnel is the primary decision maker on all things on the field and the GM is more of an administrative/manage the cap position.
The Giants have Kevin Abrams the assistant GM that was assumed to be the person that managed the cap and reported to Gettleman but Abrams was on the Jordan Raanan podcast and said he hasn't been the primary cap person for 3 or 4 years and has two people that work for him that do most of the cap management now and that he's working on being a talent evaluator to position himself for potential GM jobs.
So let's recap the group leading the Giants player acquisition team
CEO - owner
SR VP Player Personnel - owner
SR VP GM
A GM
Co D Player Personnel - owner
Co D Player Personnel
Coaching Staff
If Gettleman is retired/fired which looks inevitable now and the Giants hire a new GM how much authority will that person have? Gettleman was an awful choice. No other NFL team would have hired him as their GM. It seems from public reports the Giants GM has a lot of influence and a loud voice in their team building strategy room but three of the other people in that room own the team so how much actual authority does the GM have? No way for anyone on the outside to know. But I think we can make a pretty educated guess.
Apparently on the post game show yesterday Bob Papa the corporate voice of the NY Giants on their home station asked how do you fix this? So back to corporate culture. The plague of nepotism and cronyism is where an NFL team is no different than any other business. The rot of "this is how we've always done it" is no different than any other business. The third generation ownership challenges are no different than any other business.
In the third generation, there are typically many more family members who would like to work in the company. The cousins have grown up in different households and may have far different styles and points of view. There may be extremes of personality and huge disparities in competency as well as in financial need. There may also be lingering feelings of competitiveness or memories of past injustices carried over from the second generation.
In "family-first" businesses, family needs are primary. Business decisions that might generate family conflict are avoided. Members of the second generation are paid equally and share in all key decisions. Family ownership is zealously guarded and nonfamily managers tend to be regarded as "the help." If the company has a board of directors, it is likely to consist of family members who gather informally, perhaps with an attorney or accountant.
At the other extreme are "business-first" family businesses, which let children who want to work in it know that they must measure up to company norms and values that are above the needs of the family. The children may be told that they can't work in the business unless they are at least as good as professional managers, and that they will be paid for the job they do rather than who they are. In a business-first company, nonfamily members have considerable power and influence. The company is likely to have a board of directors with people from outside the company on it that meets regularly in formal sessions.
It appears from the outside the Giants have operated as a "family-first" business since Ernie retired and ended the George Young corporate culture that had been eroding since Wellington stepped back before he died and and John Mara became much more involved in the day to day.
So to Bob Papa's question how do you fix this? Either John Mara has an epiphany and retires his brother along with Gettleman and asks Tim McDonnell to relinquish his position as Co-Director of Player Personnel and the three of them use their league contacts to hire a football president, a modern day George Young, and own the team instead of run the team or as fans we watch the Giants do the same things over and over again and expect different results.
I think the odds of winning Powerball are better than the odds of the Mara family stepping back and completely turning over the football operation to a new "George Young" from outside their circle of trust.
I've rooted for the Giants since I was 6 years old, I'm almost 70 now and there's been 4 great highs but they've been out numbered by way more of the deepest lows. I know most of you totally disagree with this and that's fine. This is just my way of dealing with a losing decade when I don't have many left.
Except for the 3 1/2 hours on game days when I can't help myself I'll be rooting for the Giants and the Bears to lose every game they play except when the Giants play the Bears and then I'll decide who I want to win based on draft position. I get that most of you can't think that way. But losing and disasters have been the only thing that creates change with Mara family. The bigger the disaster the greater the change. It took the fumble for George Young to get hired. Lose them all. Bring on the change.
The Challenge of the Third Generation - ( New Window )
Own level.
And the beats I do respect are plenty critical of the organization. They’re just professionals and actually intelligent.
The hyenas are out. This is easy money. Lazy money too.
Instead of arguing the points Duggan made, just attack his character. Proof that you have no counter-argument. Yes, the hyenas are out, and for good reason.
He conducted a "GM search", which consisted of an ESPN analyst and hired a guy who couldn't get an interview elsewhere let alone a GM job.
I am hopeful he does the right thing this offseason but we shall see.
He conducted a "GM search", which consisted of an ESPN analyst and hired a guy who couldn't get an interview elsewhere let alone a GM job.
I am hopeful he does the right thing this offseason but we shall see.
Is he though? Wellington certainly was, but that was in the old NFL, when the old guard (Mara's, Rooney's, etc) held sway. I don't think that is the case any longer with the nouveau billionaires. They look up to Jerry Jones more than John Mara.
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Whatever you may think of him, is one of the most powerful and well connected owners in the NFL. I know its hard, but the fact that he hasn't been able to even target let alone hire one of the bright young minds in the league is baffling. McVay, Shanahan, Staley, Vrabel and Mcdermott just to name a few coaches.
He conducted a "GM search", which consisted of an ESPN analyst and hired a guy who couldn't get an interview elsewhere let alone a GM job.
I am hopeful he does the right thing this offseason but we shall see.
Is he though? Wellington certainly was, but that was in the old NFL, when the old guard (Mara's, Rooney's, etc) held sway. I don't think that is the case any longer with the nouveau billionaires. They look up to Jerry Jones more than John Mara.
Yeah I'm having trouble with the notion that John Mara is "well-connected". Certainly he carries some sway with the league office when it comes to the CBA negotiations and other matters on that level, but who does he actually know "on the ground" in today's NFL? He went to Ernie Accorsi to hire the GM, and Bill Belichick to help hire the coach, both of whom had offices in Giants Stadium before Mara's 40th birthday.
It's a public trust, a for profit business but privately owned. It's a monopoly. Pretty much every team is owned by egomaniac billionaires using their teams as a play toy. In the Giants case that only applies 50%.
But every organization the size of an NFL team has a culture similar to every business from 100 employees to 100,000 employees.
The Giants were started by Tim Mara in 1925. Tim had two sons Jack the oldest and Wellington. When Tim died Jack and Wellington each inherited 50% of the Giants. Jack had one son Tim J. Mara and Wellington had 11 children. Jack died just before the 1965 season and his 50% was left to Tim J. Mara. Tim J sold his 50% in 1991 to Robert Tisch who died in 2005 and left his 50% to his 3 children. Wellington died in 2055 and left his 50% to his 11 children.
The 3 Tisch owners are each billionaires from their inheritance and own Loews Corp among other holdings. Steve is the Giants chairman and Jonathon is the Giants Treasurer. They do not appear to be involved with the day to day football team and seem to enjoy being billionaire owners from a distance.
The 11 Mara owners own 50% of the Giants from their inheritance. The Giants are their family business. Their only business. The current Mara 11 are the third generation of Giants owners.
The oldest John Mara is the CEO, The 3rd oldest Chris Mara is Senior Vice President of Player Personnel. Susan Mara is the 2nd oldest and her son Tim McDonnell was promoted to Co-Director of Player Personnel in May of 2021.
Dave Gettleman is Senior Vice President and General Manager. In most NFL organizations player personnel falls under the GM who is the primary decision maker on all things on the field or the head of player personnel is the primary decision maker on all things on the field and the GM is more of an administrative/manage the cap position.
The Giants have Kevin Abrams the assistant GM that was assumed to be the person that managed the cap and reported to Gettleman but Abrams was on the Jordan Raanan podcast and said he hasn't been the primary cap person for 3 or 4 years and has two people that work for him that do most of the cap management now and that he's working on being a talent evaluator to position himself for potential GM jobs.
So let's recap the group leading the Giants player acquisition team
CEO - owner
SR VP Player Personnel - owner
SR VP GM
A GM
Co D Player Personnel - owner
Co D Player Personnel
Coaching Staff
If Gettleman is retired/fired which looks inevitable now and the Giants hire a new GM how much authority will that person have? Gettleman was an awful choice. No other NFL team would have hired him as their GM. It seems from public reports the Giants GM has a lot of influence and a loud voice in their team building strategy room but three of the other people in that room own the team so how much actual authority does the GM have? No way for anyone on the outside to know. But I think we can make a pretty educated guess.
Apparently on the post game show yesterday Bob Papa the corporate voice of the NY Giants on their home station asked how do you fix this? So back to corporate culture. The plague of nepotism and cronyism is where an NFL team is no different than any other business. The rot of "this is how we've always done it" is no different than any other business. The third generation ownership challenges are no different than any other business.
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One of the most difficult transitions that a family business must make is from the second to the third generation. It's not just that the third generation, accustomed to wealth and privilege, is likely to spend the business into bankruptcy. They also have a very difficult time getting their acts together and providing the leadership necessary for the business to survive.
In the third generation, there are typically many more family members who would like to work in the company. The cousins have grown up in different households and may have far different styles and points of view. There may be extremes of personality and huge disparities in competency as well as in financial need. There may also be lingering feelings of competitiveness or memories of past injustices carried over from the second generation.
In "family-first" businesses, family needs are primary. Business decisions that might generate family conflict are avoided. Members of the second generation are paid equally and share in all key decisions. Family ownership is zealously guarded and nonfamily managers tend to be regarded as "the help." If the company has a board of directors, it is likely to consist of family members who gather informally, perhaps with an attorney or accountant.
At the other extreme are "business-first" family businesses, which let children who want to work in it know that they must measure up to company norms and values that are above the needs of the family. The children may be told that they can't work in the business unless they are at least as good as professional managers, and that they will be paid for the job they do rather than who they are. In a business-first company, nonfamily members have considerable power and influence. The company is likely to have a board of directors with people from outside the company on it that meets regularly in formal sessions.
It appears from the outside the Giants have operated as a "family-first" business since Ernie retired and ended the George Young corporate culture that had been eroding since Wellington stepped back before he died and and John Mara became much more involved in the day to day.
So to Bob Papa's question how do you fix this? Either John Mara has an epiphany and retires his brother along with Gettleman and asks Tim McDonnell to relinquish his position as Co-Director of Player Personnel and the three of them use their league contacts to hire a football president, a modern day George Young, and own the team instead of run the team or as fans we watch the Giants do the same things over and over again and expect different results.
I think the odds of winning Powerball are better than the odds of the Mara family stepping back and completely turning over the football operation to a new "George Young" from outside their circle of trust.
I've rooted for the Giants since I was 6 years old, I'm almost 70 now and there's been 4 great highs but they've been out numbered by way more of the deepest lows. I know most of you totally disagree with this and that's fine. This is just my way of dealing with a losing decade when I don't have many left.
Except for the 3 1/2 hours on game days when I can't help myself I'll be rooting for the Giants and the Bears to lose every game they play except when the Giants play the Bears and then I'll decide who I want to win based on draft position. I get that most of you can't think that way. But losing and disasters have been the only thing that creates change with Mara family. The bigger the disaster the greater the change. It took the fumble for George Young to get hired. Lose them all. Bring on the change. The Challenge of the Third Generation - ( New Window )
Mother of God. Thanks? Well said...and basically gives me no hope.
I've had a lot of those reactions in recent years. Hiring Gettleman, keeping Eli when he was clearly done, drafting Saquon, drafting Jones, signing a washed Golden Tate, overpaying Solder, trading for Leonard Williams and being forced to double down on a big contract - just to name a few. Abrams or Pettit being promoted would top them all.
I think there's no chance either of them tale over.
It's so true. I mean, you really can almost write the script on this. And you can almost see Mara down in the equipment room shining up the baton so he can pass it onto Abrams.
If Mara goes that direction, I think a very real fan revolt will occur. At least I hope...
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when Abrams is anointed GM and Petit becomes assistant GM.
It's so true. I mean, you really can almost write the script on this. And you can almost see Mara down in the equipment room shining up the baton so he can pass it onto Abrams.
If Mara goes that direction, I think a very real fan revolt will occur. At least I hope...
I am out if that happens. And I suspect I ain't alone.
That would probably be the most arrogant thing Mara could do. Just quadrupling down on the "Giants Way"...
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when Abrams is anointed GM and Petit becomes assistant GM.
I think there's no chance either of them tale over.
They're not dying to bring in an outsider and clean house. I don't root for the Giants to lose but for that to happen they'll need to win at most 4 games.
I think they'll keep Judge for another year largely for optics, you need to start giving guys 3 years or no one of noteworthiness will want the job (hell they'll probably not want it regardless). It also gives Mara the excuse to partner judge with someone "he knows or continuity".
If you want large scale changes I still think the team needs to be REALLY bad the rest of the way. I'd say 5-7 wins keeps Judge and if they keep him they'll promote within.
How could Mara even attempt to sell that though? Gettleman is awful but the rest of the front office deserves blame. How could they possibly be rewarded and promoted and ask the fans to be excited for that?
It would be the equivalent of the Knicks promoting Steve Mills assistant...
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when Abrams is anointed GM and Petit becomes assistant GM.
I think there's no chance either of them tale over.
I think you haven't been paying attention if you think there is NO chance. I would argue that Mara will do everything to convince himself and others that it is thee right way to go. Let's hope there is someone else to talk sense into him.
All Jones needs is a legit RT1 and two guards and a swing tackle who can pass block (there’s tons of those available late in the summer which is the perfect time to look for bargain O line) and a healthy Saquon and Kenny G and Toney and fire Garrett and promote Freddy Kitchens (a proven winner!) and let Joe Judge pick the new GM and get an edge in the draft (after we get a DT1 with our 1st pick) and we’re right back in the hunt.
Somebody tell Dan “know it all” Duggan and anyone else in lame stream sports media with their fancy paywalls and statistical numbers that this submarine doesn’t have any windows!
well accept the fact that we have stunk for nearly a decade. so what again is your angle?
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Half this team is injured and you guys think Jones is gonna be able to play winning football? What did Mahomes do when he was in the Super Bowl? (His second one. The one where all the other guys were injured and he got there anyway because he didn’t have a good line and no quarterback can win without a great offensive line). Huh? Right. I didn’t think so.
All Jones needs is a legit RT1 and two guards and a swing tackle who can pass block (there’s tons of those available late in the summer which is the perfect time to look for bargain O line) and a healthy Saquon and Kenny G and Toney and fire Garrett and promote Freddy Kitchens (a proven winner!) and let Joe Judge pick the new GM and get an edge in the draft (after we get a DT1 with our 1st pick) and we’re right back in the hunt.
Somebody tell Dan “know it all” Duggan and anyone else in lame stream sports media with their fancy paywalls and statistical numbers that this submarine doesn’t have any windows!
well accept the fact that we have stunk for nearly a decade. so what again is your angle?
Bruh, the Freddy Kitchens thing didn’t give me away? I’m not as good as I used to be I guess.
Sarcasm - ( New Window )