Ever since being founded in 1925, the New York Football Giants have been a family-run business that has leaned on different family members to fill specific roles.
Almost 100 years later, that hasn't changed, as in addition to John Mara, one-half of the team's ownership, the team also employs his brother Chris and his nephew Tim McDonnell in prominent personnel roles. And that arrangement has created a growing level of concern outside the building regarding their contributions to the current state of the franchise.
John Mara, however, clarified that while his brother and nephew are trusted voices in the organization when it comes to payer personnel decisions, that boils down to two voices who are not of the Mara bloodline: the head coach and the general manager.
"The reality is my brother spends most of his time doing the evaluation of college players," Mara said Wednesday during a 20-minute video conference call with reporters. "His grades go into our system, and he participates in the draft.
"All personnel decisions in this building--And this has always been the case--have been made by the general manager and the head coach," Mara added. "When they agree on a personnel decision, they come to me with it. And as long as they're both in agreement, I okay it. The only time I would possibly not do that is if there was an off-the-field conduct issue."
Mara further defended his brother and nephew by noting that both are respected voices in the building.
"Chris is a very skilled evaluator, but he does not have any authority here other than the fact that I will go to him on occasion and ask him about players," Mara said.
"Tim is probably the most respected guy we have in this building. Coaches, front office staff and the general manager go to him and ask his advice on players because he is a good evaluator."
Mara insisted that the voices of his brother and nephew do not carry more sway than some of the other voices in the building.
"That has not been my experience here," Mara said. "I listen to them, but there are many voices in this building. The only two voices at the end of the day that matter are the head coach and the general manager. They make the final determination.
"They listen to them because they recognize their evaluation skills, but there are other people in the building who have evaluation skills and who have voices as well. But they do not have undue influence on the final decisions that are made here; they absolutely do not."
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