Takeaways and Reactions from Giants COO John Mara’s Year-End Press Conference

Giants COO John Mara spoke to the media for about 25 minutes on a few different topics Wednesday. Here are a few additional topics he addressed and some takeaways on them.

New York Giants chief operating officer John Mara covered many of the big-picture questions, none more significant than the return of general manager Dave Gettleman and why he and business partner Steve Tisch opted to stick with the soon-to-be 70-year-old general manager even after a third straight season in which the Giants finished under .500.

“I do see progress in the building here. I think that the quality of people that we have in the locker room has improved a great deal," Mara said.

"I think we have some great leaders down there. I think we’ve established a basis for a foundation that can have continued success going forward. I’m excited about the future of this team.”

With that said, Mara isn’t happy with the 6-10 record the team recorded in 2020, but his confidence in the team having the right pieces and philosophies in place has him feeling pretty bullish about next season.

Here are a few more takeaways on what Mara had to say in his media session.

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Patience Please!

Mara has seen the angry letters from his paying customers about the state of the team and knows that asking for their continued patience is asking a lot. But that’s precisely what he did when asked how much longer he anticipated the team turning into a winning club.

After reiterating that the team has the right people in place to turn things around, Mara added, “We have some opportunities now in the draft and in free agency to improve the roster even further. I think if our fans continue to stay patient with us, that they will see a winning team pretty soon.”

That's asking a lot, especially since the team hasn't won a playoff game since 2011. Mara realizes this and realizes that it has to be about the results at the end of the day.

But again, he couldn't say enough good things about Judge and how well the young head coach has not only collaborated with Gettleman but with others in the building. Mara also couldn't say enough good things about the foundation Judge laid down.

While all that appears to, at least for now, be built on sand, Mara hopes that his faith will be rewarded.

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That Eerie Feeling

Not only did Mara and other NFL owners lose significant coin by not being permitted to host fans in the stadium, but he also missed the energy fans bring to games.

“It was a very strange feeling, and not a good one and not one I hope to repeat. Just coming into our stadium and not feeling any energy from the crowd I think was pretty difficult,” he said.

“Hopefully this is a one year thing and we’ll be able to have fans back in the building next season. I don’t think there’s any guarantee about that, but we’re optimistic that particularly as these vaccines get rolled out, people will start to feel comfortable about coming back into the building again. That would be a big boost to our players.”

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There Never Was a "Play Eli Manning" Ultimatum

There had been a rumor floating around for years that team ownership mandated then-head coach Pat Shurmur to play quarterback Eli Manning, who delivered two Super Bowl championships to the organization. Mara, however, denied that rumor, calling it “absolute nonsense.”

Manning's last full season was in 2018. At the time, the Giants didn't have his successor on the roster, leaving Shurmur with no choice but to stick with manning. But in 2019, when the team drafted Daniel Jones, that changed.

Although Manning started the season, Shurmur didn't hesitate to give Manning a quick hook when the team started 0-2.

Saddling a head coach with an ultimatum of any kind is counterproductive and not the Mara or Tisch way of doing things, so it's unclear how this rumor got started.

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Dave Gettleman is safe for now.

If you're disappointed that Gettleman is returning for a fourth season, the only consolation you might want to take is that Mara did say that everything is "year-to-year in this business," including, presumably, the general manager’s status.

“I’m not going to speculate on that,” he said when asked how much longer he’d be patient with Gettleman.

“I think his batting average certainly improved this year. Our personnel decisions I thought were very sound this year and gives us some reason for optimism going forward. I’m not going to get into contractual situations with either staff people or players at this point.”

Mara also refused to shed light on any succession plans for the general manager spot. To do so would serve no purpose as things could change between now and then.