John K. Mara ( ; born December 1, 1954) is the president,

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

, and co-owner of the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

Early life

Mara was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and grew up in White Plains, a nearby suburb. He is the eldest son of

Ann Mara Ann Mara (June 18, 1929 – February 1, 2015) was an American businesswoman, socialite, philanthropist, the wife and later widow of Wellington Mara, and the matriarch of the Mara family, which includes New York Giants CEO John Mara, and her gr ...

(née Mumm) and late Giants owner

Wellington Mara Wellington Timothy Mara (August 14, 1916 – October 25, 2005) was the co-owner of the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL) from 1959 until his death. He was the younger son of Tim Mara, who founded the Giants in 1925. Wellingto ...

. Mara graduated from Iona Prep High School in New Rochelle, graduated from

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

in 1976 with a Bachelor of Science in marketing, graduating with Cum Laude honors. Mara earned his

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

degree from

Fordham University School of Law Fordham University School of Law is the law school of Fordham University. The school is located in Manhattan in New York City, and is one of eight ABA-approved law schools in that city. In 2013, 91% of the law school's first-time test take ...

in 1979. He specialized in labor and employment law and litigation at two Manhattan firms prior to joining the Giants.

Professional career

New York Giants

Mara joined the Giants in 1991, serving as General Counsel and later as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer until his father's death in 2005, when he assumed the team's presidency. Mara and Tisch were at the forefront of the planning and negotiations for

MetLife Stadium MetLife Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, 5 mi (8 km) west of New York City. Opened in 2010 to replace Giants Stadium, it serves as the home for the New York Giants an ...

, which opened in 2010. Under John Mara and

Steve Tisch Steven Elliot Tisch (born February 14, 1949) is an American film producer and businessman. He is the chairman, co-owner and executive vice president of the New York Giants, the NFL team co-owned by his family, as well as a film and television pr ...

, the Giants have won

Super Bowl XLII Super Bowl XLII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

and

Super Bowl XLVI Super Bowl XLVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

Criticism

Despite winning two

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

s during his tenure as owner, Mara was criticized in the late 2010s and early 2020s for being too loyal to longtime Giants employees. In September 2021, he was booed by fans while speaking at

Eli Manning Elisha Nelson Manning (born January 3, 1981) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons with the New York Giants. A member of the Manning football dynasty, he is the youngest son o ...

's number retirement and Ring of Honor ceremony, and didn't address the crowd that November when the team retired

Michael Strahan Michael T. Strahan ( ; born November 21, 1971) is an American television personality, journalist, and former professional football player. He played his entire 15-year professional career as a defensive end for the New York Giants of the Nation ...

's number. Mara was also criticized for keeping

Dave Gettleman David Alan Gettleman (born February 21, 1951) is a former American football executive in the National Football League (NFL) who was the senior vice president and General manager (American football), general manager for the New York Giants from 2 ...

throughout his four-year tenure, and instead allowing Gettleman to retire at the end of the 2021 season.

Additional work in NFL

Mara has served for 15 years on the

NFL Competition Committee The National Football League Competition Committee was created in 1968 following the announcement of the AFL-NFL merger. It replaced the NFL Rules Committee, which was formed in 1932 when the NFL adopted its own rulebook. Prior to 1932 the NFL us ...

, which suggests rule and policy changes to all NFL teams. He is the current chairman of the NFL Management Council Executive Committee. He played an important role in the negotiations for the 2011 and 2020

collective bargaining agreement A collective agreement, collective labour agreement (CLA) or collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is a written contract negotiated through collective bargaining for employees by one or more trade unions with the management of a company (or with an ...

s. Mara, alongside Steve Tisch and

Woody Johnson Robert Wood Johnson IV (born April 12, 1947) is an American businessman who was United States ambassador to the United Kingdom from 2017 to 2021. He is a great-grandson of Robert Wood Johnson I, and a billionaire heir to the Johnson & Johnson pha ...

, brought

Super Bowl XLVIII Super Bowl XLVIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos and National Football Conference (NFC) champion Seattle Seahawks to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for th ...

in February 2014.

Personal life

Mara is the third generation of his family to own the Giants. His grandfather, Tim, founded the team in 1925. Tim's sons, Wellington and

Jack Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas, USA People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, ...

(John's uncle), inherited the team in 1959, when Tim died. Among NFL franchises, only the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

(controlled by the Halas-McCaskey family since 1921) have been in the hands of one family longer than the Giants. He and his wife, Denise W. Mara, have one son, John Jr., and four daughters, Lauren, Courtney, Christine, and Erin. He is also an uncle to actresses

Rooney Mara Patricia Rooney Mara ( ; born April 17, 1985) is an American actress. She has received various accolades, including a Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, ...

and

Kate Mara Kate Rooney Mara ( ; born February 27, 1983) is an American actress. She is known for work in television, playing reporter Zoe Barnes in the Netflix political drama ''House of Cards'' (2013–2014; 2016), computer analyst Shari Rothenberg in t ...

. Mara serves on the Board of Directors o
Saint Vincent's Hospital
in Harrison, New York and Boys Hope Girls Hope of New York.

References

External links

New York Giants bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mara, John 1954 births Boston College alumni Fordham University School of Law alumni Living people Iona Preparatory School alumni Mara family National Football League team presidents New York Giants executives New York Giants owners People from White Plains, New York