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 Mara c. 1930 | |
| Personal information | |
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| Born | (1887-07-29)July 29, 1887 New York,New York, U.S. |
| Died | February 16, 1959(1959-02-16) (aged 71) New York, New York, U.S. |
| Career history | |
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| Awards and highlights | |
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Timothy James Mara (July 29, 1887 – February 16, 1959) was an American professionalfootball executive. He was the founding owner of theNew York Giants of theNational Football League (NFL).[1] The Giants, under Mara, wonNFL championships in 1927, 1934, 1938, and 1956 and divisional titles in 1933, 1935, 1939, 1941, 1944, 1946, and 1958.
Mara, the son of Elizabeth (née Harris) and John Mara, a policeman, of Irish descent, was born into poverty onNew York City'sLower East Side. At the age of 13, he quit school in order to find work to support his mother. His first job was as an usher in a theater.[2] He then worked as a newsboy selling newspapers on the streets. This job brought him into contact with many of New York'sbookmakers (or bookies). He soon became a runner for the bookies, earning five percent of the bets he collected and receiving tips from winners when he delivered their cash. By age 18, he was an established bookmaker himself.[citation needed]
In 1925, the NFL was in need of a franchise in a large city that could be used to showcase the league.NFL PresidentJoseph Carr traveled to New York to offerboxing promoterBilly Gibson a franchise. Gibson had owned theNew York Brickley Giants, the NFL's last attempt to put a team in New York. While Gibson turned the offer down, he referred Carr to his friend Tim Mara. While Mara did not know much about football, Mara's friend,Dr. Harry March, did. March, a former physician for theCanton Bulldogs of the pre-NFL "Ohio League" and the future author of the first professional football history bookPro Football: Its Ups and Downs, soon became the club's first secretary.
This backing led Mara to purchase the NFL franchise for New York at a cost of$500–about $7,426.99 in 2020.[3] Mara and March even signedJim Thorpe to play several half games in order to boost attendance. However many of the New York sports fans still took tocollege football and stayed away from the pro sport. During the Giants' first season, attendance was so poor that Mara lost over $40,000. To tap into New York's college football fans, Mara tried to sign ex-college football superstarRed Grange only to find that he already was a member of theChicago Bears. However, still looking for a way to cash in on Grange's popularity, Mara scheduled a game against the Bears to be played at thePolo Grounds. The gate receipts totaled $143,000 for that one game against Grange and the Bears, and Mara recovered all of his losses for the 1925 season.
In 1926, Grange and his manager,C. C. Pyle, formed thefirst American Football League with a franchise in New York,the Yankees, to compete with the Giants. At the same time, Giants coachBob Folwell and startackleCentury Milstead, left to join the AFL'sPhiladelphia Quakers. This led Mara to increase the salaries of all his players by $50 a game to prevent them from leaving the Giants, too. He also signed many players to full-season contracts. Mara suffered $60,000 in financial losses that season. However all but four of the AFL franchises finished the 1926 season. Mara then challenged the AFL championPhiladelphia Quakers to a game and they accepted. In the first inter-league post-season confrontation, the seventh-place Giants defeated the AFL's champion, 31–0. The AFL folded soon thereafter.
By now, Mara was now willing to admit the Yankees into the NFL, as the only survivor of the defunct AFL. He even allowed the team to play its home games atYankee Stadium. However, Mara was able to dictate the Yankees' schedule. When the Giants were in the Polo Grounds, the Yankees were to be on the road.
The next year, the Giants went 11-1-1 and won theirfirst NFL championship. At the end of the 1928 season, Pyle turned his Yankees' franchise over to Mara. In 1929,Dan Blaine, the owner of theStaten Island Stapletons, applied for an NFL franchise. However, he first needed permission from Mara to set up his franchise, becauseStaten Island was within Mara's exclusive territory. But Mara actually had an extra franchise since the Yankees folded after the 1928 season, so the franchise again went back to Mara and he passed those franchise's rights on to Staten Island.
In 1929, Mara was looking for a player who might approach Grange in fan appeal. He sawBenny Friedman of theDetroit Wolverines as the best option available. When he couldn't make a deal for Friedman, Mara simply bought the entire Detroit franchise for $10,000. For the next few years Mara had ultimate ownership of three NFL franchises; however, he never interfered with the management of any of the teams that operated under his leases.
During theGreat Depression in 1930, New York MayorJimmy Walker approached Mara about playing a charity exhibition game, which he quickly agreed to do. The Giants defeated theNotre Dame All-Stars, which included the legendaryFour Horsemen. The Giants easily outscored Notre Dame, 21–0. As a result of the game, Mara and the Giants raised $115,153 for the New York City Unemployment Fund.
In 1936 and 1937, Mara successfully battled for New York's pro football market against theBrooklyn Tigers and theNew York Yankees of thesecond American Football League. He also successfully outlasted theNew York Yankees of thethird American Football League.[citation needed]
However, from 1946 to 1949, Mara engaged in an all-out war with theAll-America Football Conference. Mara and the Giants were faced with two AAFC opponents in the New York City area, theNew York Yankees and theBrooklyn Dodgers. Again Mara fought hard for New York's pro football fanbase and eventually won. When the two leagues partially merged after the 1949 season, Mara demanded and got the best players from the combined New York-Brooklyn franchise that had operated in 1949.[citation needed]
Mara died in 1959 at the age of 71. His vast contributions to the NFL were recognized with his 1963 election to the charter class of 17 members in thePro Football Hall of Fame.[4][5]
Mara left the Giants to his sons,Jack andWellington Mara, and each inherited a 50% stake. Wellington is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame alongside his father. His grandson through Jack,Timothy J. Mara was later part-owner of the Giants, and his other grandsonJohn Mara, a son of Wellington, is currently the Giants' president and part owner. Only theChicago Bears (owned by theHalas-McCaskey family since 1921) have been in the hands of one family longer than the Giants. In 1991,Timothy J. Mara, representing his mother and his sister, sold their half-interest in the team.[6]
Tim's great-granddaughtersRooney andKate Mara are actresses.[7]
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