Mara hopes players engage with political leaders on reform
As one of the NFL’s more moderate owners, John Mara has continuously supported any player’s right to peacefully protest.
“What makes it easy for me to do that is when I see how much work they’re doing in the community and how important what is going on in this country right now is to each of them,” the Giants’ team president said Thursday. “They back it up with actions, not just words.”
The country’s widespread issues with racial injustice, system oppression and police brutality are largely why Mara considers this the most difficult offseason he’s seen in 60 years with the Giants.
Mara said one of the most memorable team meetings he’s ever been involved in took place over Zoom soon after the George Floyd murder in May.
“I listened to the players talk about their own experiences growing up dealing with law enforcement and whatnot,” Mara said. “To see the raw emotion that came out of them, guys got very, very emotional talking about it, it was something that really was an eye-opener for me. Then to see how they reacted since then and all of the work they’ve put in in their communities and in our local community here has been really gratifying. It makes it easy to want to support them going forward.”
Mara said the entire league hopes to spark change by getting players in front of local political leaders such as governors, mayors and police chiefs to discuss what steps are being taken.
Asked about the possibility of players protesting games this fall, as NBA and WNBA teams did last week, Mara insisted he didn’t want to delve into hypotheticals.
“I think the important thing for us, and (head coach) Joe (Judge) has been great at this, is that we continue to communicate with the players,” Mara said. “We continue to listen to them, and we try to get on the same page in terms of what message we want to be sending to our fans and to the community at large.”
Mara expects the front office and coaches to discuss with players sometime this week about protesting during the anthem.
“My preference is everybody stand, but if you decide that in your conscience you think taking a knee is the right thing to do, I’m going to support your right to do that because I believe in the First Amendment and I believe in the right of people, especially players, to take a knee in silent protest if that’s what they want to do,” Mara said. positive tests – four players – out of 58,621 administered.
“Given the way the protocols have worked so far and given the very low rate of positive tests, I think we have a good chance of playing a full season,” Mara said. “Obviously, there are going to be some setbacks during the season that we’ll have to deal with. But I think we have the protocols and the process in place that we’ll be able to deal with it. If it means postponing a game here or there or making it up, I think we’ll be able to do that. Time will tell. But right now, I think the players and the staff have done a great job of being responsible.”