Co-owner John Mara met with the Giants’ player leaders a few weeks ago to discuss his cancer battle and said something that resonated.
“That best treatment possible is wins,” wide receiver Darius Slayton recounted Mara telling the group.
So it was obvious who deserved the game ball from Sunday’s 34-17 season finale win over the Dallas Cowboys: the leader of this organization, who was here in person at MetLife Stadium to support the team.
“He’s been fighting a battle recently that nobody should have to go through,” Slayton said. “To see him have a chance to smile, get the game ball and whoop up on the Cowboys, I was happy for him.”
Interim head coach Mike Kafka said that Mara “brings that energy to the locker room” despite what he’s battling personally. The Giants snapped a nine-game losing streak to the Cowboys and won consecutive games for the first time since 2023, so they delivered wins to their ailing co-owner at a key time despite the season’s 4-13 finish.
“He was there today. We presented him with the game ball,” Kafka said of Mara. “Toughness and resiliency, he’s the poster child for that. He continues to lead our organization. I’m very proud and fortunate to work for a man like that.”
Quarterback Jaxson Dart said it was “sweet” to see Mara honored after the victory.
“It was a good moment for us as a team and for him to be the leader of our organization,” Dart said. “He’s going through a lot. So the fact that he shows up for us, still comes to the facility to work and he loves ball, he loves this organization … he gives everything that he has.
“From my perspective, everybody has the utmost respect for him and is rooting for him and praying for him,” he added. “He’s a special individual, and to continue to support us while going through probably the hardest time of his life says a lot.”
The win dropped the Giants lower in April’s NFL Draft order, as far as No. 6 overall pending the results of the late afternoon games. But this day was about more than football and the future.
It was about the present and Mara, first and foremost. And the Giants did it right.
