The Duke steps out ...Was there a player, coach, or football fan who felt no pain over the passing of the noblest knight of the NFL NFL abbr. National Football League NFL (US) n abbr (= National Football League) → Fußball-Nationalliga round table? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Wellington Mara Wellington Timothy Mara (August 14 1916 – October 25, 2005) was the co-owner of the NFL's New York Giants from 1959 until his death and one of the most influential and important figures in the history of the National Football League. had been a unique individual. A great gentleman. Generous. Intellectual. A loving family man. And, just for a little topping on the halo, enormously wealthy. He had inherited all the good things in life from his father, Tim, a race track bookie, but still a man who knew what goodness was all about. He left all of his riches, including the New York Giants
Take his son, Wellington. A strange choice of name from a bookie. The only Wellington that anyone had ever heard of was the Duke of Wellington. And so Wellington Mara became the "Duke" of the Giants. It was as the "Duke" that he first caught our eye. The Giants' franchise was still in its infancy and working hard at promoting pro football among the high school kids in the big city. Probably its major promotion was cut-rate tickets to the Giants games. High school kids could get a bleacher bleach·er n. 1. One that bleaches or is used in bleaching. 2. An often unroofed outdoor grandstand for seating spectators. Often used in the plural. seat by showing up with their school General Organization card and 25 cents. The "Duke" and two assistants took over a makeshift ticket booth in a corner of the centerfield n. 1. (Baseball) the part of the outfield directly ahead of the catcher. Noun 1. centerfield - the piece of ground in the outfield directly ahead of the catcher; "he hit the ball to deep center" center field, center bleachers. And that's how we got to see our first pro football game: Giants vs Redskins Redskins can refer to:
Our little group was made up of two high school seniors with genuine G.O. cards and two college freshmen, (including us) with borrowed credentials. After a short wait on line, we reached "The Duke" (attired in a sweat suit with his name embroidered em·broi·der v. em·broi·dered, em·broi·der·ing, em·broi·ders v.tr. 1. To ornament with needlework: embroider a pillow cover. 2. on the left side of his chest). We handed him our borrowed. G.O. card and he carefully inspected it. He then looked up at us. "Is this really your card?," he asked. "Isn't my name and the name of my school printed on it?," we replied. "I see names," he said, "but I'm not sure they belong to you." "Why don't you believe it?," we said. "You don't look like a high school kid to me." "What do I look like to you?" He said, "A college kid who by this time should be fishing into his pocket for a quarter." He was now laughing. "O.K. kid, you talked me into it. Go on in." It was the first and only time we ever saw Wellington Mara. He looked sharp and handled himself well. You could see that he was something special, and he remained that way for the rest of his life. His eldest son, John, explained it perfectly at Wellington Mara's funeral last December. "I have never known a person who was as patient, intelligent, and caring as my father. As much as he hurt after a defeat or any other kind of setback, he never showed it. He always knew how you were expected to act, win or lose." We might sum it up this way: A Duke at 20. A Prince at 30. A Giant forever. |
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