Wellington Mara

Wellington Mara

Wellington and wife Ann Mara in 1954
Date of birth	(1916-08-14)August 14, 1916
Place of birth	Rochester, New York
Date of death	October 25, 2005(2005-10-25) (aged 89)
Place of death	Rye, New York
Career information
College	Fordham
Career history
As owner/administrator
1937–2005	New York Giants
Pro Football Hall of Fame, 1997
Military career
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	U.S. Navy
Years of service	1943–1946
Rank	Lt. Commander
Battles/wars	World War II

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, and one of the most influential and iconic figures in the history of the NFL. He was the younger son of Tim Mara, who founded the Giants in 1925. Wellington was a ball boy for that year.

Mara was born in Rochester, New York, the son of Elizabeth "Lizette" (née Barclay), a homemaker, and Timothy James Mara. He was of Irish descent. Mara was an alumnus of Loyola School and Fordham University, both New York City Jesuit schools.

In 1930, Timothy James Mara split his ownership interests between Wellington (then 14) and his older brother Jack. Soon after graduating from Fordham University, Wellington moved into the Giants' front office as team treasurer and assistant to his father. He became the team's secretary in 1940. After fighting in World War II, he returned to the Giants as team vice president, a post he retained after his father died in 1958. When Jack, who had been president since 1941, died in 1965, Wellington became team president.

For his first 37 years in the organization, he handled the franchise's football decisions. However, his growing involvement in league affairs led him to turn over most of his day-to-day responsibilities to operations director Andy Robustelli in 1974. He didn't relinquish full control over the football side of the operation until 1979, when George Young became the team's first general manager.

The Giants were hamstrung for several years by a strained relationship between Wellington and his nephew, Tim J. Mara, who inherited Jack's stake in the team upon Jack's death. By the 1970s, they almost never spoke to each other, and a partition had to be built in the owners' box. The Maras continued to retain close control over the Giants' day-to-day operations long after most other owners had delegated such authority. Only the fallout from the 1978 Miracle at the Meadowlands, in which a certain Giant win turned into a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on a last-second fumble, convinced the Maras of the need to modernize--among other things, by hiring Young and giving him full control over football operations.