Good morning, Giants fans. I have one main story to report to you this morning, and it's an interesting one. John Mara has not escaped jury duty. That's right, the Giants' owner and CEO is the third alternate on a drug case, and he couldn't talk the judge out of letting him go back to work instead of sitting on a case that may extend to or beyond the NFL draft at the end of April.
This is interesting for a few reasons, one of which I believe is very telling. First of all, it is interesting that the judge cited Mara's law degree as being a reason to keep him on board:
The judge mentioned that his wife is head of the Fordham Corporate Law Center and that she had spoken "very highly" of Mara's work for the school. "And she wouldn't want me to excuse you under any set of circumstances," Rakoff said.
Really? The judge's wife has that kind of pull? Anyway, what Mara says about possible negotitations with the players' union and how he is an integral part of that makes me wonder:
"My only other issue with that is we're in a lockout situation right now, which may or may not end at some point in time," he said. "I'm one of the lead negotiators for the owners' side, so if for some reason negotiations start again, that causes — that causes me an issue."
The judge told Mara he would reconsider if there was an "emergency" but would talks re-opening be an emergency? Yes, the NFL is just a game; but it's also big business, and Mara is indeed a leader among NFL owners. I thought it was extremely interesting, however, that he even brought that up. Did he do so as a "Hail Mary," as the article suggests? Or are there real plans in place to negotiate in the next couple of weeks? I guess we'll find out. But for now, Mara has to spend time in a courtroom, where, as an alternate, he may not even get to sit on the jury at all.
Matt Williamson of ESPN.com broke down the Giants' linebacker position on Tuesday. As you might expect, he points this out as an area of weakness. And after reading it, yes, I long for the days of LT and Harry Carson and Carl Banks and Pepper Johnson. But also, I leave you all with this burning question--do we have any idea who Clint Sintim is, or, more importantly, what he can do on the football field?