John Mara Talks Beckham, Super Bowl, More

The New York Giants will gather on Thursday to being their 2017 season, their annual quest to put a fifth Super Bowl trophy in the case at the team’s headquarters. As the season begins, co-owner John Mara sat for a one-on-one interview with Steve Serby of the New York Post. The first 13 questions, of course, dealt with Odell Beckham Jr., but the wide-ranging interview hit on a variety of topics, including Mara telling Serby “it’s time for us to win another” Super Bowl.”

Here are a few snippets.

On why he wants Beckham to be a Giant for life ...

“Listen, he’s as exciting a player as we have had on this team in my lifetime, and he brings a lot of energy, a lot of big plays to us. And when you cut through everything else, he actually is a really good kid. He does a lot of wonderful things off the field that people don’t know about. He needs to work on controlling his emotions a little bit more. But when he is on the field, the other teams have to pay attention to him … and he strikes fear into the eyes of the other team. As long as you have that ability, he makes your team better. He just adds a lot to us. We really haven’t had a player like that here for a long time.”

On when he knew replacing Tom Coughlin with Ben McAdoo was the right move ...

“I’m not sure that there was any one defining moment. I felt good about him right from training camp. I liked the fact that we had a couple of rough spots during the season and then rebounded quite nicely, and that’s always one of the things that you look for, is can a guy pull your team out of a slump, keep them from free falling? He has just the right temperament, I think, to lead this team.”

On expectations for Eli Manning ...

“It’s hard to say. He’s in good health, he had a good season last year, we think he’s got a number of good seasons left in him. I can’t sit here and tell you how many that will be. But he’s given no indication to me that he’s slowing down at all.”

On why Giants fans should be excited about the 2017 season ...

“Well, I like to think they’re excited every year, but I think we have a good combination of veteran leadership, veterans who have played very well in the past and a nice infusion of youth. So I think we should be a better team than we’ve been in recent years, but it all depends on staying healthy and players continuing to be hungry.

I have given away enough of Serby’s excellent interview with Mara. Go read the rest of it. You will be entertained.