In recent years, New York Giants co-owner John Mara has been very visible and vocal at league events.
This year, at the NFL owners meetings in Palm Beach, Florida, Mara has declined to speak publicly, letting his general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll do the talking.
Why the shift in strategy? Ryan Novozinsky of NJ Advance Media details the change.
The “why” is simple: Mara doesn’t want to talk because he believes he has nothing else to add from his January presser, when he barked that he’s “just about run out of patience” amid their grueling rebuild and couldn’t give a straight answer as to why he retained the fourth-year pair.
But so much has changed since then. That’s why it feels like there’s a hidden motive behind the media snub. Does Mara not want to face the noise after they swung and missed on their top QB options? Is he sick of ambitious proclamations coming back to bite him? Or is he simply tired of spinning a narrative for a regime he’s really not all that confident in?
In recent years, it was clear that Mara was in charge of the Giants' contingency but it seems as if he is deferring to Schoen and Daboll now that the team has hit rock bottom. He doesn't want to be the face of this mess any longer.
That's too bad. He's the owner. He's gotta own it. You know the old adage: Success has a thousand fathers and failure is an orphan.
Giant fans may actually be relieved they don't have to see Mara stand before a gaggle of reporters and answer the same tired questions and reiterate the same tired promises. The only way things are going to change for this organization is for them to start winning again. Nothing else will do.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: Giants' John Mara dodges media at NFL owners meetings
