John Mara

John Kevin Mara

Mara graduated from Iona Preparatory School in New Rochelle, and graduated cum laude from Boston College in 1976 with a Bachelor of Science in marketing. He earned his Juris Doctor degree from Fordham University School of Law in 1979.

He specialized in labor and employment law and litigation at two Manhattan firms prior to joining the Giants.

Career New York Giants

Mara joined the Giants in 1991, serving as general counsel, and later as executive vice president and chief operating officer, until his father's death in 2005, when he assumed the team's presidency.

After skipping road games in 2025 for health reasons, Mara returned to the NFL owners' meetings in March 2026.

Criticism Despite winning two Super Bowls during his tenure as owner, Mara was criticized in the late 2010s and early 2020s for being too loyal to longtime Giants employees.

In September 2021, he was booed by fans while speaking at Eli Manning's number retirement and Ring of Honor ceremony, and did not address the crowd that November when the team retired Michael Strahan's number.

Mara was also criticized for keeping Dave Gettleman throughout his four-year tenure, instead allowing Gettleman to retire at the end of the 2021 season.

During the 2024 and 2025 seasons, the team's poor performance saw airplanes fly over MetLife Stadium during games with messages including "fix this dumpster fire" and "fire everyone".

Additional work in NFL Mara has served for 15 years on the NFL Competition Committee, which suggests rule and policy changes to all NFL teams. He is the current chairman of the NFL Management Council Executive Committee. He played an important role in the negotiations for the 2011 and 2020 collective bargaining agreements.

Mara, alongside Steve Tisch and Woody Johnson, brought Super Bowl XLVIII to MetLife Stadium in February 2014.

He and his wife, Denise W. Mara, married in 1980 and have one son, John Jr., and four daughters, Lauren, Courtney, Christine, and Erin. He is an uncle to actresses Rooney Mara and Kate Mara.

Mara serves on the board of directors of Saint Vincent's Hospital in Harrison, New York, and Boys Hope Girls Hope of New York.