Joe Sean has been the Giants’ general manager for more than two years and has had brief or more intimate encounters with many of the big-name players who gathered together for Thursday night’s “A Night With Legends” gala event.
It was a remarkable gathering. Hall of Famers Lawrence Taylor, Harry Carson, Michael Strahan and Bill Parcells were in attendance. There were 14 members of the Giants’ Ring of Honor, but one of them, a quiet, once-fierce tight end, was the center of attention for Sean.
Sean was born in Elkhart, Indiana and fell in love with the NFL as a child during the Giants’ reign as league champions.
“Mark Bavaro played at Notre Dame, so my dad used to take me to spring games when I was a kid,” Shawn said. “I’m sure there’s a picture of me and Mark Bavaro in a box in storage somewhere, I’ve got to find it. I can’t wait to meet Mark Bavaro. To me, that would be the man of my dreams.”
For Sean, it was mission accomplished: He was able to chat with the normally quiet Bavaro, whom he later described as “a great guy.”
Sean and head coach Brian Daboll are the franchise’s custodians and are entrusted by the ownership families of Mara and Tisch to bring them success. The new regime achieved success in 2022, winning nine regular season games and achieving their first playoff victory since 2011. However, Sean and Daboll were unable to build on the success, and the Giants faltered in 2023, finishing 6-11.
The 2024 season will include a celebration of the Giants’ 100th season and plenty of nostalgia for the glory days, which could increase pressure to shake things up.
Is there an emergency?
“Of course,” Sean said, “we all want to be around all these great people — coaches, players, staff.”
Sean then mentioned former general manager Ernie Accorsi, who oversaw the franchise-changing trade with Eli Manning and drafted and signed many of the players who made up the 2007 Super Bowl winning team.
“I know him well and obviously looked up to him as a young scout,” Sean said of Accorsi.
Manning’s 2004 draft was held at the Theater at Madison Square Garden, where the Giants gathered two of their former stars, along with current players Bobby Okereke and Kayvon Thibodeau, 20 years later. It was a night of looking back, but it was also hard not to look forward to see how far this year’s team has come in the right direction.
Daboll, who lost a lot of weight this offseason and is looking slimmer, said he’s “grateful” to be a part of such a historic franchise and understands the expectations. He also met with Parcells and Tom Coughlin, the two former head coaches who created the four Super Bowl trophies that are displayed in a glass case at the team’s facility, and drew a big ovation from the crowd.
“I’ve been fortunate to have those guys as friends throughout my time in this league,” Daboll said. “Good, friendly conversations, they’re incredible mentors to me to this day. The texts from Coach Coughlin, the phone calls from Coach Parcells. I’ve talked to them a lot since I got this job. Incredible coaches, they shared some great stories with me when they were starting out. I’m grateful to both of those guys.”
Coughlin arrived more than 30 minutes early, joked that his navigation system exaggerated how long the drive from New Jersey to Manhattan would take, and said he was looking forward to meeting Daboll. Asked if he had any advice to offer, Coughlin smiled and said, “He doesn’t need it.”
Sean said he grew up idolizing Giants icons like Taylor and Phil Simms, and has enjoyed digging into the team’s history in the wake of the 100th anniversary. He was particularly interested in hearing about the scouting roots of team patriarch Wellington Mara, and has even seen old reports and draft rankings that Mara compiled when he headed the football operations department in the 1950s and 1960s.
“The things I didn’t know, how the team got bought and his love and passion for baseball,” Shawn said. “To be able to be a part of the 100th season is just amazing to me. I look at the list of people that will be here and my name is on there. Now, who doesn’t belong there? It’s pretty awesome.”
If Sean and Daboll can return the Giants to their thrilling days, they’ll be on the team forever.
