Giants honor owner John Mara during cancer battle with game ball from big win against Cowboys
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New York Giants owner John Mara, who has been battling an undisclosed form of cancer for three months, was honored with a game ball after one of the team’s biggest wins in a painful season.
The Giants earned their first win against their archrival Dallas Cowboys since 2020. With a 34-17 blowout, the Giants finished one game better than their 2024 record. It is also their first season since 2020 with wins against the Eagles and Cowboys.
Giants tight end Daniel Bellinger, who had a 29-yard touchdown reception, told reporters after the game how the ball affected Mara’s mood.
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“[Mara] “I mentioned that he’s rushing to his treatments now because of this,” Bellinger said. “He has to be the toughest guy in the locker room, regardless of what everyone else is going through. He’s a tough guy and we respect him as our leader, our owner.”
Beating Dallas and other results in the NFL left the Giants (4-13) out of the race for one of the top two picks in the draft.
But Mara has repeatedly made it a policy to demand wins over draft positioning as an NFL owner.
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Giants captain Andrew Thomas told the New York Post, “It’s a great feeling” to win the game for Mara.
“You can tell he cares about this place; there’s a lot of legacy in his family, it means a lot to him, and it’s not just his words, it’s his actions,” Thomas said. “He’s there; a lot of owners aren’t as committed. We definitely appreciate that. We want to win every game we play and, more importantly, we want to do it more consistently. That’s our goal, and I’m sure that would make Mr. Mara happy. We know he’s going through a tough situation, so we’re praying for him and hoping he can recover and come back to us.”
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Mara and the Giants will now look to find a new head coach and make moves in the 2026 offseason.
The News contributed to this report.
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Jackson Thompson is a sports reporter for News Digital covering critical political and cultural issues in sports, with an investigative lens. Jackson’s reporting has been cited in federal government actions related to Title IX enforcement and in mainstream media outlets such as The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The News and ESPN.com.