Glauber: Woody's dream, Mara's drive make history
When Woody Johnson first pitched the idea of a Giants/Jets bid for a Super Bowl, Giants president and co-owner John Mara was hardly enthused.
"Woody started pushing this idea on me about four years ago and was absolutely relentless,'' Mara said.
In all honesty, Mara didn't think the idea had a chance. NFL owners already had turned down the idea of a Giants Stadium Super Bowl after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. And Mara didn't think the idea would fly, even with the Giants and Jets agreeing to jointly finance a new stadium at the Meadowlands.
But Johnson persisted, and ultimately convinced Mara the idea had merit.
"I think it was a natural extension of the way things went with our [West Side] stadium plan,'' Johnson said, referring to the failed bid to build a stadium in Manhattan. "We had already been approved for a Super Bowl, and it made sense to continue that pursuit.''
NFL owners had conditionally approved a Super Bowl for the West Side project, but the Jets were rebuffed in their attempt to build it. So once they partnered with the Giants to build the New Meadowlands Stadium, Johnson kept alive the idea of a Super Bowl bid.
No matter that the $1.6-billion stadium didn't include a roof and would require owners to suspend a rule that requires a northern Super Bowl to include a domed stadium. Johnson wouldn't let the idea go.
Eventually, Mara began calling colleagues around the league to gauge the interest in a New York/New Jersey Super Bowl, and the reaction surprised him.
"Most people we spoke to were extremely supportive,'' Mara said. "I really wasn't sure we'd be able to get enough support.''
In the end, they got enough support to pull it off. Owners voted Tuesday to award the 2014 Super Bowl to the New Meadowlands Stadium, which beat out bids from Tampa and South Florida. The New York/New Jersey bid won on the fourth and final ballot, outpolling Tampa. South Florida was eliminated on the second ballot.
And when it was over, Mara threw a well-deserved bouquet to Johnson. "He finally convinced me that this was the right way to go,'' Mara said, "and I want to thank him for doing that.''
And so an occasionally uneasy alliance between these two teams led to a historic moment. They bonded during an unlikely journey that began with Johnson's wild dream and ended with unexpected success.
It was something Mara's father, Wellington, would have cherished.
"We've come a long way since the Polo Grounds in 1925, when we used to hand out tickets,'' said Mara, who wore his father's 1956 NFL championship ring Tuesday for good luck. "The league has come a long way and the sport has come a long way. It would have been a proud moment for my father.''
Especially to see his son join together with his stadium partner to create a piece of history.
