Giants mourn loss of former GM and Ring of Honor inductee Ernie Accorsi
He was not on the list.
Ernie Accorsi, who became only the second general manager
inducted into the Giants Ring of Honor and was instrumental in bringing Tom
Coughlin and Eli Manning to the franchise, passed away peacefully Saturday
while surrounded by the love of his family. He was 84.
Born on Oct. 29, 1941 in Hershey, Pa., Accorsi was the
Giants' general manager from 1998-2006 after serving as an assistant under
George Young for four seasons. In Accorsi's nine years as G.M., the Giants won
two NFC East titles, earned four postseason berths, and advanced to Super Bowl
XXXV. He retired at the conclusion of the 2006 season. The Giants won the Super
Bowl the following season (and gave Accorsi a championship ring) and again in
2011.
The Giants were the final stop in Accorsi's remarkable
37-year career that included successful stints as the general manager of the
Baltimore Colts (he saw Johnny Unitas throw his first pass in a Colt uniform in
a 1956 preseason game in his hometown of Hershey and his last one while working
for the team) and the Cleveland Browns. In his last 16 years as a general
manager, Accorsi had nine playoff teams, including six division champions. The
Giants, Browns and Colts won a combined 143 regular-season and postseason games
under his stewardship.
Members of the Giants organization and NFL community paid
their respects to Accorsi and the legacy he built:
Giants President John Mara:
"Ernie helped shape the course of New York Giants
history through his vision, leadership and unwavering belief in building a
championship organization. Beyond his accomplishments as a football executive,
he was a trusted advisor and dear friend. His legacy will forever be part of
the Giants, and he will be greatly missed."
Giants Executive Vice President Steve Tisch:
"Ernie brought intelligence and thoughtful leadership
to every decision, and his contributions to the Giants and the game were
significant. We are grateful for all he gave to this organization and are
thinking of his family and his many friends and colleagues."
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell:
"Ernie Accorsi was one of the most respected football
minds in NFL history and a dear friend whose wisdom and perspective I valued
tremendously. Throughout his remarkable career, he shaped championship-caliber
clubs and earned the admiration of everyone who worked with him.
"Ernie's impact extended beyond the teams he served. As
co-chair of the General Managers Advisory Committee, he helped guide our game
and strengthen the NFL. His integrity, common sense and commitment to doing
what was best for football made him an invaluable voice. Ernie was thoughtful,
humble, and he cared deeply about the people in our league. He never lost sight
of the relationships that make football special and we will all greatly miss
him."
Tom Coughlin:
"Ernie was very decisive, very opinionated. His mind
was as sharp as a tack. He loved to laugh. He was a great storyteller, great
storyteller. He loved to have an audience and laugh, and then everyone else
would laugh with him. He was great with punchlines. He was one of those. He was
very loyal. Very, very loyal. My experience, of course, Ernie and John Mara
interviewed me when I became the head coach back in 2004. I didn't realize that
within a couple of years, Ernie was getting ready to retire. Nevertheless, we
had a great challenge and we went forward from there. I always enjoyed working
with Ernie, I always enjoyed talking with Ernie."
"Ernie will always be remembered, and I say this out of
great respect, he's the guy that made the trade for Eli Manning. That will go
down in Giants history as one of the great moves of all time. Was it risky?
Sure it was risky. Ernie did it. Shut the door, went in, he did it on his own.
It was his move. He had followed Eli from the time Eli was a very young player
at Ole Miss, and he was convinced that Eli was the franchise quarterback that
the Giants needed. He was not going to be deterred. He saw an opportunity. I
think both teams benefitted greatly from the decision, and Ernie pulled the
trigger."
Eli Manning:
"I was extremely sad to hear the news about Ernie. I
call Ernie every draft week for the last 12 years, maybe longer than that, and
just thank him for making the trade and believing in me and bringing me to the
New York Giants. I know he was the believer in me and kind of the reason I got
here. I appreciated him so much for building such great teams and giving us the
opportunity to win some championships here. He was always so fun to sit with
and just talk, whether it's the Giants or his time in Baltimore around the
Colts. His stories around the NFL and the people he was around that shaped his
career were always so entertaining. I know the Giants organization owes a lot
of thanks to Ernie Accorsi and what he was able to do for the
organization."
Justin Tuck:
"My football career is very synonymous with Ernie. He
had drafted me and then us going in the Ring of Honor together and then just
our interactions throughout my career while at the Giants, he was a man who
always did things the right way. He always had a good demeanor. I didn't get to
know him much outside of football, but just in football, you could tell the
character of him and who he was as a person just by how he interacted with us
on the football side of things. It's always tough when you lose a guy like him
because of what he meant to not only the Giants, but the NFL as a whole. My
thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family. It's a sad day for football
fans."
The Accorsi Family:
"It was the honor of my dad's lifetime to represent the
Baltimore Colts, Cleveland Browns, and New York Giants, three organizations
that meant so much to him throughout his remarkable career. Our family is
deeply grateful to each of them and to the many people who became lifelong
friends along the way.
"We are especially grateful to the New York Giants
organization, John Mara, Ronnie Barnes, and the late Wellington Mara for their
friendship, loyalty, and love for my father over so many years. The Giants were
far more than a team to him. They were family, and being part of that family
was something he treasured. Once a Giant, always a Giant."
Accorsi's most significant personnel move with the Giants
was acquiring Manning in a draft-day trade with the San Diego Chargers in 2004.
Manning became the greatest quarterback in Giants history and was the MVP of
Super Bowls XLII and XLVI.
"I have always said that in the first Super Bowl I was
hoping he would do it," Accorsi once said. "In the second Super Bowl
I was almost sure he was going to do it."
Before the 2004 NFL Draft, talent evaluators were in almost
universal agreement that three championship-caliber quarterbacks were
available: Manning, Ben Roethlisberger, and Philip Rivers.
Accorsi and Coughlin coveted Manning of the University of
Mississippi. Accorsi famously concluded his college scouting report of the
quarterback with the following entry: "These guys are rare, you
know."
But the Giants had the fourth choice in the first round. The
quarterback-needy San Diego Chargers owned the first pick and took Manning. The
Giants selected Rivers with the fourth pick. The two teams then completed a
trade, with the Giants sending Rivers, their third-round selection in 2004, and
their first- and fifth-round choices in the 2005 draft to the Chargers for
Manning.
Accorsi was inducted into the Wake Forest Sports Hall of
Fame on Sept. 26, 2008. While a student there, Accorsi was heavily involved in
the campus media as sports editor for the Old Gold and Black and sports
director for WFDD. Accorsi graduated from Wake Forest in 1963.
He spent time as a sportswriter at three newspapers, the
Charlotte News, the Baltimore Sun and the Philadelphia Inquirer. He also worked
in the athletic departments at St. Joseph's University and Penn State
University. He began his career in professional sports in 1970 as the public
relations director for the Baltimore Colts.
After serving a two-year stint as an assistant to the
president of the National Football Conference, Accorsi returned to the Colts,
first as an assistant general manager from 1977-81 and then as general manager
from 1982-83. He left the Colts on Feb. 7, 1984 and joined the front office of
the Cleveland Browns on March 4 – a mere 24 days before the Colts packed up and
headed to Indianapolis.
Named Cleveland's general manager in 1985, he engineered the
supplemental draft selection of Bernie Kosar and guided the franchise to AFC
Central Division titles in four of his first five years in charge of football
operations. The Browns advanced to the AFC title game in 1986, '87 and '89.
Accorsi left the Giants in April 1992 to work as a lobbyist for Baltimore's NFL
expansion efforts, and he briefly served as chief financial officer of the
Baltimore Orioles in 1994.
On Nov. 14, 2016, Accorsi, Coughlin and Tuck were fittingly
inducted together into the team's Ring of Honor during a ceremony at halftime
of a Monday night game.
"I will always cherish the memory of Wellington and Ann
Mara and Bob Tisch, who gave me the opportunity to be a general manager, and
George Young who brought me here 22 years ago," Accorsi said to the crowd.
"(And) every one of you, the best fans of the best franchise in sports.
Every player to ever wear the Giant blue. If I can take a line from the great
Yankee Clipper, I want to thank the good Lord for making me a New York
Giant."
Personal information
Born October 29,
1941
Hershey, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died September 19,
2026 (aged 84)
Career information
College Wake
Forest
Career history
Baltimore Colts (1970–1974)
Public relations director
National Football League (1975)
Office staff
Baltimore Colts (1977–1981)
Assistant general manager
Baltimore Colts (1982–1983)
General manager
Cleveland Browns (1985–1992)
Executive vice president & general manager
New York Giants (1994–1997)
Assistant general manager
New York Giants (1998–2006)
General manager
Awards and highlights
New York Giants Ring of Honor
