With the Super Bowl only three days away, AFL Communications caught up with New York Giants Vice President of Player Personnel Chris Mara during the Giants media session in Indianapolis. Mara first joined the Giants prior to the 1979 season as a scout. In 1994, Mara left the Giants to operate ProRate, Inc., an independent football scouting service. After a tenure at ProRate, Mara joined the Arena Football League in 2001 as President and General Manager of the New Jersey Gladiators. Focusing on player personnel and contracts, Mara also oversaw ticket sales, operations and the arena lease. After successfully rejuvenating the Gladiators, Mara rejoined the Giants as VP of Player Evaluation in 2003.
 
EDITOR: Chris, it is a pleasure to speak with you today. You’ve had a crazy few weeks! First, the Giants advanced to the Super Bowl and the following Tuesday, your daughter, Rooney, was nominated for an Oscar as best actress for her role in “The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo.” How has the experience been?
 
CHRIS MARA: It went from an NFC Championship to an academy award nomination. It doesn’t get much better than that.  It was kind of a surreal experience, one that doesn’t happen very often. I’m trying to cherish it right now.
 
ED: What is it like to be back at the big game?
 
CM: It never gets tiring, even after answering all these questions! You want to be in this position every year. Fortunately for us, we have been in a lot of them and I am very happy about it.
 
ED: Obviously a very successful career for yourself. Tell me about your stint in the AFL with the Gladiators.
 
CM: My experience with the Gladiators was too short but it was a great experience for me. I got to learn so many different parts of the business because we had a small staff. I ended up doing a number of things. When I was hired, it was six weeks before the 2001 season started. We didn’t have much time to put a team together but after a year, we figured it out and became a good team.
 
ED: With the role you have now, is there any correlation to what you did in the AFL?
 
CM: We have a bigger staff than anybody in the NFL. I do, however, have a better understanding of what is going on now because of that experience. It was very helpful to me.
 
ED: The Giants had an AFL player on the roster during training camp. What do Arena players bring to the NFL?
 
CM: Arena Football players are more versatile. A lot of them have experience on both sides of the ball. You have returners who play receivers and defensive back. Those are the type of guys that make it, more so with receivers. Occasionally you will have a quarterback too. If we go to a workout, we see an AFL player and he runs fast, we will bring him in. We don’t really care if he’s played in the AFL or not, as long as he looks athletic enough and has the size and speed, we may bring him in. The AFL is a pretty good avenue to take though.
 
ED: Is there a player you were most proud about finding or developing?
 
CM: There have been so many guys. I don’t think one stands out. We have so many guys and have seen so many players. We don’t pat ourselves on the back for the players we bring in because we miss on as many as we hit on. There are a lot of guys I am proud of though.
 
ED: Tell me about Sunday’s matchup against the Patriots.
 
CM: It’s going to be a great rematch. Both teams are strong in different areas and they are both very well coached. I have no idea what is going to happen but it’s going to be one crazy game!
 
ED: Mr. Mara, thank you for joining us today. Good luck against the Patriots!