Remembering Ernie Accorsi, the Giants GM Who Always Made Time

Ernie Accorsi didn’t have to do what he did.

The former New York Giants general manager, who died Saturday after 84 years of gracing the earth and the NFL world with his intelligence, his appreciation for history, and the convictions that brought Big Blue Tom Coughlin as head coach and Eli Manning as quarterback, was busy enough on any given day.

And yet every February, right around Presidents' Day weekend, when the Giants' offices were closed, and Accorsi could have used the quiet to put a dent in whatever work he had on his plate to keep the Giants competitive, he set it aside for an hour, sometimes two, to speak to a young, aspiring sports journalist about the state of the team and the direction he envisioned it heading in the coming year.

That young journalist was me, and with all due respect to the countless players, coaches, and league personnel I’ve had the privilege of knowing and speaking with for stories both on and off the record, Accorsi was by far my favorite.

A Storyteller With a Historian's Memory

Originally a sports reporter himself before he changed career paths and became a front office executive, Accorsi could regale you with his stories of the old Baltimore Colts, where he worked as a public relations director, assistant general manager, and then general manager.

But it wasn’t just football. Accorsi was also an avid baseball fan whose knowledge of that sport rivaled his grasp of football history.

Beyond being an enthralling storyteller, he was a genuinely good man with a quiet fire burning within.

And good thing for Giants fans too because when Accorsi scouted a young signal caller by the name of Eli Manning, he just knew that the youngest of the Manning clan was exactly what the Giants needed to reach the pinnacle that Accorsi always wanted to deliver to team ownership in appreciation for their trust in him.

That was Accorsi at his very best. He knew when he knew, such as when the Giants were searching for a head coach after parting ways with Jim Fassel after the 2003 season. Accorsi helped bring Tom Coughlin, who had once been an assistant coach on Bill Parcells’ staff, back on board.

And although the Giants’ lone Super Bowl appearance with Accorsi as general manager (XXXV) resulted in the only loss among the team's five Super Bowl appearances, not a single person will deny that the 2007 championship team, which by then saw Jerry Reese in his first season as the team’s general manager after Accorsi retired, had Accorsi’s fingerprints all over it.

Generous With His Time, Even After Retirement

Accorsi’s involvement and willingness to share his knowledge didn’t stop once he retired. Teams around the league often called him as a consultant when looking to hire head coaches.

He was also readily available to help journalists who needed details only Accorsi could provide.

I always had an appreciation for Accorsi, but in 2020, when I signed a contract to write a book chronicling the history of the New York Giants, not only did Accorsi kindly agree to write the foreword, but he was also instrumental in offering rich background about key events in the franchise's history — the Manning trade, his time working with George Young, and Super Bowl XLII — as well as other events that were part of Giants lore.

But perhaps what I remember most about Accorsi, outside of those annual sit-downs we used to have when he was the general manager, was when he emailed me his foreword.

Unassuming as ever, he told me to “fix it up” however I saw fit.

To me, that was like asking an amateur painter to fix up the Mona Lisa. I mean, there are some things you don't touch because they're perfect the way they are.

And Accorsi's heartfelt appreciation for being part of New York Giants history, as expressed in that foreword, was just that: perfection.

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