Former Giant George Martin Leads NFL Alumni in the Right Direction
The Giants have used a punishing defense led by Justin Tuck, Osi Umenyiora and Jason-Pierre Paul to get back to the Super Bowl for the second time in four years. And former Giants defensive end George Martin knows a thing or two about that, leading Big Blue’s defense to a victory in Super Bowl XXV, with Bill Parcells as his coach.
Speaking exclusively to Class Act Sports in October while at the Hackensack Golf Club in New Jersey, Martin discussed his recent endeavors.
“We have an outing that is going to be a fundraiser for us. And we are very delighted to have a lot of Hall of Famers and a lot of my former colleagues from the NFL participating, and of course we have the legendary Bill Parcells. I don’t think you could ask for anything better,” Martin said.
Martin, who played for the Giants from 1975-1988, now serves as the Executive Director and President of the NFL Alumni. The mission of it is to raise money for children’s causes as well as advancing benefits for retired players, as he told Class Act Sports.
“The NFL Alumni now has a duel mission. The traditional mission for the last 30 years has been caring for kids, giving back to the community and we are very proud of that legacy. But now we are also a 501C5, which is a quasi-labor organization. We’re talking about the post-CBA era where the CBA between the NFL and the NFL Players Association has been signed, so now we are looking at ten years of labor peace and I don’t think there’s a better way to kick off that collaboration than to have something like this that we can go out and fulfill that mission of both caring for kids.”
The money raised from the golf tournament went towards those causes. And Martin explained why it was important to him.
“I was a former player and President for many years during my 14 year-career with the New York Giants. It’s something that has always been near and dear to my heart. To make certain that the benefits that we have for retired ball players is always been something that should be improved upon. And now as the executive director and president, that’s my daily chore and it’s something I look forward to each and every day.”