Let's Do it for Henry!!

Among the 600 or so articles I have read since Tynes was good from 47, there is one name that keeps coming up when you read the quotes from the old time fans of the Giants & the NFL...the late, great Wellington Mara.

As he was often referred to, Wellington was the NFL's Last Patriarch. One of the great men that literally built the NFL to the power house it has become today.

As I have mentioned before, Wellington died a few hours after Nate was born & there was a brief discussion in the hospital about his middle name actually being Wellington. Naturally, this idea was shot down so quickly by my beautiful wife, Jayme, that she tells me she doesn't remember this conversation at all. That's OK though, because little does Nate (& Jayme) know now, but his birth and Wellington's passing will always be linked in my mind. Hopefully greatness was passed along (at least that is what I like to believe).

While Wellington was the Last Patriarch of the NFL, this got me thinking about the Last Patriarch of my Giants world. One Mr. Henry Cohen.

Let me explain.

Henry is my good friend Danny's grandfather & my good friend Jerry's father. Henry is 88 years old and has been a Giants season ticket holder since 1936.

Henry has been to more Giants games than any person I have ever met and truly has been a fan as long as the Mara's have been a part of the Giants.

When I first started attending Giants games with Hersh and Danny, Henry was there bright and early every game tailgating there with us.

Several seasons back, Henry's health began to slowly deteriorate and getting up and down from his seats in the upper deck became more and more difficult. Henry and Jerry wrote a letter to the Giants expressing their desire to be moved somewhere more convenient for Henry.

A few weeks later they received a letter from Wellington Mara himself with their new tickets in a location that is much more easily accessible to the exits. Henry would continue to come to the games for many more seasons.

Then two seasons ago Henry's legs began to fail him a bit more and getting around became quite difficult for him. He still would love to come to games but you could see how painful it was for him. He was still the coolest guy at the tailgate by far so he would never say how much he was hurting but you could see it.

Eventually it just became too hard for him to come to the games and Danny and Jerry (and Sarah) emotionally told all of us that our Patriarch would no longer joining us on Sundays. He would be there in spirit but home in Queens watching the games.

Well my friends, I know the Giants don't know Henry, but many of you do. Henry, like many of us, is also a Mets fan and like us all, hasn't seen a championship since 1990 for either of these teams. Hopefully Henry will be around for many more Super Bowls but as they say, you don't know when your team will get back to the Super Bowl again so you better win it the first time.

If there is ever a person to rally around for this Giants team, it is our Patriarch of parking lot 6F. It is Henry Cohen.

LET'S DO THIS FOR HENRY!!

LETS GO GIANTS!!