As another Giants season looks likely to wind up outside the playoffs, the hot-seat regime of coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen faced another airplane protest banner before Sunday’s home game against the 49ers.
The banner’s message, aimed at co-owner John Mara, read: “MR MARA ENOUGH IS ENOUGH - CLEAN HOUSE.”
The plane — owned by the Woodbine-based High Exposure Aerial Advertising — flew over MetLife Stadium’s parking lots before 49ers-Giants as fans tailgated.
The banner and plane were commissioned by Joshua Reynolds, a 16-year-old high school junior from Bergen County, who rallied other angry Giants fans and used a GoFundMe campaign to raise $2,350 for the job.
(Click here to read about a plane banner that supported Mara and flew before the 49ers game.)
Reynolds’ message was initially scheduled to fly prior to the Giants’ Sept. 28 home game against the Chargers. But those plans were spoiled when poor weather in Woodbine prevented the plane from leaving the ground.
Sunday is the Giants’ first afternoon home game since then, which is why Reynolds rescheduled the plane for this game.
The Giants are 2-6 after going 3-14 in 2024 and 6-11 in 2023. They’re 3-17 in their last 20 games, with back-to-back deflating losses in Denver and Philadelphia, which was preceded by a Thursday night home win over the Eagles.
Sunday marks Daboll’s 60th regular-season game as Giants coach. His .347 winning percentage (20-38-1) ranks fourth worst in franchise history, just behind the two coaches who preceded him — Joe Judge (.303) and Pat Shurmur (.281). Bill Arnsparger (.200) sits atop the list.
Before last season, the Giants hadn’t seen a plane protest banner fly over a home game since 1978, when they struggled in their third and final season under John McVay (fifth on that list, at .378).
Then it happened before back-to-back home games in December.
The first banner read: “MR MARA ENOUGH — PLZ FIX THIS DUMPSTER FIRE.”
A week later, another banner read: “MR MARA ENOUGH — WE WON’T STOP UNTIL YOU FIRE EVERYONE.”
Fans had plans for more than just those two banners last season, when the Giants played three December home games. Three banners were scheduled to fly over the third game, the home finale against the Colts, but weather grounded the planes.
One of the pre-Colts banners was going to read: “MR MARA — ENOUGH ... CLEAN HOUSE OR SELL THE TEAM."
Another was going to read: “ARE DRONES SEARCHING FOR GIANTS WINS AT HOME?”
The third pre-Colts banner message was not finalized before the weather-related cancellation.
This season, Reynolds was one of two frustrated Giants fans who hired a banner plane to fly before the Chargers game. But the other fan did not reschedule for Sunday, said High Exposure owner Dave Dempsey.
The Giants were 0-3 when Reynolds initially planned to send his banner up. They’re 2-3 since as rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart has shown considerable potential, with wins over the Chargers and Eagles at home.
So why did Reynolds follow through with his originally planned message while green-lighting Sunday’s rescheduled flight?
“Mostly the fact that the coaching staff has still been the same,” he told NJ Advance Media. “Even though every year we’ve been getting new players, it’s the same result. You can’t keep trying the same thing that hasn’t worked at all.”
There’s also this: “I feel like people gave me the money because they wanted that message flown,” he said. “Maybe it’s better that it got delayed, because we could see how the season progressed more. I never really thought about not doing it.”
Reynolds’ message aimed at Mara comes as the 70-year-old co-owner remains in charge of the Giants’ day-to-day operations while battling cancer — a diagnosis he revealed a day after the Chargers game.
“The fans are frustrated, and we do want change,” Reynolds said. “But at the same time, we do want what’s best for Mr. Mara [and his health]. So ultimately, it’s his decision [for what to do with Daboll and Schoen].”
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