EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The co-owner of the New York Giants said he goofed when he failed to tell the owner of the New York Jets about a decision to allow the Miami Dolphins to use the Giants' indoor facility before a game against the Jets.
"I did not consider it a big deal," Mara said late Wednesday afternoon. "I have been in business a long time, and I would not consider it a big deal if another team was using the Jets' facility. In retrospect, I wish I would have called Woody and asked him about it first, because my relationship with him and the Jets is far more important to me and this organization than my relationship with the Dolphins."
In a statement Wednesday night, Johnson said Mara addressed the issue and that he had nothing to add.
"Our partnership is as strong as ever," Johnson said.
"It's their facility," Ryan said. "They can do anything they want with it."
The whole brouhaha can be traced to Hall of Fame coach Vince Lombardi, in a way.
Mara said Johnson telephoned him Wednesday, and they spoke about four topics: their joint Super Bowl bid in 2014, the NFL labor situation, a news conference Johnson attended Tuesday and finally the Dolphins' issue. Mara said Johnson seemed fine after their talk, and he downplayed any suggestion that he and Johnson don't get along.
"My relationship with Woody and our relationship with the Jets have never been better," Mara said. "We have a million decisions that we are going to have to make going forward. This partnership is too important to me to jeopardize by doing something like this."
Mara was surprised by the controversy that a move he believed to be a "common courtesy" to another team generated.
"We (the Giants and Jets) have a long partnership that is going to last for many years, and the last thing in the world I want to do is get them upset about an issue like this," Mara said. "Again, I did not consider it big deal. Apparently, it is a slow enough news day that it has become a big deal."
Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press