EmailPrintLongtime NFL executive Ernie Accorsi, the architect of the New York Giants team that pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history, has died. He was 84.The Giants announced Sunday that Accorsi died Saturday, surrounded by his family."Ernie helped shape the course of New York Giants history through his vision, leadership and unwavering belief in building a championship organization," Giants owner John Mara said in a statement. "Beyond his accomplishments as a football executive, he was a trusted advisor and dear friend. His legacy will forever be part of the Giants, and he will be greatly missed.""Ernie Accorsi was one of the most respected football minds in NFL history and a dear friend whose wisdom and perspective I valued tremendously," NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. "Throughout his remarkable career, he shaped championship-caliber clubs and earned the admiration of everyone who worked with him."Accorsi spent parts of four decades in top front-office roles around the NFL and served as general manager for three different teams, most recently the Giants from 1998 to 2006.Accorsi served as the GM of the Cleveland Browns from 1985 to 1992 before joining the Giants as their assistant GM in 1994, working under Hall of Fame executive George Young. He replaced Young as the GM four years later and built the core of a team that reached three Super Bowls and won two Lombardi Trophies.Under Accorsi, the Giants hired two-time Super Bowl-winning coach Tom Coughlin in 2004 and pulled off the draft day trade for star quarterback Eli Manning later that year."Ernie will always be remembered, and I say this out of great respect -- he's the guy that made the trade for Eli Manning," Coughlin said in a statement released by the Giants. "That will go down in Giants history as one of the great moves of all time. Was it risky? Sure it was risky. Ernie did it. Shut the door, went in, he did it on his own. It was his move."Accorsi also drafted multiple other franchise icons, including Osi Umenyiora, Justin Tuck, Chris Snee and Brandon Jacobs."I know he was the believer in me and kind of the reason I got here," Manning said in a statement. "I appreciated him so much for building such great teams and giving us the opportunity to win some championships here."Accorsi retired as Giants GM in 2006, one year before New York upset the then-undefeated New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII. The Giants beat the Patriots again four years later in Super Bowl XLVI.A graduate of Wake Forest, Accorsi also served as GM of the then-Baltimore Colts from 1982 to 1983."He was always so fun to sit with and just talk, whether it's the Giants or his time in Baltimore around the Colts," Manning said. "His stories around the NFL and the people he was around that shaped his career were always so entertaining. I know the Giants organization owes a lot of thanks to Ernie Accorsi and what he was able to do for the organization."
