I’m 48 years old, and I have been a New York Giants fan since I was a child. I’m also the survivor of a childhood sexual assault perpetrated by someone who was never held accountable. Files released by the Department of Justice four weeks ago reveal that Giants co-owner Steve Tisch was one of many prominent men who enjoyed a cozy relationship with the deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. And I can no longer, in good conscience, be a fan of the New York Giants as long as Tisch remains a part of the team’s ownership group.
Giants co-owner Steve Tisch was one of many prominent men who enjoyed a cozy relationship with the deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
To be clear, Tisch hasn’t been accused of any crimes, but documents show that he and Epstein exchanged email messages in 2013, roughly four years after Epstein served prison time for soliciting prostitution and procuring a minor for prostitution. Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell hadn’t yet been arrested over the allegations that they’d sexually abused women and girls.
But what was already known about Epstein should have been enough to scare Tisch away from any association with him. In some of those emails, Tisch is asking Epstein to connect him with women. One message reads, “Curious to know about (redacted) I will contact (redacted) ..pro or civilian?” The files indicate that the two corresponded frequently over email before Epstein requested that they move their chat to the phone.
In a Jan. 30 statement, Tisch, also a film executive, wrote of Epstein, “We had a brief association where we exchanged emails about adult women, and in addition, we discussed movies, philanthropy, and investments. I did not take him up on any of his invitations and never went to his island. As we all know now, he was a terrible person and someone I deeply regret associating with.”
We had a brief association where we exchanged emails about adult women. … As we all know now, he was a terrible person and someone I deeply regret associating with.
a statement from new york giants co-owner steve tisch about epstein
Over the past few days, we’ve seen a slow trickle of men stepping down — or being forced to step down — from their prestigious roles after their ties to Epstein were exposed. Former Harvard president — and Clinton administration Treasury secretary — Lawrence Summers is stepping down from his teaching roles at the university at the end of the academic year. Borge Brende resigned as president and CEO of the World Economic Forum. Thomas Pritzker is out as executive chairman of Hyatt Hotels.
Like Tisch, none of the men mentioned above have been accused of crime, but each has left or is leaving their role. As of Friday, the same can’t be said of Tisch.
Shortly after the revelation of Tisch’s association with Epstein, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell held his annual “State of the League” press conference at the Super Bowl in San Francisco. The result? So far, largely lip service. The commissioner said then, “We are going to look at all the facts. We are going to look at the context of those and try to understand that — we will look at how that falls under the [NFL’s personal conduct] policy. But let’s get the facts first.”
That was nearly four weeks ago. Since then? Crickets.
For its part, the Giants have maintained a very low profile when it comes to speaking of the man that owns nearly 50% of the team. At last week’s NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Giants General Manager Joe Schoen and newly minted head coach John Harbaugh gave platitudes on the Epstein/Tisch relationship questions, with the latter saying: “I have great respect for the ownership and all the people I’ve gotten to meet — John (Mara) and Steve and Chris Mara and John Tisch and Carolyn Tisch and the Koch family. Have had nothing but great conversations, great interactions. And we’ve been talking about the business of football, the business of building our team, the business of putting staffs together. … That’s what our conversations have been about.”
I’m not expecting Schoen or Harbaugh to pummel the co-owner of the team. But I don’t believe it’s unfair to expect something that shows even the slightest bit of compassion for Epstein’s victims. To repeat, Tisch isn’t implicated in anything illegal. But his asking Epstein to be his matchmaker — and using the categories “pro” and “civilian” — should disqualify him from NFL ownership. But the teflon NFL appears to be waiting for the fallout to subside to get back to the business of football.
NFL owners played a big role in forcing Washington Commanders owner Daniel Snyder to sell the franchise in the wake of myriad controversies that included an independent investigation finding that he sexually harassed a team employee and a report from the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform that women in various positions in the franchise didn’t feel safe working there. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver forced disgraced Clippers owner Donald Sterling to sell the franchise after racist comments from the owner surfaced in audio recordings. Who is going to force a move when it comes to Tisch? It doesn’t appear to be the Giants as an organization. That leaves Tisch’s fellow owners or Goodell.
But given the league’s history of minimizing the seriousness of crimes against women and transgressions from its players, I don’t have much confidence that the league will crack down on one of its wealthy owners. Which means that despite my 40 years of being a fan, I’ve likely cheered for the Giants for the last time.
