Plane circles MetLife Stadium with message to co-owner John Mara to fix the Giants' 'dumpster fire'

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — A small plane circled MetLife Stadium roughly 90 minutes before New York hosted the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, urging Giants co-owner John Mara to overhaul a team that has made the playoffs twice since winning the Super Bowl in February 2012.

“Mr. Mara, enough. Please fix this dumpster fire!” read the message on a banner towed by the plane.

Mara declined to comment.

Kicker Graham Gano, coach Brian Daboll, rookie receiver Malik Nabers, veteran receiver Darius Slayton and linebacker Brian Burns all said after the Giants lost 14-11 to the Saints that they didn't see the plane and banner.

Nabers, who had five catches for 79 yards, quipped that he had nothing to do with the stunt.

“I ain't pay for the plane,” Nabers said.

Slayton said the fans have a right to complain after one winning season since 2016.

“People have money and time to do stuff like that. If that’s what they choose to do, that’s what they choose to do,” Slayton said.

“I really still don’t know what you’re talking about,” Burns said after being told about the flyover, which started roughly two hours before the kickoff and lasted about 30 minutes. “But I don’t really have a comment on that.”

The Giants (2-11) suffered one of their most excruciating losses of the season when Gano had a game-tying 35-yard field goal attempt blocked with 11 seconds to play. It was New York's eighth straight loss, one shy of tying the team record, and the Giants fell to 0-7 at home with Baltimore (8-5) set to visit next weekend.

Daboll was asked about the fans calling for sweeping changes.

“I’m disappointed we have two wins,” he said. “So, we’re just going to keep on grinding it out and try to keep developing these young players and get ready to play a great team next week.”

The skid has put Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen on the hot seat. New York was 6-11 in 2023 after making the playoffs in Daboll's first season in 2022 with a 9-7-1 record and winning a postseason game for the first time since Super Bowl 46.

Quarterback Drew Lock said he was focused on the game and didn't see the plane.

“That’s going to pretty far lengths to try and take a message but no, I did not see it,” said Lock, adding the message was in one ear and out the other.

This season, the Giants gave up on quarterback Daniel Jones less than halfway into a four-year, $160 million contract. He was cut on Nov. 22 after the Giants told him he was not going to play again this season, and he asked Mara to release him. Jones signed with the Vikings practice squad the following week.

There was a similar incident in the late 1970s when a plane hired by fans flew over Giants Stadium with a trailing banner that read “15 Years of Lousy Football. ... We’ve Had Enough.” Between 1973-79, the Giants won no more than six games in a season, with the six wins coming in ‘78 and ’79 when the NFL expanded from a 14-game to a 16-game regular season.

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Tom Canavan, The Associated Press