A new partnership between Fordham and the New York Giants is giving students the opportunity to intern and work closely with the NFL team. In the announcement of the partnership in early September Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of the university, told Fordham News that the partnership would open up opportunities in academics, community service and branding.

“Our identity has been tied to the gridiron since the 1920s, with Fordham’s ‘Seven Blocks of Granite’ dominating the sport in the 1930s, and John Mara is, of course, a distinguished Fordham Law alumnus,” said McShane. “We are therefore pleased to deepen our family connection to the Giants and excited to enter a partnership with the team that will be mutually beneficial.”

The program features four total paid internships: one full time and two part-time in the fall, and one part-time in the spring.

According to Jeffrey Gray, senior vice president for Student Affairs, career services will vet candidates and send a selection of resumes to the Giants. Gray said this time around the Giant hired an extra intern, meaning four Fordham students are interning with the Giants this semester through the partnership.

Gray said Fordham is also working on an interdisciplinary case study competition that will be rolled out in October or November. Both Gabelli and Fordham College students from a variety of majors will be able to participate although topics and details have not been finalized yet. The case study will culminate in a presentation to Giants executives in April.

The branding portion of the partnership involves Fordham sponsoring the Giants through advertising. According to Gray, this could mean digital, print and social media ads marketing the Fordham to the Giants demographic base. Fordham is also planning to host events at MetLife Stadium, home field to the New York Giants and Jets, for both admissions and fundraising. Gray said he could not disclose the exact amount of the deal, as the agreement is a confidential document.

“Any sponsorship agreement involves a sponsorship fee but we’ve also evaluated the assets that we’re getting in return for that and I think our best estimate is that we’re getting out of the agreement more than we’re putting into it financially,” said Gray. “In particular, I’m excited about the opportunities for our students and I’m excited that they’re excited.”

One of the students who was selected for an internship was Artemis Tsagaris, FCLC ’20, who works in digital media and production for the professional sports team. Once a week she takes a roughly 45-minute bus ride out to the Quest Diagnostics Training Center near MetLife Stadium where she helps edit articles, post them to the team’s website, and produce Big Blue Kickoff Live.

Tsagaris said she likes that her job gives her a more hands-on role in production for the team.

“I definitely think having the connection at Fordham helped,” said Tsagaris “I’d like to think that I also got it because I was the most qualified out of the bunch.”

Sean Johnson, GSB ’19, also secured a job through the partnership. As a full-time Client Services intern he works with many of the team’s big sponsors. Johnson said the client services department covers a variety of jobs for the team.

“I don’t really do the same thing every day because I get to explore the company a little bit more and take on different responsibilities,” said Johnson.

Johnson has worked for a variety of sports teams including the New York Yankees, New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils. He said he found some of those internship opportunities through Fordham but he found the Giants internship on Handshake, an online job recruiting platform.

“I saw the application open up for these internships between Fordham and the Giants and that’s kind of where it’s led me today,” said Johnson “I would love to stay here past the seasonal timing of this position just because I’ve loved it here so much and it’s a great culture over here. They’re great people to work around and like I said it’s all team-oriented and everyone takes care of each other at the end of the day.”

In their announcement of the partnership, both Fordham and the Giants made sure to point out the long-standing history between the university and the team. As McShane said, John Mara graduated from Fordham Law in 1979 and he also received an honorary degree from Fordham in 2010.

“As a graduate of Fordham Law, I was fortunate to experience firsthand the wonderful educational opportunities that Fordham has to offer,” said Mara on Giants.com. “This partnership will create new academic programs, student internships, and community service initiatives that will build upon and strengthen those experiences for Fordham students and our community.”

Mara is not Fordham’s only Giants connection. Tsagaris and Johnson said plenty of Fordham Alumni work for the Giants. Johnson said at least four members of his division are Fordham alumni and Tsagaris said her co-workers are always excited to hear about what is going on around campus.

“When they were showing me around the first day they made sure to point out at least three Fordham Alumni,” said Tsagaris. “They were so interested to hear that Fordham has this new partnership with the Giants”

After applying in July, Tsagaris started her internship in early September – a week after the season started. She said other than her regular one day a week shift she sometimes works additional hours on Mondays and game days for further experience.

For Tsagaris, getting her official Giants ID was a big deal. She said her family goes to games almost every Sunday and have season tickets.

“I’m a huge Giants fan,” said Tsagaris “My family can’t believe it. It’s always been my dream to work with the Giants and I always said going into college that if I was able to get an internship with the Giants it would be a dream internship.”