On WFAN: Giants Owner Reveals Plans To Honor Frank Gifford, Ann Mara

NEW YORK (WFAN) -- The New York Giants will pay tribute to Frank Gifford by wearing No. 16 on their helmets this season, team co-owner John Mara told WFAN on Monday.

Gifford -- a Hall of Famer and eight-time Pro Bowler before transitioning to the broadcast booth -- died on August 9. He was 84.

Mara said the helmet decal will be "a way of honoring ... one of the greatest Giants of all time."

"If you think back to when we were growing up during that era, you wanted to either be Mickey Mantle or Frank Gifford," Mara told host Mike Francesa. "He was always my idol as a kid."

Mara also said players will wear a patch with the initials of his mother, Ann Mara, the Giants' matriarch who died in February.

"(Gifford) and my mother and sisters would drive to the game together on Sunday mornings," Mara said. "So he was a big part of our family and we're certainly going to miss him. He really was one of the kindest human beings you'd ever want to meet. It's a big loss."