Posted on 09/08/2006 7:08:14 PM PDT by God luvs America
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Standing on the practice field, Ernie Accorsi turned and pointed to a patch in the New York skyline less than 5 miles away.
"They used to be there," the Giants general manager said. "We could see them every day."
As the fifth anniversary nears of the World Trade Center attacks, Accorsi can still see the towers where thousands perished. And he has spent the past five years living with a secret.
She has sent me pictures every step of the way. She gives me little color pictures, class pictures from school. I have watched her grow up from a little girl to a beautiful young lady.
Her name is Stephanie, and Accorsi has "adopted" her.
In the weeks after the attacks, like many Americans, Accorsi looked for a way to help. Instead of giving to a charity, though, he wanted to do more. He contacted a group of lawyers he had once addressed. That's how Accorsi learned about Stephanie.
The Glen Rock girl was 11 at the time. Her father, Anthony, was among the 658 New York employees at Cantor Fitzgerald Securities killed on the upper floors of the World Trade Center's north tower.
"I was trying to find someone who was really in need, and this little girl was living with her grandparents and they were on pension," Accorsi said. "She was going to a Catholic school and they were going to pull her out."
So Accorsi stepped in and offered to pay her tuition through high school, allowing her to continue studying at The Academy of Our Lady and now at Paramus Catholic High School.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2579703 (you must read the rest!)
(Excerpt) Read more at sports.espn.go.com ...
I don't follow sports, I so I never heard of this guy. If that's all I ever hear about him, he's still a great man.
Raoul, I am a lifelong NY Giants fan & EA (that's what we call him) has always been hated by fans for his draft picks/lack of draft picks ....etc ...usual BS from fans.
No one has ever said he was anything but a gentlemen and this confirms it....just a real person...and he is stepping down, retiring this year.
I think he is going out a winner too...the NY Giants are poised to go all the way -with the team he built as General Manager.
Lastly, poor EA has a terrible rug on top of his head and is constantly ridiculed for it!
Good on EA, I say...It' what people do when no one is watching is what character is (paraphrase of JC Watts)
God bless this man.
Go Giants
NY- 27...Ind- 14.
Amen
The Giants (Wellington Mara) have always been a class organization, and Ernie Acorsi is a great contributor. He will be missed when he's gone, but he has a good shot of going out a Super Bowl Champion. He deserves it. Go Giants!
Ok, I'm not trying to be a cynic, but wouldn't she qualify for millions of dollars as a survivor of a 9/11 victim?
Why is he paying her tuition?
Great story.
Just a thought - mom and dad were divorced - you reckon mom might have taken the money and run?
Because he is a kind and generous man, perhaps?
SoS
I don't know. It's a nice story, but it seems like the reporter is laying it on thick. That being said, there's no doubt that Acosri's a good guy and he's formed a good relationship with this girl at a time she probably needed a good role model.
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