Ernie Accorsi, the Hershey native who rose to become one of the NFL’s most influential front-office figures, has died. The New York Giants announced Sunday that Accorsi was 84.
His football life reached across multiple franchises, but his roots never left central Pennsylvania. Born Oct. 29, 1941, in Hershey, Accorsi grew up playing on the fields across from the chocolate plant, he told the Patriot-News in 2009. As a teenager, he spent $2.50 to take in an NFL preseason game in Hershey in 1956, when Johnny Unitas made his pro debut.
Accorsi graduated from Hershey High School in 1959, then attended Wake Forest University in North Carolina. Before moving into sports management, he worked as a reporter for the Charlotte News, the Baltimore Sun and the Philadelphia Inquirer.
While covering sports, he broke the news of Wilt Chamberlain’s trade from the Philadelphia 76ers to the Los Angeles Lakers. He also spoke with now-retired PennLive columnist David Jones about what it was like to watch Chamberlain play.
His path eventually took him into the NFL executive ranks, where he became general manager of the Baltimore Colts from 1982-1983, the Cleveland Browns from 1985-1992 and the New York Giants from 1998-2006. In 16 years as a general manager, Accorsi had six division championship teams among the nine that reached the playoffs.
The Giants later put him in their Ring of Honor as the second general manager to receive that distinction. He was also the man behind hiring coach Tom Coughlin and making the draft-day move that brought Eli Manning to New York. After the Giants won the Super Bowl in 2007, the team credited Accorsi, by then retired, and gave him a championship ring.
When he stepped away in 2006, Accorsi remembered telling the Giants, “I told them to trust each other and be good teammates, because there’s a championship in this room. Those are the last words I said to them. ... I just didn’t know it would happen this year.”
Accorsi also built lasting ties in college football. He worked at Penn State as an assistant sports information director from 1969 to 1970, when he was hired by the then-Baltimore Colts, and he remained friends with former Penn State coach Joe Paterno for more than 40 years. After Paterno’s death in 2012, he told PennLive’s Bob Flounders, “I can tell you that there wasn’t a day that went by during my time at Penn State that I didn’t learn something from that man.”
Back in his hometown, Accorsi was inducted into the Capital Area Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 2009 and the Hershey Hall of Fame in 2012. He also served as a speaker for the John Travers Awards in retirement. Reflecting on his life in 2009, he said, “No matter where ever I lived, Hershey has always been home,”
His son Patrick, in a joint Facebook post with his family announcing his death, recalled a childhood exchange that captured Accorsi’s ambition. When a Hershey High School guidance counselor asked, “Ernie, what career would you like to pursue?” Accorsi answered, “I am going to be the General Manager of the New York Yankees.”
The counselor tried to steer him toward another path. Four decades later, when Accorsi was inducted into the Hershey High School Hall of Fame, he had the chance to set the record straight with that same guidance counselor.
In Other News...
Penn State Already Has A New QB Question Fans Can't Ignore
Penn States non-conference tune-up slate against Marshall, Temple and Buffalo did not leave the quarterback picture any clearer, even with Rocco Becht opening all three games. The starter showed he can push the ball downfield, but the offense never got fully settled with him, and the red zone remains a problem area the staff still has to sort through.
Redshirt freshman Alex Manske also got his chances, and he looked capable enough to keep the conversation going with a handful of accurate throws and a few near completions that hinted at more upside. Connor Barry even saw the field, which only added to the sense that this is more than a one-man evaluation, and Manske appears to be positioning himself as the name to watch when Penn State starts thinking about next year. [Read more 🡒]
Bill OBrien Just Added Weight To Penn States Matt Campbell Bet
Bill OBriens take carried a little extra weight because he knows both sides of this equation. The former Penn State head coach, now at Boston College, publicly backed Matt Campbell as the Nittany Lions new leader, praising the hire and pointing to the scale of the job in State College. OBrien has lived the pressure and the expectations that come with that chair, so his approval is the kind of detail Penn State fans notice.
Campbell also has a small connection point through one of his past staffing moves, having hired a former Boston College assistant. Its another reminder that big college football decisions are rarely made in a vacuum, and Penn States new coach is stepping into a job with real history attached to it. OBriens endorsement does not settle every question, but it does add another layer to the early read on how Campbell fits the role. [Read more 🡒]
Penn State Suddenly Has A Backfield Question Fans Will Notice
Quinton Martin Jr. was back in the conversation against Buffalo after sitting out Penn States game against Temple, and the change did not happen by accident. The young back responded by putting in the work on the practice field, caught the attention of coach Matt Campbell, and then earned meaningful snaps when the Nittany Lions got another look at their rotation. His payoff came with 10 carries for 100 yards, a strong reminder that opportunities in the backfield can come quickly when a player keeps pressing.
Martin has also drawn notice from teammates, which matters in a room where every rep is evaluated closely. The bigger question now is how Penn State sorts out those carries going forward, especially with Martin making it clear he wants to keep improving and force his way into more playing time. For a team still shaping its backfield pecking order, his response to one missed game has only made the next decisions more interesting. [Read more 🡒]