Ernie Accorsi, the former NFL general manager whose career stretched from the Baltimore Colts to the Cleveland Browns to the New York Giants, has died at 84, the Giants announced Sunday.
For all the places his work took him, Accorsi never really left Hershey. He was born there on Oct. 29, 1941, grew up playing on the fields across from the chocolate plant, and remained tied to central Pennsylvania throughout his life.
His connection to football started early. As a teenager, he spent $2.50 to watch an NFL preseason game in Hershey in 1956, when Johnny Unitas was making 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.
That reporting career included one of the big scoops of his era: he broke the news of Wilt Chamberlain’s trade from the Philadelphia 76ers to the Los Angeles Lakers. He later spoke with now-retired PennLive columnist David Jones about what it was like to watch Chamberlain play.
He also built a long friendship with former Penn State coach Joe Paterno, one that lasted more than 40 years. Accorsi worked at Penn State as an assistant sports information director from 1969 to 1970, before he was hired by the then-Baltimore Colts.
“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,” Accorsi told PennLive’s Bob Flounders after Paterno’s death in 2012.
From there, Accorsi climbed steadily on the NFL’s executive side. He became general manager of the Colts from 1982-1983, general manager of the Browns from 1985-1992 and general manager of the Giants from 1998-2006.
His imprint on the Giants was huge. He was the second general manager inducted into the team’s Ring of Honor, and he helped bring in coach Tom Coughlin while also brokering the draft deal that landed Eli Manning.
After he retired in 2006, the Giants tied him to their 2007 Super Bowl title and gave him a championship ring. Accorsi later told the Patriot-News’ Andrew Linker what he said to the team as he stepped away.
“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.”
Across 16 years as a general manager, Accorsi’s teams won six division championships among the nine that reached the playoffs.
Back home, his accomplishments were recognized in 2009 with induction into the Capital Area Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, followed by the Hershey Hall of Fame in 2012.
Even in retirement, Hershey stayed central to his life. He served as a speaker for the John Travers Awards, and in 2009 he summed up his lifelong connection to the town this way:
“No matter where ever I lived, Hershey has always been home,” he said in 2009.
Accorsi’s son Patrick, in a joint Facebook post with his family announcing his death, also recalled a teenage exchange that captured the confidence he carried long before he became a football power broker.
“Ernie, what career would you like to pursue?” his Hershey High School guidance counselor asked.
“I am going to be the General Manager of the New York Yankees,” he responded.
The counselor tried to point him in another direction. Four decades later, when Accorsi was inducted into the Hershey High School Hall of Fame, he had a chance to set the record straight with that same guidance counselor.
In Other News...
Phillies Right Field Gamble Became An Offseason Misfire Fast
The Phillies went into the offseason looking for a cleaner answer in right field, and Adolis Garcia was supposed to be part of it. Philadelphia signed him to a one-year deal with the idea that he could help fill the spot left behind by Nick Castellanos, but the fit never really materialized the way the club hoped.
Garcia's season ended after 67 games once injury sent him to season-ending surgery, and the production had already fallen well short of expectations. He finished with a career-worst -0.9 bWAR, seven home runs and a .599 OPS, a disappointing return for a move that was meant to stabilize a key lineup spot. [Read more 🡒]
Phillies Now Have A Surprising Say In Milwaukees Playoff Path
The Phillies find themselves with an unexpectedly relevant role in the Brewers postseason race, even though Milwaukee has already wrapped up the National League Central. The Brewers are now on the doorstep of locking down a first-round bye, and the path is simple enough: one more win, or help from elsewhere, and they would secure one of the top two seeds in the league.
Philadelphias part in that picture is what makes this worth watching. A Phillies win over Milwaukee would knock the Brewers magic number to zero, while an Atlanta loss to Cincinnati would do the same, adding a little extra intrigue to a late-season series that suddenly carries more than just standings value for the home side. If Milwaukee finishes the job, it would guarantee the kind of playoff setup every contender wants, with a bye and the benefit of opening the Division Series at home. [Read more 🡒]
Phillies Clearly Escaped A Bigger Problem By Moving On From McGarry
Griff McGarrys 2026 season offered a blunt reminder of why the Phillies were willing to move on. Once viewed as a pitcher with enough stuff to make teams dream on upside, he spent the year bouncing through three organizations and never found the strike zone often enough to make it stick. Across the Phillies and Dodgers systems, his control issues kept piling up, and the results at Triple-A Oklahoma City reflected it.
He finished with a 7.48 ERA and a 2.28 WHIP, numbers that underscore how far the outing has drifted from the promise. Even so, McGarry has still shown he can miss bats and keep the ball from being hit hard, which is usually enough to keep a right-hander like him on someones radar. He will hit free agency this offseason, and while Philadelphia clearly dodged a bigger headache by moving on, another club may still be tempted to take a shot. [Read more 🡒]