You always want the best for your kids, but sometimes, it can be difficult to invest too deeply into one of their endeavors because it seems almost too perfect and there is concern about too much of a letdown if it does not happen.
“I was thinking about that the other day,” Maurice Carthon told The Post. “It would be, I don’t know if I could take it or not, him being the general manager of the Giants.”
The “him” Carthon is referring to is Ran Carthon, his 40-year-old son, the director of player personnel for the 49ers. Ran Carthon on Monday became the eighth of nine candidates to interview for the Giants’ vacant general manager job. None of the nine NFL front office executives have any direct ties to the Giants, who are going outside their organization to find a general manager for the first time in 43 years. One of the candidates, though, does have a family tie to the Giants.
“You don’t go somewhere and win two Super Bowls and say it doesn’t hold a special place in your heart,” Maurice Carthon said.
Anyone of a certain age knows all about Maurice Carthon, a bruising fullback for the first two Super Bowl championship teams in Giants’ history. Carthon, 60, played for the Giants from 1985-91, spanning a dynamic time in franchise annals. He became known as a “Parcells guy” because Bill Parcells, the former head coach, loved him as a player and as a person, which is why Parcells named Carthon his offensive coordinator with the Cowboys in 2003 and 2004.
Carthon and another member of the 49ers front office, assistant general manager Adam Peters, interviewed with the Giants Monday via Zoom. The Giants previously held Zoom interviews with Joe Schoen (Bills assistant GM), Adrian Wilson (Cardinals vice president of pro personnel), Quentin Harris (Cardinals vice president of player personnel), Ryan Poles (Chiefs executive director of player personnel), Ryan Cowden (Titans vice president of player personnel), Monti Ossenfort (Titans director of player personnel) and Joe Hortiz (Ravens director of player personnel).
The Giants must conduct at least one interview in person with external minority candidates, according to changes in the Rooney Rule. The four minority candidates the Giants interviewed in the first round were Poles, Carthon, Wilson and Harris.
With the first round of interviews complete, the Giants will pare down their list and come up with finalists to meet in person, with a new general manager likely by the end of the week. There is no time to waste. Schoen spoke on Sunday to the Bears. Poles has attracted interest from the Vikings and Bears.
On the head coaching front, Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll — definitely a person of interest for the Giants — interviewed Sunday with the Bears and Dolphins. Brian Flores, an unexpected free agent after getting fired by the Dolphins, could have his pick of destinations. He has interviewed with the Bears and Texans, and Houston could be his landing spot, given his past working relationship with Texans general manager Nick Caserio from their time together in New England. Flores has also attracted the attention of the Giants, who are waiting to secure a general manager before diving into their head coach search.
Peters was John Lynch’s first hire with the 49ers and helped build a talent base through the NFL draft that includes George Kittle, Deebo Samuel and Fred Warner.
Ran Carthon was a running back at Florida and got into nine games with the Colts in his two years (2005-06) in the NFL. He tried coaching high school football in Miami but decided his passion was geared toward the front office. He was a scout with the Falcons for four years and ran the pro personnel department for the Rams for five years before Lynch hired him to lead the pro personnel department with the 49ers.
Taking the next step, into a general manager position, would be quite a stride.
“That’s the goal in the grand scheme of things to one day hold that position,” Carthon told reporters earlier this season, calling a general manager post “the ultimate goal, which is to ultimately lead a team myself.”
The Giants’ interview contingent of co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch, plus Chris Mara, the senior vice president of player personnel, might have congratulated both Peters and Carthon after the 49ers this past Sunday eliminated the Cowboys from the playoffs, as reveling in Cowboys misery is always in vogue around the Giants.
Carthon has spoken to Parcells about this opportunity and so has his father.
“He’s hoping he gets the job,” Maurice Carthon said.
Ran Carthon has also been contacted by the Bears about their vacant GM job.
“He’s laid all the chips down and he’s worked his butt off in several places,’’ Maurice Carthon said. “He’s paid his dues, so I say why not? I think my son can help rebuild the Giants, I definitely think that.”