New York ? Every NFL fan owes a huge debt to Wellington Mara, who died Tuesday at 89.

So does every owner, executive and player.

Mara, who joined the New York Giants as a ballboy the day his father purchased the team 80 years ago and became co-owner as a teenager, was the face of the franchise for more than a half century.

But he also was the patriarch of the NFL, a man who was willing for more than 40 years to split the millions in television revenues he could have made in the nation’s largest market with the Green Bays and Pittsburghs of the league.

It put the NFL at the top of America’s sports hierarchy.

“He shaped nearly every rule and philosophy we have in our league today,” said Ernie Accorsi, the Giants general manager. “Most of all, he was the moral conscience of the National Football League. He now joins the pantheon of incredible men who made this league what it has become.”

Said commissioner Paul Tagliabue: “Wellington Mara represented the heart and soul of the National Football League. He was a man of deep conviction who stood as a beacon of integrity. When Well Mara stood to speak at a league meeting, the room would become silent with anticipation because all of us knew we were going to hear profound insights born of eight decades of league experience.”

The last of the NFL’s founding generation, Mara, elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1997, died of cancer at his home in Rye, the team said.

New York Giants owner Wellington Mara, left, hand the Super Bowl trophy to coach Bill Parcells, right. The Giants defeated the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXI on Jan. 25, 1987, in Pasadena, Calif. Brent Musburger of CBS is in the middle. Mara died Tuesday at age 89.

One of Mara’s greatest contributions came in the early 1960s, when he and brother Jack agreed to share television revenue on a leaguewide basis soon after Pete Rozelle became commissioner. That deal allowed the NFL to thrive and remains in place today.

“Wellington Mara was a true pioneer who understood what it took to make the National Football League great,” said Gene Upshaw, executive director of the NFL Players Association. “History will show that his vision, integrity and willingness to share with small-market clubs paved the way for economic success.”

In 1989, Mara and group of older owners wanted Rozelle’s successor to be Jim Finks, then the New Orleans general manager, rather than Tagliabue, then a league lawyer. Mara thought the league should be run by a football man.

But Mara and several other “old-guard” owners finally agreed to break a stalemate of four months by throwing their votes to Tagliabue. Mara became one of the new commissioner’s staunchest supporters, a man Tagliabue often leaned on for advice.

Mara became a Giants’ ballboy at age 9 on Oct. 18, 1925, after his father, Timothy J. Mara, bought the team. He stayed fully involved in New York’s operation for almost 80 years, except for the three years he served in the Navy during World War II. Until he became ill last spring, he attended most practices and every game.

In 1930, at 14, his father made him co-owner with older brother Jack. He ran the club until several years ago, when his son John took over day-to-day operations. But from 1979 on, while the team was run by general managers George Young and Ernie Accorsi, Mara had final say on football decisions. He was the one who decided to fire Jim Fassel after the 2003 season and replace him with Tom Coughlin.

Coughlin remembered Mara as an owner who stayed away from the coaches – except when he was needed.

“I’ll never forget when I was here as an assistant in 1988,” he said. “We lost the last game of the year to the New York Jets and didn’t go into the playoffs. The next day he was in the coaches’ meeting room, and he went from coach to coach, shaking everybody’s hand. In 1989 we were in the playoffs, and the next year we won the Super Bowl. We never saw him at that time. He didn’t have to be there. He was there when he was needed. He always said and did the right thing.”

Before Sunday’s game against Denver, Coughlin told his players of Mara’s condition. The Giants won on a touchdown pass from Eli Manning to Amani Toomer with five seconds left. In the locker room after the game, the players chanted “Duke, Duke, Duke,” Mara’s nickname.

Manning later said he had been told by one of Mara’s grandsons that the owner awakened in time to see the winning play, then smiled and went back to sleep.

Two other Giants standouts, Tiki Barber and Jeremy Shockey, went Monday to Mara’s home.

“We were able to say a prayer and say goodbye, and that meant a lot to me,” Barber said.