NFL heir reportedly in NYSE scuffle

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The son of the late owner of the New York Giants got into a scuffle on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday with a fan of the Philadelphia Eagles, who had just beaten his family's team, according to a published report.

The New York Post reported that Stephen Mara tackled and choked another broker after that broker had mocked the Giants' performance against the Eagles in their 36-22 loss.

Mara is a broker at the exchange. His father, Wellington Mara, owned 50 percent of the team until his death in October 2005.

The Mara family, which has owned all or part of the Giants for 81 years, continues to own half the team. Stephen Mara's oldest brother John serves as president and chief operating officer, and two other brothers Chris and Frank, are team executives. Wellington Mara had 11 children.

The paper quotes Bob Tomasulo, 57, as saying that he had been joking back and forth with Mara about the Eagles and the Giants for years, and he was surprised when his comments Tuesday provoked an angry reaction.

Another, unnamed broker told the Post that Mara started screaming, "I'm gonna f- - -ing kill you! Don't f- - - around with my family! Don't insult my family!"

That broker told the newspaper that Tomasulo responded, "Hey, what is your problem? It's just a game!" But the broker said Mara yelled back, "No, it's not just a game, it's my f- - -ing family!" and then charged at Tomasulo.

Tomasulo told the paper that Mara just seemed to snap.

"He charged me like an animal," Tomasulo told the newspaper. "He charged me like he wanted to sack me. At first, he got me in a bear hug and bent me over a trading post. At first, I thought it was a joke. Then he proceeded to choke me. I passed out for a minute."

Mara, through a Giants spokesman, told the paper that he had tried to contact Tomasulo after the incident to apologize but had not been able to reach him as yet.

"This guy and I have gone back and forth for years about the Giants and the Eagles. He came to work with every intention of pushing my buttons, and he did, and I reacted," Mara's statement to the paper said. "I reached out to him to apologize for my part in this unfortunate incident."

An NYSE official told the Post the trading-floor scuffle was "nothing major, a slight disagreement between a couple of people."

But Tomasulo told the paper NYSE (Charts) lawyers contacted him and "to them, this is a very serious incident." He said he was treated by the exchange's medical staff.

"The doctors told me I have a bruised larynx," Tomasulo said. "My blood pressure spiked to 260 over 140." He said he didn't take Mara's apologetic phone call because "I wasn't in the mood to talk to him."

He also said he has yet to decide if he will hire a lawyer about the incident but that he would not be upset if Mara was suspended from the exchange for a number of days.

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