mara soon realized that his purchase of the team did not yield a home field nor any players, coaches, or equipment. harry march, who was part of the group that convinced mara to buy the team from the league, helped him establish the team by taking a job as the team's secretary. march guiding him through the team's early years, handling the personnel decisions. mara rented the polo grounds as the team's stadium, and march developed a strategy that hinged on acquiring college stars such as jim thorpe. at 37 years old, thorpe was a shadow of his former self, and although he signed with the team, his contract required that he only play parts of games during the early portion of the season, until he got into shape, at which point he would play full games. he played only the first regular season game however, before ending his giants career due to injury. his absence would severely hurt the team's monetary outlook for the season.