Judy Coughlin, the wife of Tom Coughlin, who coached the Jacksonville Jaguars and New York Giants in the past, passed away on Tuesday morning at the age of 77.
Judy stayed by Tom’s side the entire time, whether it was while he was serving as the first head coach of Jacksonville in 1995 or when he was leading the Giants to Super Bowl victories in 2008 and 2012.
It had been 55 years since Tom and Judy tied the knot. She will be remembered by her four children and eleven grandchildren.
“Judy was an extraordinary woman in each and every respect. She had a life that was full of love, and she selflessly dedicated her heart and soul to the people around her. From the moment she gave you your first hug until she gave you your final one, Judy made you feel like an old friend. She was like a mother to everyone, both on the field and off of it. The magnitude of Judy’s passing is indescribable to anyone who was fortunate enough to have known and loved her, but the unending generosity with which she treated her fellow humans will live on forever. “Although it has devastated our hearts, we take comfort in the fact that she is no longer in pain and has found rest in the presence of our Lord,” Tom said in a statement.
Tom disclosed in the previous year that his wife had been given a diagnosis with progressive supranuclear palsy in 2020, a brain condition that is incurable and causes a person to lose the capacity to think, talk, and control movement over time.
Tom famously said in 2016, the year that he stepped down as the head coach of the Giants, “Judy is my quarterback at home, Eli [Manning] is my quarterback here,” never neglecting to emphasize the significance of her role as the matriarch of their home. In 2016, Eli Manning was the quarterback for the Giants.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the owners of the New York Giants, Steve Tisch and John Mara referred to the deceased woman as “an extraordinarily bright light for all of us,” adding that “we were blessed that she shared her enthusiasm, vitality, and love with our organization.”
Tom expressed the sorrow of losing his wife to such a terrible condition in a guest essay he wrote for the New York Times last year. He talked of Judy’s diagnosis and how tough it was for him. “Judy’s decline has been nothing but gut-wrenching and has placed me in a club with the tens of millions of other Americans who serve as a primary caregiver for a loved one,” he wrote in the letter. “Judy’s decrease has placed me in a club with the other Americans who serve as just a caregiver for a loved thing.”
Through his suffering, he communicated a powerful message to us about the significance of taking care of our loved ones:
“I do want it to be clear to the guys I coached in the NFL and college who believed that all of my wacky beliefs about dedication, discipline, and accountability disappeared when they left the field that this is not the case. The fact of the matter is that the time period is when those characteristics count the most. A friend of mine once stated that we don’t get to choose which sunset we see, which is true, but the fact that I get to walk with Judy while she watches hers is such a blessing.”
Judy was actively active with the Tom’s Jay Fund Foundation, which has raised over $13 million to support families dealing with the aftermath of childhood cancer.
