Longtime New York Giants director of player personnel Tom Boisture died this morning at the age of 79.
The club announced that Boisture lost his battle with leukemia. Boisture was hired by the Giants in 1980 and stayed for 20 years, helping develop the roster of two Super Bowl winning clubs under general managers George Young and Ernie Accorsi.
“I always enjoyed working for him,” said National Football Post contributor Greg Gabriel, who worked under Boisture with the Giants. “He treated me very, very well and we were good friends.
“He had a system that he used that was actually an offshoot of what Bucko Kilroy did in New England, where Tom came from. It was similar to what Gil Brandt developed in Dallas. And Tom stuck to that scouting system. He was a firm believer in the old saying that owners own, coaches coach and scouts scout.”
The Giants acquired many of their franchise greats while Boisture was there, including Lawrence Taylor, Carl Banks, Michael Strahan and Mark Bavaro.
“Tom was a great talent evaluator and was an important part of our success in the 1980's,” said owner John Mara in the story released by the team. “The players he drafted revitalized our franchise. He was also a wonderful person and we will miss him dearly.”
Boisture coached in college before becoming a scout. He worked at the University of Houston and was the head coach at Holy Cross.
The National Football Post sends its condolences to the family and friends of Boisture.
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Brad Biggs covers the Bears for the Chicago Tribune