WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J. -- New York Giants coach Jim Fassel didn't need much time to recruit the team's latest fan -- his newfound son.

	John Mathieson, center, poses with his new family after a news conference in New Jersey. He is flanked by his birth parents, Giants coach Jim Fassel and wife Kitty.

John Mathieson was asked if he planned to switch allegiance from the Denver Bronocs to the Giants now that he has learned Fassel is his father.

"Yes, he does," Fassel interjected.

Mathieson, a 34-year-old car salesman from Colorado, laughed.

"I guess I'm going to be switching here real quick," he said.

Fassel and his wife, Kitty, gave up their son for adoption while still unmarried college students in California 34 years ago. After years of searching, they finally spoke to Mathieson on Mother's Day and met with him several days later at his home in Highlands Ranch, Colo.

The Fassels and three of their other four children met the media Wednesday along with Mathieson and his wife at the Hilton Hotel in Woodcliff Lake, near the Fassel home in Ho-Ho-Kus.

Speaking to more than a dozen reporters and 10 television cameras, Mathieson said he expected publicity but does not relish it. "We expect this to die pretty quick," he said.

Jim and Kitty were 19 when they gave up their son days after his birth, April 5, 1969. Fassel said they privately acknowledged his birthday each year and wondered how he was.

Fassel knew that Mathieson had been adopted by a family in Colorado. He and Kitty never told anyone, aside from their parents. But about 17 years ago, while head coach at Utah, he confided in his recruiting coordinator, a good friend.

"I had him blanket the state of Colorado, which he recruited, for any guy that even remotely possible to a prospect that had that birthdate," Fassel said. But by then, Mathieson and his family had moved to Pittsburgh.

As an adult, Mathieson had learned that his birth parents were a "Jim and Kathryn" -- Kitty's given name -- from California. He scanned yearbooks looking for an echo of his face.

Neither he nor Fassel made much headway until July, when Colorado laws changed to allow agencies to attempt reunifications with written consent from both sides.

With a reunion more likely, the Fassels told their children, ages 29 to 21, in late December. Those at the news conference (Brian, 27, had to work) said they were thrilled to meet their older brother.

"I think it's just awesome," said Jana, 24, the lone female sibling. "I'm like the luckiest sister in the whole world."

"All my brothers are the same, and bringing in John, he's identical to all of us in just the way he talks, and he gets ready to rule the conversation just like all of us," she said.

The former older brother -- coincidentally named John -- said it was shocking at first but is now wonderful. "It's great to have a new brother who's just like us -- wild and joking," said John Fassel, 29.

John and Kristi Mathieson said their four daughters, ages 9 years to 13 months, are also thrilled.

"They love it. Four little girls have six more people to dote on them," Mathieson said.

Mathieson, sales manager for Kuni Lexus in Littleton, Colo., played linebacker at South Hills and Brashears high schools in Pittsburgh, then joined the Army.

After seven years, he married Kristi and they settled in Colorado in 1994, just several months after Fassel left as the Broncos offensive coordinator to become an assistant with the Oakland Raiders.

"I've been a football fan my whole life," Mathieson said. "I've had an immense amount of respect for him as a football coach all along."

Fassel's three younger sons have been on the field with him during games -- Jana is awaiting her turn -- and on Wednesday the coach offered an invitation to his oldest -- and newest -- son.

"It always is neat for me to have my boys working the sideline during a game. Hopefully John can find the time to get back here and get down there," Fassel said.