Volume 20 Issue 2 Article 5 2013 National Football League General Managers: An Analysis of the Responsibilities, Qualifications, and Characteristics Christopher R. Deubert Glenn M. Wong Daniel Hatman Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/mslj Part of the Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law Commons Recommended Citation Christopher R. Deubert, Glenn M. Wong & Daniel Hatman, National Football League General Managers: An Analysis of the Responsibilities, Qualifications, and Characteristics, 20 Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports L.J. 427 (2013). Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/mslj/vol20/iss2/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports Law Journal by an authorized editor of Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law Digital Repository. \\jciprod01\productn\V\VLS\20-2\VLS205.txt unknown Seq: 1 14-JUN-13 13:20 Deubert et al.: National Football League General Managers: An Analysis of the Res NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE GENERAL MANAGERS: AN ANALYSIS OF THE RESPONSIBILITIES, QUALIFICATIONS, AND CHARACTERISTICS CHRISTOPHER R. DEUBERT1, GLENN M. WONG2, AND DANIEL HATMAN3 I. INTRODUCTION One of the most desirable jobs in all of sports is undoubtedly that of General Manager (GM). A GM is generally responsible for the overall control and direction of the organization, including, perhaps most importantly, the success of the team on the field, court or rink. Perhaps the keen interest in being a GM is best ex- emplified through fantasy sports. Fantasy sports enable the fantasy team’s owner to control an organization and select its players in the hopes of winning a championship. The Fantasy Sports Trade Asso- ciation places the number of fantasy sports participants around 35 million Americans.4 Research has also shown a positive correlation between players starting in football fantasy leagues for a particular week and the television rating for those games.5 This correlation indicates that fans actively track “their” players and are vested in their results. The fan, in this case, is afforded the opportunity to conduct themselves like a GM: to select players, build a roster and see the outcomes in real time. With an ever growing pool of people 1. Associate, Peter R. Ginsberg Law, LLC, New York, NY; J.D./M.B.A., Ford- ham University School of Law and Graduate School of Business, New York, NY; B.S., Sport Management, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA. The authors would like to thank Kate Mullaney, M.B.A./M.S., Sport Management, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, for her assistance with this article. 2. Professor, Department of Sport Management, Isenberg School of Manage- ment, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA; J.D., Boston College Law School; B.A. Brandeis University. Professor Wong is the author of ESSENTIALS OF SPORTS LAW (4th ed. 2010) and THE COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO CAREERS IN SPORTS (2nd ed. 2012). 3. Pro Scout, Philadelphia Eagles, Philadelphia, PA; M.B.A./M.S., Sport Man- agement, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA; B.A., Psychology, State Uni- versity of New York at Albany, Albany, NY. 4. See Fantasy Sports Trade Association, http://fsta.org/ (last visited Feb. 20, 2013) (stating market size at over 35 million adults). 5. See John A. Fortunato, The Relationship of Fantasy Football Participation with NFL Television Ratings, 3 JOURNAL OF SPORT ADMINISTRATION & SUPERVISION 74, 74- 90 (2011), available at http://quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jsas/6776111.0003.114?rgn= main;view=fulltext (listing viewership for certain games and active players). (427) Published by Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law Digital Repository, 2013 1 \\jciprod01\productn\V\VLS\20-2\VLS205.txt unknown Seq: 2 14-JUN-13 13:20 Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports Law Journal, Vol. 20, Iss. 2 [2013], Art. 5 428 JEFFREY S. MOORAD SPORTS LAW JOURNAL [Vol. 20: p. 427 who seek to turn this fantasy into reality, who has the requisite edu- cation, experience, and skills to make their dreams come true? Longtime National Football League (NFL) writer Pat Kirwan aptly summarized the difficulties of the GM position: Running an NFL franchise isn’t easy. Can you evaluate personnel, manage a salary cap, negotiate contracts, select a head coach, handle the media, make tough decisions, cooperate with an owner, deal with the league office and, most importantly, carry out a vision for a winning franchise? If so, then you qualify for the job.6 Owners of NFL Clubs deciding on whom they want to lead their Club must ask themselves some difficult questions: What type of leader do I want? An experienced personnel man that comes in with a proven plan? A younger coach or scout with less experience but new and fresh ideas? Someone closer to the age of the owner who can relate to the boss? Someone who can recruit the best coach possible? A man who really knows the talent floating around the country in the draft and on the free agent market? How about a guy with a business-savvy approach? This article builds upon research done in our two prior arti- cles. In the article Major League Baseball General Managers: An Analy- sis of Their Responsibilities, Qualifications and Characteristics, we discussed the role of Major League Baseball (MLB) GMs, while ex- amining the evolving paths people have taken to obtain the GM position.7 In MLB, there has been a clear trend emphasizing younger, highly educated people with a statistical analysis ap- proach, while placing less emphasis on playing or coaching experi- ence.8 Similarly, in the article National Basketball Association General Managers: An Analysis of the Responsibilities, Qualifications, and Charac- teristics, we discussed the role of a National Basketball Association (NBA) GM and examined the evolving paths people have taken to 6. See Pat Kirwan, Need a GM, Here’s a short list of the best candidates, NFL.COM (Dec. 24, 2008), http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d80d9b253/article/ need-a-gm-heres-a-short-list-of-the-best-candidates. 7. Glenn M. Wong & Chris Deubert, Major League Baseball General Managers: An Analysis of Their Responsibilities, Qualifications and Characteristics, 18 NINE: J. BASE- BALL HIST. & CULTURE 74 (2010) (reviewing and analyzing General Manager posi- tion in MLB). 8. See id. at 117-21 (discussing decline of playing and coaching experience of MLB GMs and trend toward younger, highly educated individuals). https://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/mslj/vol20/iss2/5 2 \\jciprod01\productn\V\VLS\20-2\VLS205.txt unknown Seq: 3 14-JUN-13 13:20 Deubert et al.: National Football League General Managers: An Analysis of the Res 2013] NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE GENERAL MANAGERS 429 obtain the position.9 This article will discuss the many duties of an NFL GM while also discussing the qualifications and characteristics that led them to the position. Not all NFL Clubs actually employ a person entitled “GM.” Additionally, in some Clubs, the GM does not have final say in player personnel decisions. This article focuses on those individuals with final say entering the 2012 NFL season. II. THE DUTIES OF AN NFL GM10 The broad scope of an NFL GM’s professional responsibilities can be evidenced by the magnitude of NFL operations. The NFL and its thirty-two Member Clubs produced estimated revenues of $9.3 billion in 2011, or an average of nearly $300 million per team.11 The clubs share approximately 60 percent of these reve- nues equally amongst the thirty-two clubs.12 Individual clubs range in estimated value from $2.1 billion (Dallas Cowboys) to $770 mil- lion (Jacksonville Jaguars).13 While these figures are not those of Fortune 500 companies,14 NFL GMs are clearly responsible for managing high stakes organizations and must make decisions on a daily basis that greatly impact the organization both on and off the field. Depending on the organizational structure, a GM may have de- cision-making authority or advisory input in all or most aspects of the Club. The job description will certainly include football opera- tions such as coach and staff selection, management of scouting de- partments, contract negotiations and most importantly, player 9. See Glenn M. Wong & Chris Deubert, National Basketball Association General Managers: An Analysis of the Responsibilities, Qualifications and Characteristics, 18 VILL. SPORTS & ENT. L.J. 213 (2011). 10. For purposes of this article, the term GM will focus on the person in the front office who has “final say” in football operations and player personnel matters. This could be an owner, as in the case of Mike Brown with the Cincinnati Bengals or Jerry Jones with the Dallas Cowboys, or it could also be a coach, like Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots. 11. See Sports Industry Overview, PLUNKETT RESEARCH, http://www.plunkettre- search.com/sports-recreation-leisure-market-research/industry-statistics (last vis- ited Feb. 20, 2013) (listing estimates following 2011 season). 12. See Bruce Garrioch, NHL CBA Negotiations Set to be Front Page News, OT- TAWA SUN, (Aug. 11, 2012), http://www.ottawasun.com/2012/08/11/nhl-negotia- tions-set-to-be-front-page-news (stating NFL clubs share more than 60 percent of revenue). 13. See Mike Ozanian, Cowboys Most Valuable NFL Team, FORBES (Sept. 5, 2012), http://www.forbes.com/nfl-valuations/ (valuing Cowboys at $2.1 billion). 14. See Fortune 500, CNNMONEY (May 21, 2012) http://money.cnn.com/ magazines/fortune/fortune500/2012/full_list/401_500.html (noting 500th com- pany listed on Fortune 500, Molina Healthcare, earned revenues of approximately $4.7 billion in 2011, more than half of revenues of all NFL Clubs combined). Published by Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law Digital Repository, 2013 3 \\jciprod01\productn\V\VLS\20-2\VLS205.txt unknown Seq: 4 14-JUN-13 13:20 Jeffrey S.