THE DEFENSE RESTS: Howie Roseman
The Defense Rests: Howie Roseman
By: Violations Greg
This is another installment in the on-going series in which I use my 2nd year law-school dropout education and sports addiction to work as the defense for local sports-related personalities and athletes against public allegations, fears, accusations and charges.
[Please remember I may or may not believe these arguments, I’m just doing my job as a quasi public defender]
Thursday April 25th is one of the most anticipated days in recent Philadelphia Eagles history. This, as fans, is our first draft in over fourteen years without Andrew Walter Reid as head coach. With the fourth overall pick, this draft could place the Eagles on a journey back to the top of the NFC East or it could easily keep them among the worst teams in the NFL.
The man at the helm of the Philadelphia Eagles Draft War Room will be one Howard “Howie” Roseman. A collective aura of doubt consumes most of this city when they consider Roseman’s ability to be a successful GM. At the center of that are three basic charges.
CHARGE 1: Howie is too young to be a GM.
CHARGE 2: Howie is book-smart rather than being a “football” guy. He’s never played, been a scout, or coached.
CHARGE 3: The 2010 and 2011 Eagles drafts were unremarkable with Howie as GM.
We’ll look at each charge and see if we can create at least 51% benefit of the doubt in these charges and accusations so that we can sit down and watch the draft tonight without any doubt and cynicism.
CHARGE 1: HOWIE IS TOO YOUNG TO BE GENERAL MANAGER
It’s true that Howie is young. I believe he was the youngest GM in the NFL at the time of his hiring. But, does youth mean inability?
The framers of this great country decided that an individual must reach the age of thirty-five to be able to run for the office of President. If thirty-five is old enough to run America, it should be old enough to be a GM of a football team.
Youth didn’t stop Mike Tomlin, the youngest coach in the NFL, from winning a Super Bowl.
Theo Epstein was hired at thirty-five as GM of the Red Sox and brought them to Championship Land.
Mark Shapiro, GM of the Cleveland Indians, was thirty-four when hired. He’s twice been named Executive of the Year by the Sporting News.
Jon Daniels was twenty-eight when named GM of the Texas Rangers. He’s been named Baseball America’s Executive of the year.
Andrew Friedman is thirty-six years old and GM of the Tampa Bay Rays. He has also been named Baseball Executive of the Year by Sporting News.
Let us not forget that Mark Zuckerberg is only twenty-eight years old and is currently worth $9.4 while holding the position of Chief Executive at Facebook.
The great GM Bill Polian was only forty-four when hired as GM of the Buffalo Bills—not quite a wise old sage.
CHARGE 2: Howie is book-smart rather than being a “football” guy. He’s never played, been a scout, or coached.
Experience playing a sport is not a pre-requisite for being a successful GM.
Theo Epstein is proof positive of this.
The Tampa Bay Rays are applauded for their ability to find talent and compete with a payroll half the size of most of their competitors. Andrew Friedman, their GM, was a finance guy who worked at Bear Stearns & Co. before joining the Rays.
I know what you might be thinking, but VG these are baseball examples…what about in the NFL? That’s a different animal.
I think Rich McKay may have played high school football before going to Princeton and then to law school. McKay then worked for a law firm before entering the world of NFL front offices.
He won a Super Bowl as GM of the Tampa Buccaneers. The 1995 Tampa Draft, under McKay’s guidance, was recently named one of the top drafts in NFL history by ESPN—Warren Sapp and Derrick Brooks.
High school football, does that count as being a “football” guy?
How about Mickey Loomis? Mickey played basketball in high school, but I cannot find any record of him playing football anywhere.
I do know that Mickey was an accountant and earned his MBA from Wichita State. I do know that he’s been a successful GM for the New Orleans Saints. Mickey has won a Super Bowl with the Saints without being a “football” guy. He’s also been named NFL Executive of the Year in the past.
There are some sharp, non-athletes achieving a great deal of success as GMs in professional sports these days.
CHARGE 3: The 2010 and 2011 Eagles drafts were unremarkable with Howie as GM.
The 2010 and 2011 drafts sucked. There is one starter, Kelce, out of those two drafts’ twenty-four picks. Howie did come out and praise the Brandon Graham and Danny Watkins picks. But, I’ll argue that he was simply being a loyal, dedicated employee. He was being a Bro for his organization. That’s understandable. Throwing co-workers under the bus isn’t exactly an attribute to be looked kindly upon.
He did go overboard with his praise of Danny Watkins in press interviews. Maybe he did believe in Watkins, that debatable. If he did, maybe he was wrong. Even Bill Polian’s been wrong in the past, Tim Biakabutuka with the number eight overall pick.
Things improved in 2012. What changed? For one, Joe Banner wasn’t in the room or the organization. Did that make all the difference? The only people who know for sure are the people who were in the draft room.
Reporters have said they know for sure that some of those busts were Howie’s picks. But, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I ask you to forget those assertions as they are inadmissible as hearsay. Nobody has gone on the record as saying Howie made those picks.
It’s also a bit hard to believe that Andy Reid, an established, successful head coach with final say in personnel moves, would defer to young Howie Roseman.
In fact, one person has come forward and said, on the record, that Howie’s notes and recommendations from the past few years have been more accurate than anyone else in the organization. That is team owner, Jeffrey Lurie. So, we do have a testimony of record supporting Howie’s work over the past couple of years, i.e. Jeffrey Lurie’s press conference. We have nothing on the record to discredit that testimony, only rumors and anonymous sources.
After considering the defense of those charges, I ask you to also consider a few more things.
Howie Roseman is a persistent and dedicated individual. He’s chased a job in an NFL front office since he was in high school. He started by writing letters, then resumes, then more resumes. Front office staffs across the league knew of him and joked about whether he was normal or a stalker.
I ask you, would someone who wanted this opportunity that badly take his job and the decisions that come with it lightly? I think not.
He’s a Fordham Law guy so he must have some brains. He is smart enough to surround himself with great football minds. Tom Donahoe, architect of the 90’s Pittsburgh Steelers teams, is now the Eagles Senior Football Advisor. Remember those Steelers teams that lost free-agent after free-agent, but always had future Pro-Bowlers waiting to replace those free-agents? Donahoe was the GM during those years.
Football fans and experts praise the University of Alabama and their ability to find and sign the best football talent in the county. Well, Roseman also brought in Ed Marynowitz, former University of Alabama personnel director.
And then there is Tom Gamble. Tom worked under Bill Polian as a scout. He then worked his way up to Director of Player Personnel for the 49ers. The 49ers have grown into one of the best teams in the NFL while Gamble worked there, having a lot of success with their drafts.
So, Howie has proven he’s not an ego-maniac who is afraid of surrounding himself with quality people. In fact, he’s done just the opposite. I’d argue that the current individuals in the Philadelphia Eagles front office may make up one of the most talented front offices in all of the NFL.
He’s a smart guy. The recent free-agent signings under Roseman haven’t included any superstar, household names, but they are solid football players with some solid upside potential at average costs.
Granted, the keeping of Michael Vick as QB shows a slight flaw in his thinking process, but there’s no guarantee that Vick will be under center for the first game of the regular season. And there’s a chance that the signing of Vick was more of a tactical front-office maneuver than a football personnel move.
Howie’s persistence landed him the most sought-after college head coach in Chip Kelly. That persistence may have been learned as a 125 pound high school wrestler. That persistence landed him a job in the NFL and a front office working with him full of experienced “football” guys.
So, in closing, I say to forget about those charges and accusations. Sit down, grab a beer tonight and watch the NFL draft with optimism and hope. We, as Eagles fans, have reason to be excited, until this group proves otherwise.
The Defense Rests.