This is an excerpt from the featured column in "Tuesday Morning Quarterback" from ESPN. Kudos to Gregg Easterbrook for digging this stuff on NFL team managements. Maybe someone should type this in size 14, bold face and send it to the NFLPA pdq.
NFL teams typically have about $250 million in revenue -- about the estimated annual revenue of Craigslist -- yet most NFL teams have more fancy titles than entire European governments. Here is a sampling, based on directories in the league's current Record and Fact Book:
"Baltimore has an owner, a president, an executive vice president, a senior vice president, 12 regular vice presidents, one senior director and 13 regular directors. Buffalo has a vice president for stadium operations, though the Bills do not own their stadium, and two people with the title "scout emeritus." Cleveland has an owner, a president, a general manager, a senior vice president, four regular vice presidents, 17 directors (Cleveland is the league leader for directors) and an "executive advisor."
Houston has a "chairman and CEO," two vice-chairmen, a general manager, a president, a senior vice president, five regular vice presidents, a director of football administration, a director of football operations, 13 other directors and a risk manager. Jacksonville has two people with the title "chairman and CEO," a senior vice president for football operations, an executive director of football operations, three other executive directors and a general manager.
Miami has an owner/chairman of the board, a CEO, a "president and COO," an executive vice president/ football operations (that's Bill Parcells), a general counsel for football operations (Parcells has his own full-time lawyer), a general manager, three senior vice presidents, a regular vice president, a senior director, nine regular directors and a team security investigator -- which sounds like someone whose job is to investigate all the other guys just mentioned.
New England has a "chairman and CEO," a COO, a president, a chief administrative officer, eight vice presidents, a director of strategic initiatives, a director of operational initiatives, a senior advisor, a director of research, a publisher and this year's Title of the Year -- a director of head coach administration. The head coach has his own administrator!
The Jets have a "chairman and CEO," three executive vice presidents, a senior executive, 10 senior directors, eight regular directors and a coordinator for equipment. San Diego has an owner, a "president and CEO," a league-best seven executive vice presidents, a senior executive and 13 people with the titles of director or vice president.
Tennessee has an "owner/chairman/CEO/president," a senior executive vice president, three regular executive vice presidents, three regular vice presidents, three senior directors, nine regular directors, two general managers, an operations manager, a national supervisor, a general counsel, an assistant general counsel -- how often do the Titans get sued? -- plus Jeff Fisher is "executive vice president/head coach."
Atlanta sure wants good press, as it has a vice president for football communications, a senior director of media relations, a director of community relations, a football communications manager and a football communications coordinator. Carolina has an owner/founder, two presidents, a general manager, a director of team administration, a director of team operations, two executive producers and 11 other directors. Chicago has a chairman, a secretary (who is ranked second in the organization -- like the secretary of state?), a "president and CEO," a general manager, nine senior directors and 17 regular directors, including a director of creative services.
Dallas has an owner/president/general manager, a COO/executive vice president/director, an executive vice president/vice president of management/president, an executive vice president/chief marketing officer, a CFO and 13 directors. Green Bay -- the only publicly owned NFL team -- has a "president and CEO," an executive vice president/general manager/director of football operations, a vice president for football administration, a senior vice president, two regular vice presidents and 15 directors. The Giants have a president/CEO, a chairman/executive vice president, a senior vice president/general manager, two other senior vice presidents, eight regular vice presidents and 13 directors, including two people with the same title, "director of information technology."
Philadelphia has a senior vice president for public affairs and government relations -- a lobbyist. San Francisco has two people with the title co-chairman/owner, a president, a general manager, a COO, an executive vice president for football operations, a regular vice president for football operations, five other vice presidents, an executive director, a senior director, a senior manager and 11 regular directors. Seattle has a chairman, a CEO, a president, a COO, a CFO, five vice presidents, a director of communications and broadcasting and a director of communications. Tampa has an owner/president, three co-chairmen, a general manager, a vice president, a senior director, 11 regular directors and six managers.
Washington has an owner, a CFO, a COO, an executive vice president for football operations, a regular vice president for football operations, three senior vice presidents, an executive director and five regular directors.
Now here's the killer stat: If the U.S. government had the same ratio of titles to revenue as the Washington Redskins, the United States would have 16,000 presidents and 80,000 vice presidents.
