With the Super Bowl right around the corner, the Baltimore Ravens dropped the shocking news that GM Ozzie Newsome would retire after 2018.
It’s such a startling revelation. Newsome has been a member of the Ravens front office since its inception way back in 1996. Since then he has guided the franchise to one of the most successful runs any team has had since the dawn of the new millennium. All told he’s been involved with the NFL since all the way back in 1978 when he was drafted by the Cleveland Browns as a tight end. Most fans these days don’t remember a time when Newsome wasn’t involved with the game.
Still, it can be stressing even for an old vet like him. Newsome turns 62-years old in March. Age can impact the energy level and it’s possible Newsome feels like he can’t give the job the same maniacal attention he has for so many years. Besides, it’s not like there’s anything left for him to prove. Newsome was already football royalty before he got into the scouting business back in the 1990s. Now he has a chance to do something nobody else has in NFL history.
Newsome likely to be the first genuine two-time Hall of Famer
Throughout football history, there have been plenty of names who had extended runs as both players and other jobs in the business, be it coaches or front office executives. However, in most of those cases where the Hall of Fame was involved, it was mostly for one or the other. Mike Ditka was a Hall of Fame tight end and won a Super Bowl as a head coach but wasn’t a Hall of Fame coach. Tony Dungy was a solid safety in Pittsburgh as a player but got his gold jacket coaching in Tampa Bay and Indianapolis.
To date, nobody has truly had a Hall of Fame run both at their first NFL job (playing) and their second (coaching/GM). That’s about to change. Newsome was a Hall of Fame tight end in Cleveland, going to three Pro Bowls and posting 7,980 yards with 47 touchdowns. He was one of the first true pioneers of the position. Most felt he’d have a decent run as a personnel man. They couldn’t imagine what he’d end up doing.
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Under his direction, the Ravens became one of the staples of the AFC for almost two decades. They won Super Bowls in 2000 and 2012. His list of players is a who’s who of greats including three current or future Hall of Famers in Jonathan Ogden, Ray Lewis and Ed Reed. All told he’s drafted 23 Pro Bowlers during his run and made the playoffs 10 times. It’s a foregone conclusion he’ll get in again as an executive, making him the only member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame with two gold jackets.