Every year we see various fanbases complain about the ownership of their favorite NFL team and wishing they would do better/sell, ect. Many dislike their ownership for perceived incompententcies in running the organization (Mark Davis, David Tepper), others dislike their owner based on personal dislike (Dan Snyder before he sold). So my question for you: what makes a good NFL owner? Should they be highly involved in team decision making ala Jerry Jones? Be way hands off like Kroenke? Does their participation in the community matter as much as winning championships? Or do you just want success?

Edit: I guess I should say, this is an excellent opportunity for Packers shareholders to pat themselves on the back

  • issue9mmBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Homer take, but Steve Bisciotti seems to be a good owner, and these are some of the observations I’ve either gleaned or imagined:

    • Care about the community you belong to. I know lots of teams do it, but it seems like the Ravens are giving back to the community *every week*, and unlike a lot of teams, where it’s new draft picks and third stringers going out and giving back, we actually have Lamar Jackson handing out turkeys to those who need them.
    • Care about your team’s culture and know how to hire for it. It’s hard to hear the words “Baltimore Ravens” on sports talk shows without a comment about how well we’re run. With *extremely* few asterisks, ex-players always brag about how much they enjoyed their tenure here. It is absolutely common when a trade happens that the traded player was more interested in us because of an ex-Raven they asked about us.
    • Care about character at every level. Yes, we’ve had bad apples on the team. Every team has and every team does… but ever since Ray Rice’s very public incident, we’ve attempted as much as possible to steer away from players with character concerns. This one kind of goes hand in hand with the one above, and maybe it’s just a homer-stance, but y’know, we weren’t pursuing anyone with $230 million worth of allegations (nor should we.)
    • Be realistic about when to push the pedal. It’s hard knowing when your SB window is open and when it isn’t, and if you put all your chips in thinking it is and are derailed by injuries, it’s hard to come back from. I think that the Rams did a great job going all-in trying to establish a new fanbase after moving from StL, but generally that’s not a workable strategy. The cap *is* real, and someone has to care for it eventually.
    • Know when to interfere. When not to. When to make a strong suggestion. Etc. This is the hardest one that I think most owners get wrong (or recency bias has Tepper in my brain) but I’m just going to leave it vague here and let you infer that this should recommend being the opposite of Dan Snyder.