The Philadelphia Eagles are on top of the football world for the second time in the past eight years after one of the greatest beatdowns in Super Bowl history. The players obviously deserve the lion’s share of the credit, but some praise should also be directed at the architect of the best roster in football: Howie Roseman.
The Eagles’ long-time general manager has been with the team since 2000, when he was 25 and fresh out of college. He has never worked for another college or NFL program in his professional career. Beginning as a front office intern in 2000, Roseman quickly rose to the role of general manager by 2010, when he was just 34 years old.
Along Roseman’s journey, there were more than a few moments that really affected him and pushed him to continue chasing a dream he’d held onto since before high school, when he was told he was too small to play. One of those happened on a plane with NFL legend John Elway’s father when Roseman was just 10 years old, as the GM explained recently on a podcast.
“It changed my life. I was going to visit my grandparents in Florida and sitting in the back of the plane and I was reading a draft preview and I was wearing a Yankees hat and he kind of just tipped my cap and said, ‘My son used to play for the Yankees.’ And I’m like, ‘Who’s your son?’ And he said, ‘John Elway.’ (Laughs)”
Luckily for young Roseman, Jack Elway had the time to sit down and chat with the little football enthusiast he was. And that conversation, while not life-changing—he already knew he wanted to be involved with the NFL—did give him the confidence to keep pushing.
“And he just sat and talked to me. And at the end of the plane he handed my mom a business card and said, ‘Have him keep in touch with me, I’ve never met a kid that young who is this passionate and knew so much. And of course she threw away the business card. But I finally had someone who believed in me. And I held onto that for a long time.”
Roseman began sending letters to all 32 NFL teams as early as the late 1990s, when he was still in college. He got an interview with Mike Tannenbaum and the New York Jets in 1999, but it was not fruitful. After graduating from Fordham University School of Law, the Eagles hired Roseman to work on their salary cap as an intern.
The next year, Roseman was the salary cap staff counsel. Two years after that, he moved up to director of football administration. A couple of years later, he was promoted to vice president of football administration, and then by 2008, he was VP of player personnel. In 2010, he got the big GM job.
And after 4-5 years of essentially serving as an advisor to de facto GMs in head coaches Andy Reid and Chip Kelly, Roseman finally got full control of the roster in 2016. Just one year later, the Eagles won the franchise’s first-ever Super Bowl with a roster largely constructed by Roseman.
He took his lumps and paid his dues, but Roseman has taken off like a rocket ship since that fateful flight. Philly’s 139 regular season wins since he took over in 2010 are eighth in the NFL, and their 10 playoff wins are tied for fifth.
He has also drafted eight players who have been named a Pro Bowler or All-Pro. Not to mention young guys that simply haven’t made it yet, like DeVonta Smith, Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean, and Jordan Davis. Howie Roseman certainly deserves his flowers in the City of Brotherly Love.
