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NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Howie Roseman’s journey to becoming one of the top executives in professional sports began as an unpaid summer intern with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2000.
He rose to become the youngest general manager in the NFL at age 34 in 2010, fulfilling a childhood dream that began in elementary school when he would evaluate college players and put together a draft board.
But Roseman didn’t have immediate success and he ended up getting exiled in 2015 following a power struggle with former coach Chip Kelly. That didn’t work out for the Eagles and Roseman regained personnel control a year later after Kelly was fired.
He quickly built the franchise’s first Super Bowl championship team in 2017. Then, after a disastrous 2020 season, Roseman rebuilt the roster again and Philadelphia reached the Super Bowl two years later only to lose to the Kansas City Chiefs 38-35.
They’re back again facing the Chiefs in a rematch on Sunday in the Superdome. They wouldn’t be here if Roseman didn’t make all the right moves last offseason following an epic collapse from a 10-1 start.
“I really feel like the only thing that matters is the outcome on Sunday,” Roseman said Monday. “I’ll trade every (personal) award you can ever get for another world championship.”
There may be no other team executive who has been criticized more severely and loved more passionately than Roseman. Eagles fans once vilified Roseman but now refer to the offseason as “Howie Season” or #HowieSzn because of his ability to manage the salary cap and add players.
It was Howie season when the Eagles snatched Saquon Barkley away from the rival New York Giants and watched him run for 2,447 yards with seven touchdowns of 60-plus yards.
It was Howie season when the Eagles signed a special teams player in free agency and turned Zack Baun into an All-Pro linebacker and finalist for the AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year award.
It was Howie season when the Eagles drafted cornerback Quinyon Mitchell in the first round and added cornerback Cooper DeJean in the second, reshaping the secondary into a formidable part of the league’s No. 1 ranked defense.
“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said how good of a job Howie has done in getting these guys in here,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “Then it’s about building the team and building the habits and the guys continuing to get better. I think that’s what you’ve seen. With eight new starters on defense, really good defense in 2022, really good defense here in 2024.
So much credit to Howie and his staff, and then the guys themselves going out there and playing their (behinds) off.”
Nobody talks anymore about Roseman drafting Jalen Reagor ahead of Justin Jefferson in 2020 or J.J. Arcega-Whiteside ahead of DK Metcalf in 2019. Drafting DeVonta Smith in the first round in 2021 panned out and acquiring A.J. Brown in a trade was a steal, giving the Eagles one of the best wide receiver tandems in the league.
Selecting Jalen Hurts in the second round of the 2020 draft even when the team had Carson Wentz could be Roseman’s best pick. He selected Jordan Mailata in the seventh round in 2018 even though the Australian rugby star had never played football. He’s become one of the NFL’s best left tackles.
But Roseman won’t gloat about his success. He’s not holding any grudges against fans or media who wanted him fired.
“When you work in Philly, you know you’re one step away from banners flying over stadiums (saying “Fire Howie!”),” Roseman said. “So I think that you gotta be humble. You have to keep your head down. All that matters is winning. I said this to Nick when we hired him: ‘You win or lose.’ At the end of the day, nothing else matters. I can explain my bad moves and the reasoning behind them and the rationale that I think I had. Nobody cares. You’re judged by your record and you’re judged by the success of that. And I’m OK with that.”
Shown a photo of a season ticketholder wearing an Eagles jersey with “Howie” on the back and the No. 52 representing the Super Bowl victory over New England in February 2018, Roseman said: “Want to make him proud. One more.”
If the Eagles beat the Chiefs, fans may start referring to Super Bowl week as “Howie season” instead of just the offseason.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
