By Jeff Orvis
Today's topic has nothing to do with
political prognostications. You won't find any highly-charged
emotional notes here. This time, we're talking about football, but
not specifically about the recent success of Peyton Manning with the
Broncos, or the Iowa Hawkeyes or even my alma mater, the undefeated
Pleasant Valley Spartans.
There's an old saying that behind
every successful man is a loving, caring woman. It's probably an
outdated saying, since more and more women are as successful – or
more so – than their male counterparts. The point is, it's almost
impossible to succeed by yourself.
If it takes a village to raise a
child, as Hillary Clinton very wisely pointed out, it appears that it
takes a virtual army to ensure the success of a pro football team.
Even on the high school level, the quarterback or wide receiver may
grab the headlines for a great performance. But even before he
stepped out on the field, somebody had to make sure he had a chin
strap, his helmet was adjusted properly and his ankles were taped. I
speak from personal experience, after spending my high school years
as one of those behind-the-scenes guys on my high school team.
Back then, our high school team
existed with a head coach, a couple of assistants and a couple of
student trainers who doubled as equipment guys. Most larger high
schools now have an adult trainer and there's usually a doctor on
scene at games and and ambulance standing by on the sidelines.
It would appear that as the caliber
and level of play and the accompanying national noteriety increases,
so do the available resources for a football program and the number
of folks it takes to make sure the success continues. A small college
team might have four or five assistant coaches and three or four
trainers, equipment people, etc. Major colleges might have three or
four times that number.
As a longtime fan of the Chicago
Bears, I was wondering how many people worked on a daily basis to try
and produce a winner. So I did a quick computer search and downloaded
five pages of the Bears' staff directory. There are more than 160
positions listed and that doesn't even include the 53 players on the
active roster or the eight-member practice squad.
There are nine members on the board of
directors, with six of them members of the McCaskey family. The
management division lists seven positions. Nine people are needed for
the accounting department and five work in information technology.
One of the more interesting divisions is the administration division.
Twenty-five positions are listed here and includes team and building
operations, stadium operations, three “stadium experience”
personnel, four groundskeepers and five security people.
Two men are in charge of business
development. The corporate communications division has 32 staff
members who are in charge of media relations, broadcast operations,
community relations, player appearances, the team web site and even a
mascot coordinator.
Five positions are listed under
“football administration and legal counsel. The sales and marketing
department has 30 positions. The coaching staff has 20 positions.
There are three assistant athletic trainers, four in charge of
equipment, ten in player personnel and four in video services.
So now you have some idea what it
takes to run an NFL team. Some former standouts from Iowa colleges
were hired for various team practice squads. Each team can have eight
players on that team. While each of the 53 members on the active
roster are paid at least $390,000 per year, practice squad members
receive a minimum of $85,000 a year. It's a chance for them to
continue their dream, but hardly gold bling or expensive sports car
territory.
There's much more to a Sunday game
than suiting up and throwing a football on the field. Somebody back
home has to be in charge of the transporting, feeding and lodging of
perhaps 80 or more members of the traveling party each time the team
goes out of town.
Thinking about all of the details each
game takes might make your head hurt. But sometimes it's nice to
realize that before Jay Cutler threw that first touchdown pass, a lot
of things had to happen just right, thanks to that small army.
