Randy Mueller: Seeing the NFL through the eyes of a GM
New York TimesFor a kid who grew up in a small logging town in Idaho, the thought of a career in the National Football League was never a goal. Never, even after being lucky enough to join the Seattle Seahawks as a ball boy at age 17 and then again when I was hired as a full-time “staff assistant in Pro Scouting” upon graduation from college, did I ever even say to myself, “I want to be a general manager in the NFL.” Nope, not once. Having an office down the hall from the likes of Chuck Knox, Tom Flores, Dennis Erickson, Mike Holmgren, Jim Haslett and Nick Saban gave me a front-row seat to experience some of the best leadership, consensus building, people skills and football acumen that a small town, Division III college quarterback could ever imagine. Having spent my whole adult life as a team builder and inside walls where decisions get made at the highest level of professional sports, my reactions to the news and my instincts as to what may be around the next corner might be a bit different than most. Consider me your own personal NFL general manager, and as the late, great Bill Withers said in his 1972 song, “Use Me” as such.
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