Ray Anderson

EVP, NFL Operations

What is you job description and job as Executive Vice President?

We’re in charge of football operations, game operations, essentially what happens competitively on Sundays is under our responsibility, including officiating, the integrity, the safety of the game, the equitable enforcement of the rules – that go along with the game. So we have a number of functions. And frankly, that’s what makes it most fun, is that it’s kind of all over the place.

On Game Day, what do you do?

I will be out at a stadium visiting the night before with the officiating crew that’s come in to work the game, our game operations people, our security people, our stadium, our league observers will be in and around the stadium. When I’m not in a stadium, I will be here at the league office at one of our two officials command centers and the game operations to try to keep a tab with my colleagues of what’s going on at each of the stadiums.

What do you look for that might go wrong – as an executive?

We need to be attuned to anything that could potentially interrupt the playing of the game, or the flow of the game, and be able to communicate very quickly with the commissioner, and others what steps we should take. And just have your hand on every stadium, what’s going on in those regards. So it’s – it’s a tremendous responsibility that’s shared by lots of folks.

How did you adjust to your position here when you arrived?

Having been four years with the Falcons, as the Executive Vice President there, I had a pretty good idea, certainly from the club’s perspective, as to the things you needed to have and wanted to have in terms of the assistance from the League Office. I made it a point to interact with as many of the League Office folks as I could in the four years I was there, so I had a pretty good familiarity with how things were run up here and certainly had my own ideas of how we could better run them up here.

At what point in your life did you decide on sports management?

Well it was really quite by chance. I knew I was going to be a lawyer when I was nine years old. Because that’s what my father had always wanted to do. I didn’t know really until I was in my third year of law school at Harvard that I was going to focus on trying to be a sports lawyer. I interviewed with a firm in Atlanta to be a labor lawyer and that firm just happened to represent the Atlanta Falcons. And so when I got there – with the sports connection having played in college, it was kind of a natural and so I was assigned to the Falcons account. That’s when it clicked - when I said, you know what? At some point I might want to represent professional athletes. And then it was just shortly after that in fact I started doing that with my firm.

What happened when you changed from being an agent?

Actually, Arthur Blank, the owner of the Falcons, went outside the box, and he thought it would be a benefit for the person who was going to negotiate the contracts to have been on the other side of the table. It allowed me to very frankly be more sympathetic, empathetic, and yet cut through all the chase when I was negotiating and dealing with the players and agents. And, truth be told, it gave the agents a lot more comfort in dealing with me, as well, because they knew I had been in their shoes.

Is athletics – besides playing – a hidden career?

It may be in most people’s minds an afterthought. I was looking to be a normal litigating attorney, hopefully in the courtroom. And you know the sports kind of just evolved for me so I don’t think a lot of people go in to their professions thinking that I want to be in sports. Most of the resumes that come across my desk are from folks who have done something else for a while, and then all of a sudden their interest in sports is ignited some way shape or form.

Do most people concentrate on just one sport?

I’m often asked, particularly by young folks that are interested in getting into the business, what should they do? And I’m one that says: cast a wide net. Don’t just focus on the football, you know, look into basketball, look into baseball, look into hockey. Look into organized uh, tennis or golf. Uh, or even go to one of the colleges or the NCAA, because you got to get your foot in the door somehow.

Is there anything different about working for the NFL as opposed to General Motors or any other large corporation?

I don’t think there’s any question: the spot light. The perceived importance of what we’re doing. If I’m the Executive VP at Ford Motor Company, it probably wouldn’t be perceived nearly as exciting as it is that I’m Executive VP of Football Operations for the NFL. That’s just the appetite of our country. You know Sports and Entertainment.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

I’ve always been a believer in my career that it’s all about the relationships, and it’s all about the people that work with you, and you surround yourself with, so. I enjoy the people more than anything. And when you’ve got good people you tend to have a lot of good work going on around you.