Dawn Aponte could soon make history as the first woman to lead an NFL front office. Dianna Russini of The Athletic writes that Aponte is drawing “real” interest from NFL teams that are seeking either new general managers or team presidents.
Aponte is no stranger to high-level roles. She currently serves as the NFL’s chief administrator of football operations, and she previously held high-ranking roles with the Jets, Dolphins, and Browns. Aponte started gaining momentum for GM gigs last offseason when she interviewed for the Chargers job, and she also met with the Commanders about a top front office role.
In a sport that’s historically been dominated by male leadership, Aponte’s inclusion in these job searches isn’t “about optics” nor an attempt “to demonstrate [the league’s] commitment to diversity and women in leadership,” per Russini. Rather, the executive has earned a reputation as a strong front office leader, with one source saying she’d be the perfect choice to “carry out ownership’s vision while creating streamlined processes, forcing accountability, and aligning the organization at all levels.”
Due to her lack of scouting and player personnel experience, Russini says Aponte would likely be paired with an executive who could focus solely on “the roster-building side of things.” This would better allow Aponte to handle “structure and alignment,” and her leadership and strategy skills would make her the natural leader among the new hires.
“She’s a tough, no-nonsense leader with a better resume and background in football than most of the men up for these jobs,” one coach told Russini. “This should be the year she gets a shot.”
Aponte’s name recently popped up in relation to the Jets’ front office opening. Former Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum was recently brought on by his former team to help assist in the GM search. Tannenbaum and Aponte worked alongside each other in Miami, and there’s a sentiment that Tannenbaum’s desire “to do things differently” could lead to Aponte earning a role with the organization.
Best available will due!! Man or woman!
She’s always had great press about her work. Good luck to her.
Sigh……..
“Everyone except painfully mediocre white men are just diversity hires!”
“Only white men should be hired for leadership roles that way no one is ever given a job based on their race or gender!”
“Only scared little boys in adult size bodies see the truth! Everyone else is just SHEEPLE too woke to reveal their insecurities this openly!!!”
Miss any?
Not sure what your point is here, but are you going for humor or protest? That might affect your answer pool.
This guy just got flagged lol
Given that she has a background in law, in finance, on the team side, and on the league side, she seems like a great fit to run a front office for an owner with the sense to know he doesn’t know how to run a football team. If only we had more owners like that.
Just hire the best person for the job. If Aponte is it, then hire her.