Modern day NFL executives have role models, too. In the case of Atlanta Falcons president and CEO Rich McKay, it’s former New York Giants general manager George Young.
Young was finally elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame last year as part of the league’s Centennial class. No one was more excited than McKay, the son of former Tampa Bay Bucs and USC coach John McKay, and a long-time executive in the NFL.
“I am really jacked,” McKay said on a recent “Eye Test for Two” podcast on fullpressradio.com. “I didn’t like George. I loved George. I considered George a friend, a mentor. He was a special guy for me. I have so many memories of George, but what I loved about George was … incredible how his path got him to be, in my mind, one of those founding fathers of the NFL.
“And you say: How is that possible? He wasn’t there for the first 100 years. No, but he was there at a critical time of the league. And he did so much for the game.”
Many have echoed McKay’s sentiments regarding Young, who is credited with not only the monumental task of turning around the New York Giants in the 1980s, but creating the front office structure that many organizations have gone on to model.
Young was a five-time NFL Executive of the Year and his work with the Baltimore Colts, Miami Dolphins and Giants all resulted in championships.
