The Las Vegas Raiders have had a major shift in the organization so far this offseason. The Raiders have hired John Spytek as their new general manager and Pete Carroll is the new head coach. These two will do their best to bring the Raiders back to their old winning ways and turn things another in Las Vegas.
Spytek is well known around the National Football League. He is one, if not the best up and coming general managers in the league.
Our very own Hondo Carpenter reported that Spytek was known as the “Wizkid” when he was with the Detroit Lions early in his journey to becoming a general manager.
Carpenter talked to longtime NFL Executive Bill Keenist about Spytek on a recent episode of the “Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast”.
“John [Spytek] was an intern in the football operations department,” said NFL Executive Bill Keenist. “Not directly with me but what I would always look for in people, it is not the resume that shows you graduated number one from your class and you achieved this and that. I would look for if possible most of this comes from just getting to know the person. The intangibles, the integrity, the character, the work ethic. Because you can have all the other things but if you do not have the intangibles, the work ethic, the character, the integrity, the commitment, the servant mentality that I have tried to expose forever, I do not think you are going to make it.”
“Hearing and watching John, hearing from other people in the organization, in watching him. Obviously knowing where we came from. That he played at Michigan you know … And just knowing that culture and what it took to be successful there. And then just his drive to not only to you know work in the business but understand what it was going to take. I will start anywhere. I will start as an intern and who knows what might happen in 2025. I might be introduced as the general manager of one of the most iconic franchises in sports history let alone the NFL.”
“We were close enough to make that observation and recall you know what an impression he made on people … And I will tell you what, John did a great job with that press conference.”
