John Spytek

Last updated

John Spytek
Las Vegas Raiders
Position: General manager
Personal information
Born:August 1980 (age 44)
Career information
High school: Catholic Memorial
(Waukesha, Wisconsin)
College: Michigan (1999–2002)
Undrafted: 2003
Career history
As a staff member / executive:
Career highlights and awards

John Spytek (born August 1980) [1] is an American professional football executive and former player who is the general manager for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines and has previously worked with the Detroit Lions, Philadelphia Eagles, Cleveland Browns, Denver Broncos and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Contents

Early life

Spytek was born in August 1980 and grew up in Pewaukee, Wisconsin. [1] [2] He attended Catholic Memorial High School in Waukesha, where he played football and was a two-way end, being a starter for three years. [3] He was first-team all-league on defense and second-team all-league on offense as a senior. [4] After high school, Spytek attended the University of Michigan, where he played from 1999 to 2002 as an outside linebacker, posting a career-high of 18 tackles as a sophomore and finishing with 37 tackles in his collegiate career. [2] He was mainly used on special teams and did not record a start in his tenure with the Wolverines. [1] As a freshman at Michigan, he was teammates with Tom Brady, who was then a senior. [1]

Spytek graduated from Michigan with a bachelor's degree in general studies and later received a master's degree in sports management. [5]

Executive career

After developing an interest in scouting, Spytek began his career in 2004, working as an intern in the operations department for the Detroit Lions. [1] [6] The following year, he joined the Philadelphia Eagles as an intern for the pro personnel department. [6] He then served as a college scouting assistant for the Eagles in 2006 before then being a college/pro scout from 2007 to 2009. [6] He followed general manager Tom Heckert Jr. to the Cleveland Browns in 2010 and was named the team's director of college scouting. [1] He worked three seasons for the Browns but was fired following the 2012 season along with Heckert and several other executives. [7]

In 2013, Spytek joined the Denver Broncos as a Southwest area scout, and he was promoted the following year to national scout. [8] He was a member of the Broncos' Super Bowl 50 championship team. [9] In 2016, he was hired by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as director of player personnel. [5] He contributed to the team's acquisition of Tom Brady in 2020, who had been Spytek's college teammate more than 20 years prior. [10] [11] The Tampa Bay Times described it as "the biggest free agent acquisition in franchise history," and the Buccaneers won Super Bowl LV that year. [9] [11] He was promoted to vice president of player personnel in 2021. [12] He received another promotion, to assistant general manager, in 2023. [10]

Las Vegas Raiders

On January 24, 2025, the Las Vegas Raiders hired Spytek to be their general manager. [13]

Personal life

Spytek and his wife, Kristen, had three children. [9] Their first child, Evelyn, died aged 21 months as a result of cytomegalovirus (CMV). [14] Spytek and his wife later founded the National CMV Foundation to raise awareness of the disease. [9]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Doerschuk, Steve (July 23, 2012). "John Spytek scouts colleges for the next Browns". Canton Repository .
  2. 1 2 "John Spytek". Michigan Wolverines.
  3. ↑ "How The Crusaders Line Up". Waukesha Freeman . August 25, 1998. p. 33 – via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  4. ↑ "Wonago's defense rewarded on on-league team". Waukesha Freeman . November 17, 1998. p. 17 – via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  5. 1 2 "Buccaneers hire John Spytek as Director of Player Personnel". Bay News 9. February 16, 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 Wade III, James W. (June 3, 2010). "BROWNS MAKE CHANGES IN PERSONNEL DEPARTMENT". Cleveland.com .
  7. ↑ "Browns fire director of college scouting John Spytek and pro scouts A.J. Durso, Tom Headlee". Akron Beacon Journal . May 1, 2013.
  8. ↑ Stroud, Rick (January 26, 2022). "Bucs' John Spytek to interview for Raiders' GM job" . Tampa Bay Times .
  9. 1 2 3 4 Laine, Jenna (November 6, 2021). "Tampa Bay Buccaneers exec John Spytek to honor late daughter in NYC Marathon". ESPN.
  10. 1 2 Reed, Tashan (January 9, 2025). "Raiders general manager candidates: John Spytek, Champ Kelly and 8 other potential fits". The Athletic .
  11. 1 2 Stroud, Rick (January 13, 2022). "Vikings ask to interview Bucs' John Spytek for GM opening". Tampa Bay Times – via archive.ph.
  12. ↑ Strackbein, Noah (February 12, 2022). "Steelers Add Buccaneers VP to GM Search". Sports Illustrated .
  13. ↑ "Raiders name John Spytek General Manager". raiders.com. January 24, 2025. Retrieved January 24, 2025.
  14. ↑ Stroud, Rick (April 20, 2016). "Family of Bucs executive raises awareness of CMV birth defect" . Tampa Bay Times .
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