Ozzie Newsome General Manager Hire
November 22, 2002: the NFL's first African-American general manager.
Ozzie Newsome was named the first general manager of the Baltimore Ravens on November 22, 2002, becoming the first African-American general manager in the NFL. A Hall of Fame tight end for the Cleveland Browns, he had been a Browns executive from 1991 and moved with the franchise to Baltimore in 1996, and he ran the Ravens' personnel operation from the team's first season until 2018.
Quick Facts
- Successor
- Eric DeCosta, after the 2018 season
- Current role
- Executive vice president of player personnel
- Hall of fame
- College (1994), Pro Football (1999)
Reader's Guide
As a player Newsome retired with 662 catches and 7,980 yards, both Browns records, and was then the all-time leader among tight ends in receptions and yards; he entered the College Football Hall of Fame in 1994 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1999. On February 2, 2018, owner Steve Bisciotti announced that Newsome would step down after the 2018 season and that assistant general manager Eric DeCosta would succeed him. Newsome remains with the club as executive vice president of player personnel.
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