Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com
Published - Thursday, January 31, 2008
Brandt leaving team to pursue other opportunities
 Andrew Brandt |
GREEN BAY — To pursue other opportunities.
You’ve read it over and over, often on the sports pages, when someone resigns — or gets unofficially fired.
So usually, it’s code for something else, something considerably more complicated or, often, sinister.
But in the case of Green Bay Packers vice president of player finance Andrew Brandt, well, for once it’s actually true.
Brandt resigned Monday, and as he sat at home with wife Lisa and sons Sam and Max, he admitted that he reached his decision without having another job lined up because, in part, he didn’t feel right job hunting while working for the club that hired him in 1999 as its chief negotiator of player contracts.
“Who knows what the future brings?” asked Brandt, who has worked as a general manager (of the World League’s Barcelona Dragons in 1992), a college professor (teaching sports law and business at George Washington and American University), a player agent (representing ex-Packers quarterback Matt Hasselbeck and former Heisman Trophy winner Ricky Williams) and a broadcaster (hosting a syndicated radio show).
“My mind is wide open. I guess the immediate plan is to focus on my family and go from there.”
Brandt was one of two in-house candidates for the job of team president and CEO, which went to former Northwestern athletic director Mark Murphy, who officially took over Monday for Bob Harlan. Harlan publicly backed vice president of administration Jason Wied for the job, but Brandt said being passed over for the post was not the reason he was leaving.
“I was honored to be considered. They made another choice,” Brandt said. “I was the only one in the office who knew Mark before and what a class guy he is, and I know he’s going to do a great job. I was disappointed, but life moves on, and that’s not the overriding factor in this.”
Brandt wouldn’t say so, but after being passed over for the presidency, it likely became clear to him that his opportunities for advancement within the organization were limited. Officially, he reported to general manager Ted Thompson as part of the football operation, and while his job as the chief negotiator and capologist was secure, it’s unlikely he would have found an expanded role given the team’s power structure.
When asked about Brandt, whose contract was about to expire after the April NFL draft, in an interview Friday, Harlan said Thompson had “taken over an awful lot of the salary cap” and that Thompson “has a great understanding of the cap.”
In a statement, Thompson thanked Brandt “for his contributions the last nine years. We appreciate his fine work in the area of contract negotiations and salary cap management. He will be missed. The Green Bay Packers wish him the very best in his future endeavors.”
The Packers enter the offseason with roughly $24 million in salary cap space and with virtually all of their key players signed long-term, including several who received contract upgrades or extensions.
Brandt, 47, joined the Packers in 1999 after representing Hasselbeck, a sixth-round pick in 1998. After Williams dumped him to hire rapper Master P as his agent, former Packers GM Ron Wolf called Brandt, offering a job. He worked with three GMs (Wolf, Thompson and Mike Sherman), three coaches (Ray Rhodes, Sherman and Mike McCarthy) and three presidents (Harlan, deposed successor John Jones and Murphy) during his tenure.
“(Wolf) asked me to switch sides, and here I am, nine years later,” said Brandt, who admitted he’d been considering the move “for a while” but struggled with it nonetheless. “I’m proud that the cap has never been a hindrance to our football operation, and I just didn’t feel right looking for other opportunities while I was still working for the Packers. It was a privilege.”
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