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Rick Spielman
Richard Spielman (born December 2, 1962) is an American football executive for the New York Jets. He was the general manager of the Miami Dolphins in 2004 and the Minnesota Vikings from 2012 to 2022. He formerly worked for ESPN on NFL Live. Spielman is the older brother of Chris Spielman, former Detroit Lions and Buffalo Bills linebacker.
Spielman played linebacker at Southern Illinois University (1983–86), earning first-team All-Gateway Conference honoree as a junior. He was also part of the 1983 NCAA Division I-AA national championship team as a redshirt freshman. Upon entering the NFL, as an undrafted free agent, he was invited to training camp with the San Diego Chargers (1987) and Detroit Lions (1988), but did not make it as a professional football player.
Spielman began his NFL career as a scout with Detroit in 1990 and worked with the club in college scouting for five seasons before adding pro scouting duties in 1995 and 1996. He moved to director of pro personnel for the Bears from 1997 to 1999 before joining the Dolphins in 2000 as vice president of player personnel. He was promoted in 2002 to senior vice president of football operations and player personnel and eventually general manager in 2004. Spielman left the Dolphins during the 2005 offseason, later working at ESPN as an analyst.
On May 3, 2000, Spielman was hired to be vice president of player personnel for the Dolphins. He had previously served the position of Bears' director of pro personnel with the Bears from 1997 to 1999, with two of those seasons having been coached by Dave Wannstedt, who was now the head coach of the Dolphins. In 2002, he was promoted to senior vice president of football operations. Spielman was promoted to general manager after the 2003 season saw the team miss the playoffs for the 2nd straight year (Ron Wolf turned down the position when asked by team owner Wayne Huizenga). Wannstedt was fired midway through the 2004 season, which saw the team win just one of their first eight games with a roster missing running back Ricky Williams, who abruptly retired in August. In that same month, the Dolphins elected to trade Adewale Ogunleye (the 2003 leader in sacks for the AFC) due to him holding out and not accepting the qualifying offer as a restricted free agent; they received Marty Booker and a third-round pick in the 2005 draft. An attempt at trading for a quarterback to win the starting job with A.J. Feeley (the third-string player on the Philadelphia Eagles) saw them trade a second-round pick for him only to see him start (and lose) two of the first three games of the season on the way to throwing 11 touchdowns against 15 interceptions.
Spielman's power over personnel decisions was stripped when Huizenga gave Nick Saban complete control of football operations after hiring him to be the head coach on December 25, 2004. This decision, along with the disastrous 2004 season and a falling out with Saban, led Spielman to resign from his post as GM in June 2005.
Spielman assumed the Vikings' vice president of player personnel role on May 30, 2006, replacing Fran Foley. On January 3, 2012, Spielman was promoted to general manager of the Vikings.
Despite his lack of success with the Dolphins, Spielman established himself as one of the league's better general managers during his 16-year tenure with the organization. From 2010 to 2019, 12.5% of Viking draft selections made the Pro Bowl. which was fourth best in the league, and he was also NFL.com's 6th ranked GM in 2021. His most notable draftees include: Adrian Peterson and Sidney Rice in 2007; John Sullivan in 2008; Percy Harvin and Phil Loadholt in 2009; Christian Ponder and Kyle Rudolph in 2011; Matt Kalil, Harrison Smith and Blair Walsh in 2012; Xavier Rhodes, and Cordarrelle Patterson in 2013; and, Teddy Bridgewater and Anthony Barr in 2014; Trae Waynes, Eric Kendricks, Danielle Hunter, and Stefon Diggs in 2015; Dalvin Cook in 2017, Brian O'Neill and Daniel Carlson in 2018; Justin Jefferson in 2020; and Christian Darrisaw in 2021. Prior to 2012 when he was promoted to general manager, Spielman shared a "triangle of authority" in drafts where he ran the personnel department with final say over the draft while working in tandem with the head coach (Brad Childress until 2010 before he was replaced by Leslie Frazier) for on-field operations while salary cap and contracts were negotiated by football operations vice president Rob Brzezinski that all (as a "Triangle of Authority" in some circles) reported directly to team owner Zygi Wilf.
In 2014, Spielman was given the authority to make a head coaching change. He hired Mike Zimmer to replace Leslie Frazier. Mike Zimmer and new offensive coordinator Norv Turner were involved in the draft process in 2014 and 2015. Notable 2015 draft picks on defense included Eric Kendricks who led the Vikings in tackles, Danielle Hunter who recorded 6 sacks in limited playing time and saw his role grow towards the end of the year. The Vikings also drafted star wide receiver Stefon Diggs (4x Pro Bowl, 1x First Team All Pro (2020), 1x Second Team All Pro (2022)).
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Rick Spielman
Richard Spielman (born December 2, 1962) is an American football executive for the New York Jets. He was the general manager of the Miami Dolphins in 2004 and the Minnesota Vikings from 2012 to 2022. He formerly worked for ESPN on NFL Live. Spielman is the older brother of Chris Spielman, former Detroit Lions and Buffalo Bills linebacker.
Spielman played linebacker at Southern Illinois University (1983–86), earning first-team All-Gateway Conference honoree as a junior. He was also part of the 1983 NCAA Division I-AA national championship team as a redshirt freshman. Upon entering the NFL, as an undrafted free agent, he was invited to training camp with the San Diego Chargers (1987) and Detroit Lions (1988), but did not make it as a professional football player.
Spielman began his NFL career as a scout with Detroit in 1990 and worked with the club in college scouting for five seasons before adding pro scouting duties in 1995 and 1996. He moved to director of pro personnel for the Bears from 1997 to 1999 before joining the Dolphins in 2000 as vice president of player personnel. He was promoted in 2002 to senior vice president of football operations and player personnel and eventually general manager in 2004. Spielman left the Dolphins during the 2005 offseason, later working at ESPN as an analyst.
On May 3, 2000, Spielman was hired to be vice president of player personnel for the Dolphins. He had previously served the position of Bears' director of pro personnel with the Bears from 1997 to 1999, with two of those seasons having been coached by Dave Wannstedt, who was now the head coach of the Dolphins. In 2002, he was promoted to senior vice president of football operations. Spielman was promoted to general manager after the 2003 season saw the team miss the playoffs for the 2nd straight year (Ron Wolf turned down the position when asked by team owner Wayne Huizenga). Wannstedt was fired midway through the 2004 season, which saw the team win just one of their first eight games with a roster missing running back Ricky Williams, who abruptly retired in August. In that same month, the Dolphins elected to trade Adewale Ogunleye (the 2003 leader in sacks for the AFC) due to him holding out and not accepting the qualifying offer as a restricted free agent; they received Marty Booker and a third-round pick in the 2005 draft. An attempt at trading for a quarterback to win the starting job with A.J. Feeley (the third-string player on the Philadelphia Eagles) saw them trade a second-round pick for him only to see him start (and lose) two of the first three games of the season on the way to throwing 11 touchdowns against 15 interceptions.
Spielman's power over personnel decisions was stripped when Huizenga gave Nick Saban complete control of football operations after hiring him to be the head coach on December 25, 2004. This decision, along with the disastrous 2004 season and a falling out with Saban, led Spielman to resign from his post as GM in June 2005.
Spielman assumed the Vikings' vice president of player personnel role on May 30, 2006, replacing Fran Foley. On January 3, 2012, Spielman was promoted to general manager of the Vikings.
Despite his lack of success with the Dolphins, Spielman established himself as one of the league's better general managers during his 16-year tenure with the organization. From 2010 to 2019, 12.5% of Viking draft selections made the Pro Bowl. which was fourth best in the league, and he was also NFL.com's 6th ranked GM in 2021. His most notable draftees include: Adrian Peterson and Sidney Rice in 2007; John Sullivan in 2008; Percy Harvin and Phil Loadholt in 2009; Christian Ponder and Kyle Rudolph in 2011; Matt Kalil, Harrison Smith and Blair Walsh in 2012; Xavier Rhodes, and Cordarrelle Patterson in 2013; and, Teddy Bridgewater and Anthony Barr in 2014; Trae Waynes, Eric Kendricks, Danielle Hunter, and Stefon Diggs in 2015; Dalvin Cook in 2017, Brian O'Neill and Daniel Carlson in 2018; Justin Jefferson in 2020; and Christian Darrisaw in 2021. Prior to 2012 when he was promoted to general manager, Spielman shared a "triangle of authority" in drafts where he ran the personnel department with final say over the draft while working in tandem with the head coach (Brad Childress until 2010 before he was replaced by Leslie Frazier) for on-field operations while salary cap and contracts were negotiated by football operations vice president Rob Brzezinski that all (as a "Triangle of Authority" in some circles) reported directly to team owner Zygi Wilf.
In 2014, Spielman was given the authority to make a head coaching change. He hired Mike Zimmer to replace Leslie Frazier. Mike Zimmer and new offensive coordinator Norv Turner were involved in the draft process in 2014 and 2015. Notable 2015 draft picks on defense included Eric Kendricks who led the Vikings in tackles, Danielle Hunter who recorded 6 sacks in limited playing time and saw his role grow towards the end of the year. The Vikings also drafted star wide receiver Stefon Diggs (4x Pro Bowl, 1x First Team All Pro (2020), 1x Second Team All Pro (2022)).
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