The NFL hired JOE LOCKHART, the former spokesperson for PRESIDENT CLINTON, as Exec VP/Communications and promoted CYNTHIA HOGAN to Exec VP/Public Policy & Government Affairs. Hogan had been handling the communications post in the wake of PAUL HICKS’ resignation in September. Hicks went to work for consultancy The Glover Park Group, which Lockhart started in '01 with MIKE FELDMAN. GPG has been an NFL advisor since the '11 lockout. Hogan turned down the communications job, choosing instead to focus on her DC assignment. Hicks left in the wake of a series of high profile PR crises, ranging from player misbehavior to Deflategate. Hogan and Lockhart will report to NFL COO TOD LEIWEKE (Daniel Kaplan, Staff Writer).
MOVER & SHAKER: POLITICO's Mike Allen notes Feldman and GPG Managing Dir JOEL JOHNSON are "frequently spotted at the league's Park Avenue HQ." Lockhart said of his hiring, "I mentioned to ROGER [GOODELL] that if he was looking for someone, I'd be interested. We talked about it and talked about the job and what he was looking for, and we made a deal." Lockhart added, "The NFL is one of those institutions, in a time of fracturing, that still brings people together." Lockhart said that he will "join the league right after Super Bowl 50, on Feb. 7." He and his wife, Glamour Washington Editor GIOVANNA GRAY, "will be putting their DC home on the market" and moving to N.Y. Lockhart "has season tickets to Georgetown basketball and frequently mooches" off Johnson's tickets for Nationals games, but he "claims allegiance to no NFL team" (POLITICO.com, 1/20).
