In Philadelphia, Marcus Hayes notes Eagles Exec VP/Football Operations Howie Roseman "is trying to reconstruct his image." Once defensive, "sometimes feral, Roseman now patiently explains decisions." Smallish and bookish, Roseman is "resigned to the fact that he can never be" Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome; "better, then, to emulate" Cubs President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein. Hayes: "For better or worse, the Eagles will grow in his new image. He might be kinder, gentler, but better? Benevolence does not necessarily beget brilliance" (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 5/6).
STAN AND BE COUNTED: Stan Kroenke did not become the Rams' Majority Owner until '10, but former coach Dick Vermeil said that "even when Kroenke was in his minority role, he tried to persuade him to have a larger presence." Vermeil: “I used to aggressively try to bring him in to talk to the team. ... He preferred to stay in the background." USA TODAY's Jarrett Bell notes Kroenke "still carries a low profile, publicly, but it’s striking to consider how his involvement with the team has changed with his all-in ownership stake." The huge trade with the Titans to land the top pick in the draft "wasn’t finalized until Kroenke approved it." Kroenke: "I said it had to be about football. It can’t be about headlines" (USA TODAY, 5/6).
FACE TO FACE: In DC, Jake Russell noted in an "effort to remain millennial-friendly, as team owner Ted Leonsis outlined as a goal in March," the city's new AFL team on Thursday announced the hiring of its first head coach Dean Cokinos "via Facebook Live." Radio personality Dave Johnson "moderated the event in the Verizon Center’s restaurant-themed Owner’s Club" while Managing Partner Roger Mody "broke down the franchise’s first major hire." Streamed "via a smart phone affixed to a miniature tripod on top of a stack of books, the event reached 10,000 views" as of 3:00pm ET (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 5/5).
RECORDS ARE MADE TO BE BROKEN: In Cincinnati, Steve Watkins noted it is "not enough" that USL club FC Cincinnati set the league's all-time attendance record in its second home game a week "after drawing the league’s biggest crowd of the season." The club now is "going for another record crowd that would pack Nippert Stadium’s lower bowl and cause the team to pull up some of the tarps covering sections of the stadium’s seats." FC Cincinnati "is shooting for a crowd of 25,000 for its May 14 game against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 5/5).
