Mike Tannenbaum (born February 14, 1969) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

reporter. He served as the executive vice president of football operations for the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

from 2015 to 2018. Prior to that, he served as the

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

for the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

. He Founded The 33rd Team, which describes itself as a "football Think Tank."

Education

Tannenbaum graduated from

Needham High School Needham High School is a public high school in Needham, Massachusetts, educating grades 9 through 12. Aaron Sicotte is the principal of Needham High School. Its three assistant principals are Alison Coubrough-Argentieri, Mary Kay Alessi, and Pie ...

in Needham,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

in 1987. He received a degree in accounting and a minor in sports management from the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...

. He then graduated

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

from

Tulane University Law School Tulane University Law School is the law school of Tulane University. It is located on Tulane's Uptown campus in New Orleans, Louisiana. Established in 1847, it is the 12th oldest law school in the United States. In addition to the usual common ...

, where he earned his certificate in sports law.

Career

Pittsfield Mets

Tannenbaum was an intern for the minor league

Pittsfield Mets The Pittsfield Mets were a minor league baseball based in Pittsfield, Massachusetts and played their home games Wahconah Park. The team previously played as the Little Falls Mets from Little Falls, New York before an investment group organized by ...

during the 1991 season.

Cleveland Browns

Tannenbaum worked in the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

' personnel department acting as an assistant under Michael Lombardi.

New Orleans Saints

Tannenbaum worked as an intern in the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

personnel department while he attended law school In 1996, he worked for the team as a player personnel assistant.

New York Jets

Tannenbaum was hired by the

on February 19, 1997 as the Director of Player Contract Negotiations. Over the years, Tannenbaum served in numerous administrative positions with the team including Senior Vice President of Football Operations and Assistant General Manager. Tannenbaum succeeded

Terry Bradway Robert Terrence "Terry" Bradway is an American football executive. He served as the general manager for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL) from 2001 to 2006. Bradway had worked in the personnel department for the Kansas City C ...

as the team's

in 2006. Tannenbaum signed a contract extension with the team through 2014; however, following the last game of the 2012 NFL regular season, Jets owner

Woody Johnson Robert Wood Johnson IV (born April 12, 1947) is an American businessman who was United States ambassador to the United Kingdom from 2017 to 2021. He is a great-grandson of Robert Wood Johnson I, and a billionaire heir to the Johnson & Johnson p ...

announced that Tannenbaum would not return for the 2013 season.

Priority Sports

Tannenbaum was hired by Priority Sports and Entertainment, where he oversaw the coaching, broadcasting and front-office for the New York branch. Some notable clients Tannenbaum represented were: Dan Quinn, Steve Kerr,

Phil Savage Phillip Savage Jr. (born April 7, 1965) is a former American football executive. In 2019 he was the general manager for the Arizona Hotshots of the Alliance of American Football. He was the senior vice president and general manager of the Browns f ...

, and

Jack Arute Jack Arute III ( ; born September 28, 1950) is an American former sportscaster for the NFL and college sports for Sirius XM Radio. He used to be an auto racing pit reporter and college football sideline reporter for ESPN and ABC, and covered the ...

. Tannenbaum resigned from Priority Sports in early 2015 to accept a position with the

Miami Dolphins

Tannenbaum was hired by the Dolphins to be the Executive Vice President of Football Operations, starting February 1, 2015 after acting as a consultant for the team during the 2014 NFL season. On December 31, 2018 he was reassigned from his duties without a defined purpose.

ESPN

In April 2019, Tannenbaum joined ESPN as an NFL Front Office Insider.

References

External links

*
The 33rd Team
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tannenbaum, Mike 1969 births Living people National Football League general managers New York Jets executives Tulane University Law School alumni Isenberg School of Management alumni People from Bernards Township, New Jersey Sportspeople from New York City Sportspeople from Somerset County, New Jersey