John Schneider (born May 25, 1971) is a professional

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 wit ...

executive, currently serving 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 ...

and Executive Vice President for the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 a ...

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 ma ...

(NFL). Schneider was previously an executive for the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) ...

and

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the th ...

in the 2000s. He was a primary architect in building the Seahawks roster that went on to win

Super Bowl XLVIII Super Bowl XLVIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos and National Football Conference (NFC) champion Seattle Seahawks to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion fo ...

Early years

Schneider grew up in

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

and attended high school in De Pere at Abbot Pennings High School, where he played football and graduated in 1989. He studied history and secondary education at University of St. Thomas and was on the football team his Freshman year until injuries caused him to retire. During his Junior year he wrote a letter to Ron Wolf asking if he could work as a scout. His internship that summer was the beginning of his relationship with the

Professional executive career

Green Bay Packers

He started working in the Scouting Department for the Green Bay Packers in 1993.

Kansas City Chiefs

He was the Director of Pro Personnel for the Chiefs from 1997 to 2000.

Seattle Seahawks

He worked for the Seahawks in 2000 under Ted Thompson as Director of Player Personnel.

Washington Redskins

In 2001, Schneider became the Vice President of Player Personnel.

Green Bay Packers

Schneider went back to the Green Bay Packers as the top personnel aide to the Packers' GM. He then elevated to Director of Football Operations.

Seattle Seahawks

On January 11, 2010, the Seahawks announced the hiring of

Pete Carroll Peter Clay Carroll (born September 15, 1951) is an American football coach who is the head coach and executive vice president for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He was previously the head football coach at USC from ...

as Head Coach and Vice President of Football Operations. One week later, on January 18, 2010, the Seahawks announced the hiring of John Schneider as their General Manager. Schneider added the distinction of Executive Vice President in 2013. In his role, he manages all aspects of the Seahawks roster and draft process while working collaboratively with Pete Carroll in all facets of the football operations department. Since arriving, Schneider and Carroll have orchestrated a complete overhaul of Seattle's roster. In 2010, Schneider completed 284 roster transactions, including trading for

Marshawn Lynch Marshawn Terrell Lynch (born April 22, 1986) is an American former football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons. Nicknamed "Beast Mode", he spent the majority of his career with the Seattle Seahawks. Lyn ...

. On February 2, 2014, the Seahawks won

, their first and only championship in their existence. Of those on the championship roster, only

Max Unger Maxwell McCandless Unger (born April 14, 1986) is a former American football center who played in the National Football League for 10 seasons. He played college football at Oregon and was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the second round of ...

, Red Bryant,

Jon Ryan Jonathan Robert Ryan (born November 26, 1981) is a retired Canadian professional football punter. He played college football for the University of Regina Rams, and began his professional career with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (CFL) after bei ...

and Brandon Mebane were Seahawks prior to Schneider's arrival in Seattle. Schneider and Seattle followed their Super Bowl win with another NFC Championship, but lost to

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian province ...

Super Bowl XLIX Super Bowl XLIX was an American football game played to determine the champions of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2014 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots defeated the National Football Co ...

. In 2015, the Seahawks clinched a wild card berth, but fell in the NFC Divisional Round to the Panthers. Schneider signed a 5-year contract extension with the Seahawks in July 2016 that keeps him in Seattle through the 2021 season. The Seahawks won their fourth NFC West title under Schneider in 2016, but were eliminated in the divisional round of the playoffs for the second straight year. In 2021, Schneider signed a 6-year contract extension with the Seahawks that will keep him in Seattle through the 2027 draft. Schneider has been praised for his late-round draft picks and undrafted free agent signings. With Seattle, he drafted

Russell Wilson Russell Carrington Wilson (born November 29, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He previously played his first 10 seasons for the Seattle Seahawks. Wilson is widely regarded ...

, Richard Sherman,

Kam Chancellor Kameron Darnel Chancellor (born April 3, 1988), nicknamed "Bam Bam", is an American former football strong safety who played for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Virginia Tech prior to ...

, Byron Maxwell,

Tyler Lockett Tyler Deron Lockett (born September 28, 1992) is an American football wide receiver for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Seahawks in the third round of the 2015 NFL Draft. He played college foo ...

, K.J. Wright,

Chris Carson Christopher Dewayne Carson (born September 16, 1994) is a former American football running back. He played professionally for five seasons for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL), after playing college football at Butler C ...

, Abraham Lucas, and Tariq Woolen in the third round or later, and signed Doug Baldwin,

Thomas Rawls Thomas Tyrell Rawls (born August 3, 1993) is a former American football running back. He was signed by the Seattle Seahawks as an undrafted free agent in 2015. He played college football at Michigan and Central Michigan. Rawls currently holds ...

, DeShawn Shead, Poona Ford and Jermaine Kearse after they went undrafted. The Seahawks have been active in free agency and the trade market under Schneider as well, signing key free agents Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril, and trading for

, Jimmy Graham, Duane Brown,

Quandre Diggs Quandre Diggs (born January 22, 1993) is an American football free safety for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Texas, and was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the sixth round of the 2015 N ...

and Jamal Adams.

Awards and honors

Champion (as EVP/GM of the Seattle Seahawks)

Personal life

John Schneider has a wife, Traci, and two sons, Ben and Jack. Schneider and wife Traci founded Ben's Fund in 2012 in honor of their son, Ben, who was diagnosed with autism at the age of 3. The intent of Ben’s Fund is to provide financial support to children and young adults with autism in Washington State along with guidance and support as they continue their journey.

References

External links

Seattle Seahawks profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schneider, John 1971 births Living people American people of German descent Green Bay Packers executives Green Bay Packers scouts Seattle Seahawks executives Washington Redskins executives National Football League general managers Players of American football from Wisconsin St. Thomas (Minnesota) Tommies football players