The NFL’s long-time scheduling guru has scheduled his retirement.
Via Ben Fischer of Sports Business Journal, NFL senior V.P. of broadcasting and media operations Howard Katz will retire after the 2025 schedule is set in May.
Katz, 75, is a former TV executive who has spent more than 20 years with the NFL. During Monday’s session at the annual league meetings, Commissioner Roger Goodell praised Katz for his efforts on behalf of the league.
“I was flabbergasted,” Katz told Fischer. “I did not expect that, and the reaction was very emotional. To be surrounded by a group of owners — and I’m often getting yelled at by them because they don’t like things in their schedule — they gave me a standing ovation. It blew me away.”
Katz, who won the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award in 2022, said the league’s ability to make and implement a schedule during the first year of the pandemic stands out above everything he did on the job.
“Getting every game played in the COVID season is probably the most remarkable accomplishment I’ve been part of,” Katz told Fischer. “We played every day of the week, in that season. Literally every single day of the week. The fact we got every game played is just an incredible testament to Roger Goodell, and all the football operations team, and the scheduling people. Everyone who played a part in that should be really proud.”
In recent years, NFL V.P. of broadcast planning & scheduling Mike North has become the primary voice of the league after the release of the schedule. While the story regarding Katz’s retirement doesn’t point to a successor, the objective indications point to North.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
