November 22, 2002: Ozzie Newsome is named the general manager of the Baltimore Ravens. This makes him the 1st black general manager in the National Football League.
He was born in 1956 in Alabama, a State where football is king, and in a town whose name suggests strength, in football and other things: Muscle Shoals. A tight end, he played for coach Paul "Bear" Bryant at the University of Alabama, and was a member of their 1978 National Champions.
Playing for the Cleveland Browns, he caught 662 passes, for 7,980 yards and 47 touchdowns, in each of those statistics more than any tight end before him. He made 3 Pro Bowls, and helped the Browns reach 3 AFC Championship Games. He was named to the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame, the NFL's 1980s All-Decade Team, and the Cleveland Browns Ring of Honor. Each of these honors was for his playing career alone. (The Browns have not, however, retired his Number 82.)
Upon his retirement before the 1991 season, he was named an executive with the Browns. When team owner Art Modell controversially moved the team for the 1996 season, making them the Baltimore Ravens, Newsome went with them. As executive vice president for player personnel (for all intents and purposes, the assistant GM), he received a ring when the Ravens won Super Bowl XXXV in 2001.
He was named their GM in 2002, holding the job for 17 seasons, an unusually long time for an NFL GM. They made the Playoffs 9 times, reached 3 AFC Championship Games, and won Super Bowl XLVII. After the 2018 season, he stepped back, and returned to the position of executive vice president for player personnel, making him more of a GM emeritus than an assistant GM: Eric DeCosta holds the title, but Newsome is the guy he listens to the most.
The NFL allowed the founding of a new Browns franchise, with all of the team's 1946-95 history and trademarks, starting with the 1999 season. They have been considerably less successful than the Ravens, and Browns fans despise the Ravens nearly as much as they do their traditional rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers. Ravens fans don't think that way: The Steelers are their arch-rivals, too, while they think of the Browns as more of a minor annoyance. Ozzie Newsome is the only man who is popular with both sets of fans.
In 2022, while only 3 of the 32 NFL teams have black head coaches, 7 have black general managers: Andrew Berry of the Browns, Terry Fontenot of the Atlanta Falcons, Ryan Poles of the Chicago Bears, Brad Holmes of the Detroit Lions, Chris Grier of the Miami Dolphins, Kwesi Adolfo-Mensah of the Minnesota Vikings, and Martin Mayhew of the Washington Commanders.
The Ravens currently have a black team president, Sashi Brown. (DeCosta may sound like a Hispanic name, but he is actually of Portuguese descent.) The Las Vegas Raiders have a team president (not "general manager") who is not only black, but female: Sandra Douglass Morgan.
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November 22, 2002 was a Friday. Baseball season was over. Football was in midweek. There were 12 games in the NBA that night:
* The New York Knicks lost to the New Orleans Hornets, 105-97 in overtime at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans.
* The New Jersey Nets beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 120-79 at the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands.
* The Boston Celtics beat the Atlanta Hawks, 105-98 in double overtime at the FleetCenter (now the TD Garden) in Boston. Paul Pierce scored 36 points.
* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Toronto Raptors, 90-80 at the First Union Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.
* The Detroit Pistons beat the Miami Heat, 75-72 at the American Airlines Arena (now the Kaseya Center) in Miami.
* The Houston Rockets beat the Washington Wizards, 93-86 at The Summit in Houston. (The arena has since been converted into the Central Campus of the Lakewood Church, Dr. Joel Osteen's "megachurch.")
* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 95-86 at the SBC Center (now the AT&T Center) in San Antonio.
* The Indiana Pacers beat the Orlando Magic, 106-70 at the Conseco Fieldhouse (now the Gainbridge Fieldhouse) in Indianapolis.
* The Denver Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 72-70 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.
* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Chicago Bulls, 86-73 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.
* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Golden State Warriors, 95-91 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena (then named The Arena in Oakland).
* And the Sacramento Kings beat the Phoenix Suns, 118-101 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento. Stephon Marbury, in defeat, led all scorers on the night with 39 points.
There were 5 games played in the NHL:
* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Atlanta Thrashers, 3-1 at the Philips Arena (now the State Farm Arena) in Atlanta.
* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 5-4 at the HSBC Arena (now the KeyBank Center) in Buffalo.
* The Florida Panthers and the Phoenix Coyotes played to a tie, 3-3 at the America West Arena (now the Footprint Center) in Phoenix.
* The Dallas Stars beat the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 4-0 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (now the Honda Center).
* And the Vancouver Canucks beat the Detroit Red Wings, 4-1 at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.
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