Thursday, Raiders General Manager, Reggie McKenzie, was honored with the Pro Football Writers Association’s Executive of the Year Award. Shortly after being named as the award recipient, he spoke with local media to discuss it.
On What it means to him to receive the award:
“The acknowledgement, to me, is for the organization, from the top down. From the patience and the vision together with me and M.D. [Owner Mark Davis] on through the work, the daily work of the coaches and players and to play on Sunday. That’s what the acknowledgement is really all about. You see the entire organization working together to win. That’s what I see. It’s an accomplishment from the standpoint that we’re winning now. That’s what I feel good about. That’s why this award is special. It’s a team award, but it’s special to me that this thing is resulting into wins.”
On if there was a specific decision over the years that turned things around:
“I would say it’s an accumulation of things. I really do. Whether you point at a certain free agent or a certain draft pick, claim or coach decision, it’s an accumulation of all of the above. That’s what you have to really hang your hat on, just being consistent in the process, with your philosophy, how you want your team to look and play like.”
On if the lack of results early on as GM of the Raiders ever got difficult
“Absolutely. It was very difficult. There’s so much change around this league, but when you stay true to what you believe in and people around you support you and that vision, it makes it easier. But yeah, it got hard. Yeah. You know what you guys were writing back in the day. (laughing) Nobody likes losing, so I get that. If you really believe in what you’re doing and you’re supported, the hope is to start to win games, and to get to the playoffs is a step. We feel good about that, but we’re only scratching the surface. We still want to hold up the trophy. That’s what we’re going to continue to strive to do. That’s our next step. We need to win playoff games.”
On if director of player personnel Joey Clinkscales should be considered as a GM candidate:
“I do. I think his time is due. It’s really difficult to see what different teams, owners look for. It seems like many of them are going to youth in that regard. That’s just the way it is. It means a lot to have a guy like Joey. It means a lot to have the staff that we’ve got. I think we’ve got the best scouting staff in the league, I really do. Many ex-players and ex-Raiders. I think everyone knows what it truly is to be a Raider in this department, how to go about finding the right type of players who we can call Raiders and I really lean a lot on my staff.”
Loading comments...