Newsome signed a five-year extension in 2014 with the understanding that he surrenders the post to assistant GM Eric DeCosta at the end of the contract J.T. Miller Jersey , Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti said Friday.
”Ozzie will step down as GM and has assured me that he’s not going anywhere,” Bisciotti said. ”He will work with me and work with Eric for a smooth transition and he’ll be the highest paid scout in America when Eric takes over next year.”
Newsome, 61, has been in charge of filling out the roster since the Ravens arrived in Baltimore in 1996. His first two draft picks were Jonathan Ogden – who became a Hall of Fame offensive lineman – and Ray Lewis, who is expected to enter the Hall this year.
Newsome is also a member of the Hall of Fame. Following his standout career as a tight end with the Cleveland Browns, Newsome made the transition to the front office under former Ravens owner Art Modell. With Newsome leading the way, Baltimore won two Super Bowls and reached the postseason five straight years from 2008-12.
DeCosta, 46, joined the Ravens at an entry-level position in 1996 and was schooled by Newsome. Since becoming assistant general manager in 2012, DeCosta spurned numerous job offers from other teams with the assumption, then assurance Jake Dotchin Jersey , that he would inherit Newsome’s job.
”I think he has learned from Ozzie. I think he’s a great leader of the scouts,” Bisciotti said of DeCosta. ”It’s Ozzie’s department, but most of the interaction with all the scouts is with Eric. I’ve seen the way he goes about the business, I’ve seen the way he’s embraced technology and analytics, and I like working with him.”
Bisciotti said of the impending switch from Newsome to DeCosta: ”It’s time. There are people that are running other franchises that got the jobs because Eric wouldn’t take it. This year it was the Packers.”
Bisciotti spoke for nearly an hour in his annual postseason session with the media. He fielded questions on a wide variety of topics – beginning with his decision to retain coach John Harbaugh after Baltimore missed the playoffs for a third straight season.
Firing Harbaugh ”was certainly a consideration, but not one that I was inclined to make this year,” the owner said.
Asked if he would fire Harbaugh if the Ravens fail to reach the postseason in 2018, Bisciotti replied, ”I’m not going to give a `playoff or bust’ edict to you all or my coach. He’s under (more) pressure probably than he’s ever been in in his life, and I expect him to … make the most of this season. I may as well replace him now if I’m going to tell him, `Make the playoffs or you’re out of town next year.’ That’s not the way to run a business.”
Though the Ravens have gone 5-11 Authentic Louis Domingue Jersey , 8-8 and 9-7 over the last three years, Bisciotti noted that things would have been different were it not for a last-minute loss in Pittsburgh in 2016 and a stunning defeat at home in the finale against Cincinnati this season.
He also cited quarterback Joe Flacco’s slow recovery from an ailing back as a determining factor in 2017.
”We’re literally looking at a few moments of time that went against us,” Bisciotti said. ”We’re not talking about 4-12 seasons here. We’re talking about a franchise quarterback that had a herniated disk and was not healthy for the first half of the year. There’s a couple games that we should have won, that if we did, we might have been resting our starters against Cincinnati. That’s our goal next year.”
Bisciotti hopes that an improved team will draw more fans to home games in 2018. The Ravens sold out every game, but often performed before thousands of empty seats.
”Am I disappointed in it? Yeah. Concerned? Yes,” he said. ”The no-shows are a way of telling us our fans aren’t pleased. We’ve got to win, and I hope that solves a majority of the problems.”
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Together again? Not so much.
Janet Jackson has shut down any rumors that she will be joining Justin Timberlake during this year’s Super Bowl halftime show.
”To put to rest any speculation or rumors as to whether I will be performing at the Super Bowl tomorrow; I will not,” Jackson said in a statement released Saturday. ”Thank you for your support and I do look forward to seeing you all very soon.”
Timberlake is returning to the halftime show 14 years after a wardrobe malfunction with Jackson caused a national controversy. Timberlake was Jackson’s special guest during her performance at that year’s game and ripped off a piece of her clothing, revealing her nipple. Timberlake later described it as an unintended ”wardrobe malfunction.”
CBS, which aired that Super Bowl http://www.officiallightningprostore.com/authentic-adidas-mikhail-sergachev-jersey , was fined $550,000 by the Federal Communications Commission, but the fine later was overturned.
The hashtags (hash)JusticeforJanet and (hash)JanetJacksonAppreciationDay became trending topics on Twitter days before Timberlake’s record third trip to the stage at the Super Bowl, at which the Philadelphia Eagles will face the New England Patriots at the U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday.
At a press conference on Thursday, Timberlake mentioned Jackson’s name, along with Jay-Z and ‘NSync, when talking about rumored guests to join him onstage. He was not asked any direct questions about Jackson or the infamous wardrobe malfunction.
When the NFL announced late last year that Timberlake would be returning to the Super Bowl, the decision triggered a backlash from women, minorities and others who felt Jackson was unfairly forced to pay a far higher price than Timberlake faced. Some argued that Jackson, as a black woman, fell victim to a racist and sexist double standard and received harsher treatment than Timberlake Bart Starr Jersey , as a white man, did, and they said he benefited from ”white male privilege.”
When asked during an interview last month if he and Jackson have since made peace, Timberlake said, ”Absolutely.”
He said he and Jackson have talked privately about what happened.
”I don’t know that a lot of people know that,” Timberlake said. ”I mean, I don’t think it’s my job to do that, because you value the relationships that you do have with people.”
