Management in Sports 18 GM's
General Managers of sports teams have a huge responsibility because they control who they sign for the team. Most GM's are not football coaches but business men who have worked there way through the ranks in the organization. All most all have gone to law school and alot have graduated from top business schools around the country. These people have a rare combination of business sense and a sports sense. They must evaluate talent and stay up on changes in league rules and most importantly salary cap rules. In football there is a strict salary cap (can only spend X amount of dollars on a team) but there are ways around it. For example if you sign a player to a five year deal worth twenty-five million dollars, you can have him earn four million dollars for the first three years and the last two the athlete would make twelve million. This means that the first three years you can spend more money on other players that may be on the edge of retirement or you only sign them to a three year deal.
There are a bunch of different ways to work the salary cap and these GM's must know every way. They manage the team and that places a huge responsibility on their shoulders. Also most GM's are older but lately (especially in baseball) they are getting younger. Two years ago the Boston Red Sox hired a 29 year GM who the next year won the World Series. This past year at the age of 31 he ended up quitting because he was so burned out. It is a tough job just like being a top executive for a company.
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