When Tom Brady became a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders there was immediate speculation that John Spytek would be at the front of the line to be the team’s next general manager.
Brady has a relationship with Spytek that dates back to their time together at the University of Michigan and their time together with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers has been even better documented.
But according to Spytek, he and Brady weren’t in contact for the majority of the legendary quarterback’s career in New England.
“Everyone says we were teammates at Michigan. Yeah, we were ‘teammates’. But I mean, we hadn’t really spoken in 20 years. So it wasn’t like this was my friend walking into the building,” Spytek said of Brady on the 3 and Out podcast.
In fact, Spytek’s start in the NFL had nothing to do with Brady or anyone else with him in Las Vegas at the moment.
Sports Illustrated’s Hondo Carpenter covered the Detroit Lions when Spytek was cutting his teeth in the industry and shared a nickname that Spytek was given soon after he joined the Lions.
“I covered the Lions, didn’t specifically cover [Spytek]… Back then, he was known as the ‘Wiz Kid,’” Carpenter said of Spytek in January.
“They would give him two jobs, and he would come back with four done. He was into analysis. Everybody knew he wanted to be a GM. He talked about wanting to be a GM… and people had tremendous respect for him even as a young intern. He was so thorough.”
Another executive in the Lions’ building at that time was current Steelers’ Director of Pro Scouting Sheldon White, who made an appearance on Hondo’s podcast on Monday.
White shared what stood out about Spytek early on in his career at the lowest levels of the Lions’ personnel department.
“John came in, I was already in a director’s chair when he came in, and he sat down with me during the interview process with Martin Mayhew,” White said about Spytek on the Las Vegas Raiders Insider podcast.
“What you really noticed right away was [his] high intellect. He had a presence about him,” White continued.
“He doesn’t know it yet, he’s still young, but he has a presence about him. He has a high intellect. And then you just have to watch him flow around the building and how he was working. He was putting the time in. I knew him at a really younger age in this, but he was really putting in the time and the effort. And then he had the expertise and knowledge behind it.”
Spytek is only months into his tenure at the top of the Raiders’ personnel department, but he has already shown that the job isn’t too big for him.
Spytek navigated his first NFL draft as a GM like a seasoned veteran and was handed a unique compliment from a high-profile analyst just days after the draft.
“I want to give a lot of credit, first of all for the espionage, for getting out the late leak that it was going to be Banks [with the no. 6 pick]. John Spytek, I see you,” McShay said on The McShay Show.
“I love this draft for first-year GM John Spytek,” McShay wrote about the Raiders’ draft a few days later.
“Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty is a dream player for Pete Carroll and Chip Kelly. TCU WR Jack Bech (no. 58) is a day-one starter and will be a physical slot receiver. Iowa State CB Darien Porter (no. 68) has incredible traits but is still developing. Outside of OT Caleb Rogers, every player they selected was a value based on my big board.”
x: @raidersbeat