Monday, December 22, 2008

Zygmunt to quit soon, sources say

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
It may not happen today as has been speculated, but an announcement on Jay
Zygmunt's resignation is imminent, according to Rams team sources.

Zygmunt is the Rams' president of football operations-general manager and has
worked in some capacity with the organization for 27 seasons. Even if it
doesn't come today, team sources said it will definitely come at some point
this week.

It is expected to be the first of several moves that will result in a major
restructuring of the Rams' front office. Billy Devaney, the team's executive
vice president of personnel, will receive a new title and broader powers in the
organization. And John Shaw, who has been with the club for 29 years, is
expected to relinquish his team president title while remaining with the club
as a consultant to ownership, particularly owner and chairman Chip Rosenbloom.

Zygmunt joined the Rams as a general counsel in 1982. He was named vice
president in 1988, senior vice president in 1991 and executive vice president
in 1996. But on Feb. 4, 2000, just days after the team's 23-16 victory over
Tennessee in Super Bowl XXXIV, Zygmunt was elevated to president of football
operations. (The general manager title was added several years later.) It was
that post-Super Bowl XXXIV promotion that put Zygmunt in charge of the club's
day-to-day football operations.

Two years later, following the Rams' Super Bowl runner-up finish in the 2001
season, Zygmunt was runner-up in voting for The Sporting News NFL executive of
the year award. But in recent years, he has come under increasing criticism as
the losses have mounted on the football field.

Zygmunt has had some health issues the past couple of years. In September of
2007 he was hospitalized briefly after suffering what doctors later called a
"mini-stroke." And this past summer, he had three stents inserted into coronary
arteries.

No comments: