Jack Butler dies, Amy Trask, long-time chief executive officer of the Oakland Raiders who had a strong commitment to former owner Al Davis, but not necessarily his son and heir, Mark, announced she that she has resigned in an email to reporters on Saturday.
“Earlier today, I informed Mark Davis of my decision to leave the Raiders,” Trask announced in the email. “Having honored a commitment that I made to effectuate a smooth transition and transfer of control, I no longer wish to remain with the organization.
“For over a quarter of a century, it was my honor and my privilege to work for the Raiders. I will forever appreciate the opportunity afforded me by Al Davis.”
Al Davis died on Oct. 8, 2011. Mark took over and there have been vast changes in the organization since then. For years, Trask was the highest-ranking female executive in sports, not counting ownership.
A lawyer, Trask recognized almost no restrictions — short of coaching and personnel decisions — and was well known for her singular and aggressive support of the Raiders and Al Davis.
Her departure adds another name to a long list of departed, long-time employees, some of whom dated to the early years of the Al Davis era.
Most were either fired by general manager Reggie McKenzie, retired or opted to leave since McKenzie arrived early in 2012.
Among them are former senior executive John Herrera, whose duties ranged from public relations to scouting and signing players; personnel administrator and scout Jon Kingdon, national scout Bruce Kebric and traveling secretary Scott Fink, and Trask.
The Raiders have not issued a statement regarding the resignation.
—Hall of Famer Jack Butler died Saturday morning after a battle with a staph infection. He was 85.
Butler had the staph infection since November, which stemmed from a knee replacement that was needed because of a leg injury that ended his career in 1959.
Butler, a Pittsburgh Steelers great in the 1950s, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2012.
Butler was part of the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 1950s. When he retired, he was second on the league’s all-time list with 52 interceptions.
After his playing days, Butler was a long-time scout before retiring three years ago.
“Jack Butler was one of the all-time great Steelers,” Steelers president Art Rooney II said in a statement. “He devoted his entire life to the NFL and made contributions to many teams and many players through his work with BLESTO and player personnel matters. Our condolences are with the entire Butler family.”
—Former New York Jets wide receiver George Sauer died on Tuesday of Alzheimer’s disease in Westerville, Ohio, according to the New York Daily News. He was 69.
Sauer helped the Jets win Super Bowl III over the Baltimore Colts with eight catches for 133 yards, even though the Jets were heavy underdogs.
“I just found out today,” Jets coach Rex Ryan said of Sauer. “He had Alzheimer’s. Obviously, that’s a terrible disease. My stepmom suffers from that, so (our) thoughts go out to his family and everyone affected from that.
“The thing I remember about George Sauer going back, I was a young kid when my dad was coaching with the Jets, and everybody knew about Don Maynard obviously, a great receiver (and) a Hall of Fame receiver, but the thing (is) George Sauer stepped up in the biggest moment. I think he caught eight balls in the Super Bowl. So, that’s what I remember about George Sauer, but obviously he was a tremendous player.”
Sauer starred collegiately at Texas and played six seasons with the Jets. He had at least 1,000 yards receiving three times. He led the AFL with 75 receptions in the 1967-68 season. After retiring from the NFL at age 27, he spent the 1974 season with the New York Stars and Charlotte Hornets of the World Football League.
—San Francisco 49ers rookie running back Marcus Lattimore told the Sacramento Bee that he would be OK with sitting out the 2013 season.
The former South Carolina star is still recovering from surgery after tearing three knee ligaments during a game early last season. After drafting Lattimore in the fourth round of last month’s draft, 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh has considered sitting him out.
Lattimore’s response?
“That would be fine,” he said. “Whatever happens, you know, these next three months will probably determine that. I’m just going to continue to keep working hard, and if I’m called upon, I feel like hopefully I’ll be ready.”
Harbaugh said Lattimore has progressed well so far.
“Everything looks good structurally with all the guys that we drafted,” he said. “The ACL looks really good for Marcus. We’re just going to have to take a step back in terms of the cutting because we want that inside of the knee, the lateral side of the knee, to heal fully. But we’re good.”
—Chicago Bears coach Marc Trestman is using a helmet camera to help evaluate quarterbacks this weekend at the team’s rookie minicamp.
The Chicago Tribune reported that a small camera was attached to the left side of quarterback Matt Blanchard’s helmet on Friday during the Bears’ first day of practice. The idea is to give coaches the same view the quarterback has when a play is developing and use that information to assess him.
Blanchard, who is actually a second-year player, is competing for the third quarterback spot on the roster behind starter Jay Cutler and backup Josh McCown.
—The Chicago Bears announced several organizational moves.
Kevin Turks was promoted to director of pro personnel. He has been with the team for 11 years and was previously the assistant director of pro personnel.
Dwayne Joseph moved up to associate director of pro personnel. Joseph, who has been with the Bears the last seven years, was an assistant director of pro personnel.
The team hired Ryan Kessenich as scout/player personnel, Jay Muraco as East Coast scout and Andre Odom as a scouting assistant). Kessenich and Muraco were previously area scouts with the Kansas City Chiefs. Odom spent the last two years at Temple in player development.
The Bears also promoted Breck Ackley to South Central area scout, David Williams to scout/player personnel and Sam Summerville to Southeast area scout.
—The San Diego Chargers announced that they signed fifth round draft pick Steve Williams, a cornerback.
Five of San Diego’s six draft choices are signed, including second round inside linebacker Manti Te’o, third round wide receiver Keenan Allen, sixth round outside linebacker Tourek Williams, seventh round quarterback Brad Sorensen and Williams.
The only remaining unsigned draft pick for the Chargers is first round offensive tackle D.J. Fluker.
—Wide receiver Cobi Hamilton became the Cincinnati Bengals’ third draft pick to sign a contract. The wide receiver out of Arkansas was a sixth-round pick after setting Razorback season records in 2012 for receptions (90) and receiving yards (1335).
The Bengals previously signed seventh-round picks offensive tackle Reid Fragel of Ohio State and center T.J. Johnson of South Carolina.
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Jack Butler dies
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