Get to Know: General Manager Rick Spielman

How much do we really know about the Vikings front office? Maybe a lot, depending on who you are. For me, I only know what's briefly posted on ESPN, when something very good or something very bad has sent that official into the spotlight. In this series, I will take a deeper look at the Minnesota Vikings players and personnel.

from: tuesdaymorningfootball.com

We all hear about the general manager when draft season rolls around; that is, unless the general manager likes to stay out of that sort of thing. Rick Spielman, the general manager for the Minnesota Vikings, is not one such as that. He likes to be down on the field, if I may use a football analogy, when it comes to choosing which youngsters he wants to bring on the team. Most Vikings fans will know him as the man who drafted Christian Ponder 12th overall in the 2011 draft, a move Spielman will most likely try to make up for in this year's draft. But he's also brought us John Sullivan, Kyle Rudolph, Matt Kalil, Phil Loadholt, and Adrian Peterson. Outside the draft, he helped orchestrate the 2008 trade with the Kansas Chiefs to acquire Jared Allen, and the singing of Brett Favre in 2009.

But Spielman has done a lot more than just oversee many of the draft picks for the Vikings for the last few years. He started off as a college scout for the Detroit Lions in 1990 then added NFL scouting to his responsibilities in 1995. Two years later, he hopped over to the division rival Chicago Bears and worked as the Director of Pro Personnel, one of his main responsibilities being to manage and direct the pro scouts for the franchise.

In 2000, Spielman jumped from the cold winds of the NFC North to the division that stretches from the far northeast to the panhandle of the southeast,  the AFC East. Rick Spielman became the Vice President of Player Personal for the Miami Dolphins and two years later was promoted to the Senior Vice President of Football Operations/Player Personnel. I can honestly say, after much research, I'm not sure what all his responsibilities were, but they were many. He had his hands in everything from scouting current and potential players to managing the salary cap. He had mixed results there, however. He apparently worked hard and compiled extremely detailed scouting reports that were recommended to the head coach. That led to him being promoted to General Manager in 2204. Yet the Dolphins turned out a 4-12 record, which led Spielman to leave the franchise and all others a year later to work for ESPN's NFL Live.

That leads us to the Vikings. He started as the VP of Player Personnel in 2006 and was promoted to General Manager in 2012. There have been rumors that if Spielman can't secure a franchise quarterback in this draft that his time with the Vikings may be over. I'm thinking if he takes a quarterback in the first round who turns out to be a bust, that would definitely mean the end of him. If he should choose a quarterback in the later rounds, which I would prefer, I see Spielman staying on for another couple years. And I have no qualms about that.

But what about the man, you ask? Well, he's married and has six children, all of whom are adopted.  That shows us a lot. I read a brief article written by Steven Wine and published in the Ocala Star-Banner (you can find it here: Happy at Home) that highlights some of the issues Rick and his wife Michele experienced with a family from different cultural backrounds. The article was written back in 2006, after the Spielmans had adopted their third child, Whitney, from Puerto Rico. The two older boys, J.D. and Ronnie, are of African-American descent and are, of all things, great lacrosse players.

from: minnesota.cbslocal.com. Spielman's sons J.D. and Ronnie.

This year will mark the 15th year that the Vikings host the Adoption Family Fun Fest, a charity event that raises money to support adoption services. The families of Rick Spielman and Rob Brzezinski, the VP of Football Operations, hosted last year's event.

While the Vikings certainly do a lot of charitable work which Rick Spielman is likely involved with, taking a peak into who he is, in his career and away from it, gives us a better idea of who he is. For so long I only knew him as the man who handled the draft decisions, so I liked or disliked him based on how the players he drafted turned out. While that is a big part of his responsibility with the team, it's not his only job. And even though deep down we all know it, Rick Spielman, the general manager for the Minnesota Vikings, has a life outside of football as well.

*The information from this post was collected from various sites, including vikings.com, phins.com, and espn.com.