Howie Roseman, matchmaker? How the Eagles GM set up Bucs GM Jason Licht with his wife.
Roseman introduced his close friend and former colleague to his future wife, who went to high school with Roseman’s wife.
Howie Roseman and Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht have been longtime friends, dating back to their shared early-career starts with the Eagles in player personnel, where they spent half a decade working together.
Even as the two have gone from colleagues to conference rivals — both winning Super Bowls with their respective teams — Licht and Roseman have been present for each other’s biggest moments off the field.
Licht and his wife were the first people at the hospital for the birth of Roseman’s first son, according to the Tampa Bay Times, which is only fitting, since Roseman is the one who set Licht up with his wife.
“Jason Licht, one of my close friends in the NFL. I set him up with his wife, you’ve got to talk to him about that,” Roseman said on the Rich Eisen Show in April. “We were evaluating talent from the same talent pool, like we do in the NFL.”
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Roseman’s wife, Mindy, and Licht’s wife, Blair, were longtime friends who went to high school together in Cleveland, and both worked in finance together in Manhattan. While he and Licht were working for the Eagles, Roseman made the connection, and the rest is history. The Lichts were married in 2006.
“Hey, listen,” Eisen replied, “when you generally manage, you generally manage, basically is what you’re saying. So you manage the Lichts’ relationship now."
“You’ve got to be in a position where you’re constantly evaluating, Rich,” Roseman joked. “You’re evaluating everything in life. That’s how we do it here in Philadelphia.”
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Licht, a former college football player at Nebraska and Nebraska Wesleyan, helped Roseman learn the ropes in scouting when they worked together with the Eagles from 2003-07. Licht left the organization in 2007 to work for the Arizona Cardinals. Roseman was officially promoted to Eagles general manager in 2010, and Licht got his general manager position with the Buccaneers in 2014. Both have been there ever since.
Now, they have become two of the best GMs in the NFL, with three Super Bowls between them (and a fourth if you count the one Licht won as a scout for the New England Patriots in 2001).
While Roseman may have the 2-1 Super Bowl lead as a GM after the Eagles’ latest win in February, the Bucs have dominated the head-to-head matchups during Licht’s time in Tampa. They’re 7-1 against Philly under Licht, and have twice eliminated the Eagles from the playoffs.
What a way to thank Roseman for playing matchmaker.