The Athletic released their annual list of the “NFL 40 under 40” on Monday, which focuses on ascending league executives, agents and coaches.
Sitting near the top of the list was New York Giants assistant general manager Brandon Brown, who is just 33 years old.
Brown played college football at Fordham, but before pursuing a job in scouting or other areas of pro football, he decided to go to law school.
“I knew I never wanted to be in a courtroom or anything of that nature on the job working in law, but I wanted the soft skills that came with it: the public speaking, the critical thinking, high-level analysis, all the things that are applicable in the day-to-day job of being an NFL executive,” Brown told The Athletic this spring.
He earned his JD at Barry University in 2013 and landed his first job in the NFL as a scout for the Colts in 2015. He went on to spend five years with the Eagles before new Giants general manager Joe Schoen hired Brown to be his assistant general manager earlier this year.
In his new role, Brown is involved in all aspects of the Giants’ personnel department, from pro personnel to draft preparation to contracts and cap management.
Brown was hired by general manager Joe Schoen earlier this year to replace Kevin Abrams, who was moved into the role of senior vice president of football operations and strategy.
While no other Giants executive, scout or coach made the list, retired Big Blue offensive lineman Kevin Boothe, who now works with the league office, did.
Boothe played nine seasons in the NFL, two with the Raiders and seven with the Giants, where he was part of two Super Bowl championship teams.
He joined the league office in 2016 and worked in sponsorships, football operations and football development before moving into his current role earlier this year. Boothe primarily works with football operations and player personnel departments to make sure teams are in compliance with all aspects of the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement and are operating within the league’s bylaws.
Boothe was one of three league office employees to participate in this year’s NFL Accelerator program.
The 38-year-old Boothe was a sixth-round pick of the Raiders in the 2006 NFL draft. He spent seven years with the Giants from 2007-2013 and remains beloved around the organization.
Both Brown and Boothe have extremely bright futures with the former likely to generate significant GM interest as early as 2023.
