Since taking over as owner of the Seattle Seahawks following the death of her brother, Paul, last October, Jody Allen has already had to make a few key decisions for the future of the franchise.
The Seahawks gave head coach Pete Carroll a contract extension in December and made quarterback Russell Wilson the highest-paid player in the NFL last week.
“Jody is in charge of the organization now,” General Manager John Schneider said at Wilson’s press conference last week. “She’s our boss. It was great. She was super supportive. She was super involved. She was awesome.”
Allen had to sign off on the inclusion of a no-trade clause in Wilson’s deal, which agent Mark Rodgers has said was a key aspect of getting Wilson’s extension completed
“We wanted him to be here for life, right? So, it’s something that I needed to discuss with Jody and it’s something that’s part of the negotiation. There’s a lot of different components in negotiations and that was just one of them,” Schneider said.
Now Allen will be a part of overseeing her first draft as chairman of the team. Schneider said on Monday that Allen was meeting with them later in the afternoon to be walked through the process as they continue toward finalizing their draft board.
“Jody is coming over this afternoon, so we’ll take her through the process of what the board looks like right now,” Schneider said. “We’re done with the coaches. We were with those guys this weekend. And so we have some things to work through still.”
Paul was a regular fixture in the team’s draft room through the years - at least for day one of the draft. Schneider said on Monday he wasn’t sure yet whether Jody would also be interested in attending, but noted her enthusiasm for the proceedings.
“We’re going to talk to her this afternoon about it,” he said. “Paul was so used to the NBA that he loved coming for the first round and then he’d kind of see all those names (for the latter rounds) and be like, ‘Alright, well, see you guys.’ I don’t know yet. I know she’s very excited, very into it.”
The future of the team was uncertain following Paul’s death from cancer last October. Jody was made the executrix and trustee of Paul’s estate, which included the ownership of the Seahawks, Portland Trail Blazers and much more. Jody has made the transition a smooth one with help from Paul’s long-time associate Bert Kolde. Paul, Jody and Kolde made up the board of Vulcan Sports and Entertainment, which oversees the Seahawks and Trail Blazers.