Bucs GM Jason Licht reveals personal mistake that has fueled team’s secrecy on his watch
Licht was a part of a tough-look situation in Philadelphia that helped mold his current philosophy on maintaining sensitive information.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht runs a pretty tight ship when it comes to media leaks and information getting out about moves taking place inside his building. The Bucs are one of the more tight-lipped teams when it comes to information getting out.
And that level of secrecy might have something to do with Licht himself and a personal situation he was in when he was a member of the Philadelphia Eagles front office about two decades ago.
Licht joined the morning show “Good Morning Football” on the NFL Network recently, and he spilled the beans on a mistake he made regarding information surrounding the release of Eagles legend Jeremiah Trotter.
Bucs GM Jason Licht tells funny story about how a talk with his wife led to info leaking on Eagles releasing Jeremiah Trotter
“There’s a story I always tell everybody when they first get here that when we first hire them about information getting out.
“The decision of the team was that we were going to release Jeremiah Trotter, which was big news at the time. He had been our leader, and he’s a bad man. You don’t want to mess with him. We couldn’t tell anybody. We were going to do it the next day. It was very secretive. They said, ‘do not tell anybody’.”
Licht said he went on to tell his wife at home that night and told her not to tell anyone, to which he quotes her as replying, “well, who am I going to tell?”
However, the next day, the news was on Philadelphia morning sports radio, causing Licht and the rest of the front office to panic, since Trotter had not yet been made aware.
After Licht got home that night, after no one at the Eagles’ facility could determine where the leak came from, he asked his wife if she told. She admitted she told her cousin, Vincent, who happened to be a huge Eagles fan.
So Licht phoned Vincent and asked if he spilled the beans to anyone. “I wouldn’t tell anybody. Well, I mean, I told my friend Jesse,” he responded.
Licht said that weeks later, he spoke with Jesse and asked if he told anyone. “Well, that was just too good to not to tell anybody, so I called the radio station,” Licht recounts Jesse as saying.
Clearly, the situation hit home for Licht and serves to reinforce the importance of maintaining full secrecy from everybody when it comes to crucial and sensitive information to safeguard.
Licht concluded by noting that his wife has learned her lesson, but don’t let cousin Vincent or his friend Jesse in on any secrets you might have.
“You cannot tell anybody these secrets, these things you want to keep close to the vest. Blair has learned her lesson. Blair is still the best football wife you could imagine. But still, to this day, if you live in the Allentown, Pennsylvania area and you run across cousin Vincent or Jesse, do not tell them your secrets.”