Jack Teele

Jack Earl Teele (June 17, 1930 – September 14, 2017) was an American football executive and sportswriter. He served as an executive for thirty-one seasons in the National Football League (NFL), including twenty-one with the Los Angeles Rams and ten with the San Diego Chargers, and two in the World League of American Football (WLAF) with the Barcelona Dragons.

Early life and education

Jack Teele was born on June 17, 1930, in Bloomington, Illinois. His family moved to Long Beach, California, in 1941. He was known for being one of the first students in the city to attend all levels of education there, having graduated from Garfield Elementary School, Washington Junior High, Long Beach Polytechnic High School, Long Beach City College, and Long Beach State University. He was a member of the Long Beach State men's basketball team, and played in their first ever season.

While a member of Long Beach City College in 1949, Teele started a sportswriting career with ''The Independent''. After his graduation from college, he spent two years in the Army Intelligence, including thirteen months in Japan. He returned to United States in 1954, starting a local sports column in ''The Independent'' titled "Sports About Town". From 1958 to 1959, he covered the Los Angeles Rams in the newspaper.

Executive career

Los Angeles Rams

In , Teele was hired by the Los Angeles Rams as the director of publicity, replacing Bert Rose who became general manager of the Minnesota Vikings.

In the mid-1960s, Teele coined the phrase " Fearsome Foursome", to refer the Rams defensive line consisting of Deacon Jones, Merlin Olsen, Lamar Lundy, and Rosey Grier. "Everywhere we went, people asked me about our defensive line," Teele said in 2013. "So I decided we had to have a name." He nicknamed them the "Fearsome Foursome", and the name "immediately stuck," he said.

In , Teele had helped organize the first Super Bowl, booking the American Football League (AFL) champion Kansas City Chiefs into the Edgewater Hotel in Long Beach. He also secured the team practice space at Veterans Memorial Stadium, the sports field of Long Beach State University.

After serving nine seasons in the position of publicity director, owner Dan Reeves named him "assistant to the president", a position that had Teele second in command of the franchise, following the departure of general manager Elroy Hirsch. Although Reeves held the title of general manager, Teele was the team's executive officer. Reeves died prior to the 1971 season and after Carroll Rosenbloom acquired the team the following year, Teele was replaced by Don Klosterman.

Rosenbloom moved Teele to the position of "administrative assistant". In that role, he was in charge of the team's travel, room and food arrangements, and "myriad other details during training camp and the season." He remained in that position through the 1977 season, before being named vice president of administration in . He served as vice president of administration from 1978 to , before resigning in March . He served with the Rams under three different owners, six head coaches, and " umpteen different quarterbacks" during his twenty-one year stint with the organization.

San Diego Chargers

Shortly after resigning as Rams vice president of administration, Teele accepted an offer from the San Diego Chargers as assistant to the owner. He served in that position from to before becoming assistant to the president in . He was reported as team vice president in . He returned to his role of assistant to the president in , before being named Director of Administration in . In , he helped the Chargers acquire Hank Ilesic, and the ''North County Times'' reported his time "was well spent". He was fired by Chargers owner Alex Spanos in January .

Barcelona Dragons

After being let go by the Chargers, Teele became the chief executive officer of the Barcelona Dragons, a team in the newly formed World League of American Football (WLAF). He later served as their general manager in 1992 before the league suspended. He subsequently retired.

Death

Teele died on September 14, 2017, at the age of 87.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Teele, Jack
1930 births
2017 deaths
Long Beach State Beach men's basketball players
Sportswriters from California
American football executives
Los Angeles Rams executives
San Diego Chargers executives
NFL Europe executives
Sportspeople from Bloomington, Illinois
Long Beach City College alumni