Originally Posted by The Journal Sentinel….
The National Football League has enjoyed doing business with natives of Pewaukee, Wisconsin.
John Spytek, 44, is on the cusp of a deal to become general manager of the Las Vegas Raiders according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, elevating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers assistant GM to the big chair after 21 years of NFL front-office experience.
Spytek, a native of Pewaukee — the town that produced the Watt brothers and former first-round draft pick (and University of Wisconsin athletics director) Chris McIntosh — attended Catholic Memorial High School in Waukesha.
Spytek spent the past nine seasons with the Buccaneers, most recently as assistant general manager. He worked as a scout for the Denver Broncos the three years before that, along with three seasons as Cleveland Browns director of college scouting. He spent five seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles and began his career with the Detroit Lions as an intern.
Spytek attended the University of Michigan, playing 37 games for the Wolverines at linebacker from 1999-2002. For one year at the school, he was teammates with quarterback Tom Brady, who now possesses a minority ownership share of the Raiders franchise.
Named first-team All-State at defensive end during his senior season at Catholic Memorial, Spytek committed to the Wolverines in the same recruiting class as Cudahy quarterback John Navarre, who went on to set Michigan’s career passing records for completions and yards and still holds the single-season marks in those categories.
Spytek’s teammate at Catholic Memorial both in football and basketball, Matt Katula, attended Wisconsin and played in the NFL as a long snapper from 2005 to 2012.
One of the first orders of business for Spytek will be hiring a head coach; the franchise parted ways with Antonio Pierce this offseason. Spytek replaces Tom Telesco, fired as Raiders GM earlier this month.