Kevin Warren, the Big Ten commissioner, made his final decision on fall sports Tuesday in an open letter to the Big Ten community, and Gene Smith doubled down with his own statement. But who exactly is Kevin Warren? Warren has a long story of how he became the commissioner and we’ll try to sum it all up for you.
Following the news from Gene Smith, after he reiterated Kevin Warren’s message that the Big Ten, and thus Ohio State, would not play this fall. There are a lot of people who are saying that Smith is bowing to Warren and he should instead take a stand. Kevin Warren has a long history in football, and him deciding to cancel the season might have more to do with his background than anything else.
Warren is a lawyer by schooling, more specifically, sports law. He worked with former SEC commissioner Michael Slive prior to starting his own agency where he represented several former Kansas City Chiefs. He was eventually hired by Dick Vermiel as a front office/legal personnel for the Rams.
From there Warren went to work as legal counsel for the Detroit Lions. Here is where his history starts to get a little murky in some ways. He went to work for a firm in Phoenix and assisted the Wirf family in buying the Vikings. It was right after the purchase that Warren became the Chief Legal Officer for the Vikings. He then went on to be the COO, before becoming Big Ten commissioner.
While he was in the NFL, Roger Goodell placed him on the emergency planning committee. Between his law background and being on the committee is where I think his decision was made regarding the season. One thing lawyers are wary of is liability. Fear of reprisal if a player gets sick, or worse, probably was too much for Warren to decide any other way.
I don’t know that for certain of course, but it’s not hard to read between the lines, especially when considering Warren’s background.
The Buckeyes will not be playing this fall, and the cautious nature and legal background of Warren probably played a large role. Gene Smith is not going to rebel against Warren — at least not publicly — even if Warren needs Ohio State more than Ohio State needs him. It will be interesting to see if there is any fallout long term over the decision.
It’ll also be interesting to see if there are further actions resulting from all of this.