Tod Leiweke Joins the Show After Announcing He’s Moving On
Jul 26, 2010, 4:05 PM | Updated: Apr 4, 2011, 7:55 pm
Today Tod Leiweke announced that he is leaving his position as CEO of the Seahawks to become a part owner and CEO of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Immediately following today’s press conference, Leiweke joined the show to talk about his seven years with the Seahawks and answer questions about why he’s leaving.
On why he’s leaving for Tampa and reflections on his time with the Seahawks:
I’m good at turning things around and I might be just the man for the job there [in Tampa]. When it all added up it seemed like the right thing to do, but I must say that there were lots of days of consternation, an
d today was a hard day. I love the people here. I love our fans and I’ve given this place everything I’ve had for seven years, and hopefully the fans see that in the work I did.
On the process of hiring the next CEO of the Vulcan Sports:
We are going to do this right. I’m going to be the strongest advocate Paul Allen has in what a great opportunity there is here. … My legacy isn’t going to be what we’ve done in the last seven years, it’s going to be what the next seven years look like. It’s really important to me that this organization ends up in good hands and that we pass the baton in a really smooth and elegant way. … I think there will be incredibly competent people all over the country interested in this job.
On his regrets about how the situation with Jim Mora ended:
I’ve had a great seven years, but it hasn’t been perfect. One of my regrets certainly is the whole Jim Mora piece. I did speak to him today and I have a lot of respect for Jim Mora. I think if he had known what was going to happen, he certainly wouldn’t have come here. He might not have passed up other opportunities. Of all the great things that have gone down in the last seven years that’s something that I’ll always have some serious heart pains about.
On having the chance to own part of an NHL franchise:
There was an opportunity offered there that as a kid playing hockey and loving the game a chance to own a little piece of a team was really quite an amazing turn of events for me. It’s something I’m really excited about. Now I get to not only order the food in the owner’s box, I get to stay in there and eat some of it.
Check out the full interview with Tod Leiweke here:
Mike Sando, who covers the NFC West for ESPN.com, said Monday on the show that Leiweke’s departure is “a loss for the Seahawks, but the timing of it is better than it could have been.”
He added, “I think they’re in better position to move forward and really the best thing for Seahawks fans out of this whole announcement is the fact that Tod Leiweke is going to stay around and name his successor,” and “I think Tod Leiweke, though, gives them a chance to get a good guy, and maybe come out of this thing OK.”
