As a boy, ED POLICY dreamed of making it to the National Football League as a player, but reality kicked in pretty soon. Once he realized that stardom on the gridiron wasn't in the cards, he decided to approach his dream arena from a different avenue. Policy turned his attentions to the law, which has now led him to the starting lineup in the Green Bay Packers' back office. Now he's tackled the top legal position with the Green Bay Packers; the team named him its vice president and general counsel at the end of July.
"It's the position I've wanted and have been training for all my professional life," Policy says. "There's just no better organization to be attached to."
Policy was most recently president of a start-up company focused on developing a sports media and entertainment property. (Because the project is not yet public, Policy could not disclose specific details, but he said the work involved creating and developing business models.)
Policy succeeds JASON WIED, who resigned as Packers GC in January after taking a two-month leave of absence for medical reasons. In a statement from the Packers in January, Wied said that his resignation was due to a dependency on "herbal remedies."
Policy's professional involvement with sports began when he was in private practice as a litigator for Heller Ehrman and Thompson Hine. At both firms he often worked to bring in sports clients and sports-related projects.
In 2001 he began work with the Arena Football League, overseeing all its business and operations. In 2009 Policy was an executive consultant with the NFL, advising senior management on strategic matters.
Policy says that thanks to this past experience, he feels amply prepared for the new job. "I already have a 360-degree view of the sports law landscape," he notes. But the Packers position does add some new twists for Policy: As the top lawyer for the only publicly owned team in the NFL, he will need to be ready to deal with the organization's corporate governance issues.
Policy headed out to Green Bay, Wisconsin, from New York at the end of July, with his wife and two young sons—ages 4 and 1—joining him in the Badger State soon afterward. He says that the move comes at an opportune time for his family: "While we love New York City and had a terrific time there over the years, the kids will be entering school soon, and we're excited to move to Green Bay for that."
Policy earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1993 and a law degree from Stanford University in 1996.
