Trimming an NFL roster to 53 players is never easy. All of the players that get invited to camp are the best football players in the world. General managers know how hard the process is, and Mike Mayock reveals that the process never gets easier.
The Oakland Raiders made the lion's share of their final roster cuts on Saturday, and Mayock took it upon himself to personally inform each player who wouldn't continue on with the Raiders – a process that several times left him near tears, per ESPN's Paul Gutierrez.
#Raiders GM Mike Mayock said he made every cut personally. "I was cut three times so I empathize with them…every cut was brutal," he said. "I had tears in my eyes with several of these kids."
— Paul Gutierrez (@PGutierrezESPN) August 31, 2019
Mayock, a former player himself, understands the amount of effort these players put in during the training camp. He also knows how painful it is to be cut so close to the finish line.
He was drafted in 1981 coming out of Boston College, but he barely got any playing time. He played for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Toronto Argonauts, and New York Giants. He was also cut from all of those teams.
Mayock didn't stray far from the game, however. He was a broadcaster for the NFL Network from 2004 to 2018 and has built a reputation as a knowledgeable expert in the sport. His expertise got the attention of the Raiders, who offered him the GM position at the end of 2018.
While releasing players is never a pleasant business, it must at least feel good to know that the GM himself went out of his way to recognize your efforts before getting waived After all, these men spend blood, sweat, and tears in order to meet expectations and make the team.
Mayock must have told them that being cut is not the end of the world. After all, he was released thrice and everything turned out just fine.
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