Pacific Pro Football League announces management team

Pacific Pro Football, founded by sports agent Don Yee, announced its executive management team today, naming former NFL wide receiver and three-time Super Bowl Champion Ed McCaffrey as Commissioner, and former NFL Network Vice President Jamie Hemann as Chief Executive Officer.

“Ed and Jamie give us a combination of deep football and sports business experience,” Yee said. “Both are dynamic and innovative. Ed was one of the premier wide receivers of his era as a player, and since then, he’s had a tremendous impact on young men’s lives, including his own sons, as one of Colorado’s top high school coaches. His entire family personifies our league and product. Jamie is a bright, young executive with nearly 20 years of high-level boardroom experience at ESPN and NFL Network.

“We are excited to have them leading our league.”

McCaffrey recently stepped down as the head coach at Valor Christian High School in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. He played 13 NFL seasons after being drafted by the New York Giants out of Stanford University in 1991. McCaffrey won a Super Bowl championship with San Francisco in 1994 and two more with Denver in 1997 and ’98. A Pro Bowl selection in 1998, McCaffrey finished his illustrious career with 565 catches for 7,422 yards and 55 touchdowns.

The McCaffreys, Ed and wife Lisa, are a football family. They have four sons, the youngest of which, Luke, graduated from Valor Christian in 2018. Son, Max, is a wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers and son, Christian, is a running back and return specialist for the Carolina Panthers. Christian was the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy in 2015. Son, Dylan, also played at Valor Christian and currently plays quarterback at Michigan.

“I am honored to be Pacific Pro’s first commissioner, and we’ll build a new, innovative pathway for the very best aspiring pro football players,” McCaffrey said. “Our league will be fun for players and fans, and fans will see the best of the next generation of stars.”

Hemann brings more than 17 years of experience in sports media and is an innovative corporate and operational strategist, skilled in aligning and executing successful strategy with anticipated changes in the sports, entertainment, media and technology landscape.   

Hemann most recently served as Vice President, Media Administration & Talent for the NFL. Hemann represented the League and its media platforms (NFL Network, NFL Digital and NFL Mobile) as the lead negotiator for a wide range of sports media business transactions and acquisitions, including talent, original scripted/unscripted entertainment, studio and remote productions and development. Hemann was instrumental in strategizing and executing the creation and expansion of the business administration and operational infrastructure for NFL Network and NFL Digital Media. In addition, he provided critical legal, financial, business and administrative guidance for NFL Media while interacting with the National Football League office.

Prior to his tenure with the NFL, Hemann worked at ESPN within programming, leading efforts on properties including X-Games, the ESPYs, the Great Outdoors Games and ESPN’s Original Entertainment scripted and documentary productions.

“I’m grateful to Don for this opportunity and I’m looking forward to working alongside him and Ed as we work to make our mark,” Hemann said. “We’re certainly not reinventing the game of football, but we are doing something revolutionary and giving young men an opportunity that they haven’t been afforded previously. It’s going to be a special league and I have the utmost confidence that we’re going to be successful.”

A native of Stacyville, Iowa, Hemann earned a Bachelor of Arts in history from Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and a Juris Doctorate from University of Tulsa College of Law. Hemann and his wife have a daughter and they reside in Los Angeles.

Scheduled to begin play in July 2020, Pacific Pro is the first American professional football league that will provide an opportunity for football players to play professionally directly out of high school, and be compensated to do so. The league will focus on player development on and off the field using professional protocols. Players will be trained to play professional football; games and practices will be conducted using only professional protocols.

Off the field, Pacific Pro will employ dedicated team counselors to help each player create a sturdy foundation for a post-football life path, through vocational, academic and innovative internship programs.