The Cincinnati Bengals appointed Duke Tobin as the team’s Director of Player Personnel in 1999. They were leaving the entire decade of the ‘90s in the rearview mirror as they forged their path into the new millennium. Three short years later, the team hired Marvin Lewis, who brought the Bengals back to relevance.
All the while, Tobin worked in the background. While he doesn’t carry the label of General Manager, and he likely never will, he does act as the team’s de facto GM. He, Mike Brown, Katie, and Troy Blackburn have guided the team through a changing league.