Catherine Hickman (nee Raîche)[1] (born 1989) is the assistant general manager for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). She previously held the position of vice president of football operations for the Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL. She has also held front office positions with the Montreal Alouettes and the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and Tampa Bay Vipers of the XFL.
| Cleveland Browns | |
|---|---|
| Position: | Assistant general manager |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | 1989 (age 34–35) Montreal, Quebec |
| Career history | |
| As an administrator: | |
| |
Early life and education
editIn 1989, Raîche was born in Montreal, Quebec. She completed a degree in law at the Université de Sherbrooke[2] and a master's degree in tax.[3]
Career
editRaîche began her career in law in 2012 practicing for the Quebec Bar Association. From 2012 to 2015, she worked in business law for a Montreal firm.[2] In 2015, Raîche changed her career and began working in sports for the Montreal Alouettes as an intern.[3] Later in the year, she became the coordinator of Football Administration for the Alouettes in December 2015.[4] Raîche's appointment to the Alouettes made her the first woman to become a personnel executive in the CFL since the hiring of Ottawa Rough Riders general manager Jo-Anne Polak in 1988.[5]
Raîche was a coordinator until January 2017 when she was promoted to assistant general manager alongside Joe Mack for the Alouettes.[6] At the time, she was the only female assistant general manager in the CFL and was the first woman to become a CFL assistant general manager.[2] She remained with the Alouettes before resigning in December 2017. After resigning from her position with the Alouettes, Raîche became the Toronto Argonauts director of football administration in January 2018.[7] She left the Argonauts in April 2019 for a front office position in the XFL, for the Tampa Bay Vipers,[8] reuniting her with head coach/general manager Marc Trestman who was relieved of his duties with Toronto in November 2018.[9][10]
On July 25, 2019, Raîche was hired as football operations coordinator by the Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL.[11] She was then promoted to the position of vice president of football operations for the Eagles on May 27, 2021. With her promotion, she became the second highest ranked woman in Philadelphia Eagles and NFL history to be involved in football personnel.[12][13][14] Susan Tose Spencer became the first and only female general manager in NFL history when she was hired by the Philadelphia Eagles in 1983.[15] Raîche interviewed for the Minnesota Vikings' general manager position in January 2022, becoming the first woman to interview for an NFL general manager position.[16][17] In June 2022, Raîche was selected by the Cleveland Browns to become the team's vice-president of football operations and assistant general manager.[18]
References
edit- ^ Stéphane Cadorette (27 May 2021). "NFL: une page d'histoire pour Catherine Raîche" (in French). TVA Nouvelles. QMI.
- ^ a b c Mongeau-Birkett, Sarah (16 March 2017). "How Catherine Raîche rose from unpaid intern to assistant GM of the Montreal Alouettes". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
- ^ a b O'Leary, Chris. "O'Leary: Raiche living her dream of working in football". CFL. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
- ^ "Alouettes confirm that assistant GM Raîche will leave organization". CFL. 19 December 2017. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
- ^ Beacon, Bill (24 January 2017). "Alouettes name Catherine Raiche, Joe Mack as assistants to GM Kavis Reed". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
- ^ "Alouettes name Raiche, Mack assistant GMs". TSN. 25 January 2017. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
- ^ "Argos name Montreal native Catherine Raiche as director, football administration". Montreal Gazette. 18 January 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
- ^ Mark Penny (25 July 2019). "Catherine Raiche Leaves XFL Tampa Bay For NFL's Eagles". XFL News Hub.
- ^ "Catherine Raiche leaving Toronto Argos for XFL front office job". 3DownNation. 4 April 2019.
- ^ "Argos part ways with Head Coach Marc Trestman". Canadian Football League. 3 November 2018.
- ^ "Eagles name Catherine Raiche football operations coordinator". USA Today. 25 July 2019.
- ^ "Eagles announce changes to football operations department". Philadelphia Eagles. 27 May 2021.
- ^ Zacharie Goudreault (28 May 2021). "La Québécoise Catherine Raîche brise un plafond de verre dans la NFL". Le Devoir (in French).
- ^ Herb Zurkowsky (27 May 2021). "Former Als assistant GM Raîche named Philadelphia Eagles' VP of Football Operations". Montreal Gazette.
- ^ "Vikings interview Eagles' Catherine Raîche to be second ever woman GM".
- ^ Young, Lindsey (January 17, 2022). "Vikings Conclude Initial Interview with Catherine Raîche for GM Opening". Vikings.com. Retrieved March 7, 2024.
- ^ Goessling, Ben (January 18, 2022). "Catherine Raiche makes NFL history, interviews for Vikings GM position". StarTribune.com. Retrieved March 7, 2024.
- ^ "Cleveland Browns name Canadian Catherine Raiche assistant general manager". Toronto Star. The Canadian Press. 16 June 2022. Retrieved 13 August 2022.