In May, the Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame will recognize two locals who have made a significant influence off the field of professional sports.
Ed McGuire, executive vice president of the Los Angeles Chargers, and Jen Sabatelle, executive vice president of communications at CBS Sports, are among the 26 individuals who will be inducted into the East Wind Hall of Fame in Wading River on Thursday, May 18.
Mr. McGuire and Ms. Sabatelle have revolutionized their respective industries.
Chris Vaccaro, president of the Hall of Fame, stated, “Ed was directly engaged in the expansion of an NFL club.” “Spending so much time with one club is uncommon, and creating a career in the business and finance department of a professional sports organization is tough, gratifying, and interesting. We are happy to commemorate Ed’s football achievements by inducting him into the Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame.”
Mr. Vaccaro felt similarly about Ms. Sabatelle, whom he referred to as “a force.”
“She has climbed through the ranks of public relations and communications, and her impact on the strategy at CBS Sports is phenomenal,” he continued. From Shoreham-Wading River to the Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame seems impressive.
Mr. McGuire also had a significant impact on his athletic career.
Mr. McGuire, like many Riverhead youths with an interest in sports, aspired to become a professional athlete. He participated on the baseball and football teams at Riverhead High School, but he recognized his limits.
Nonetheless, he had other opportunities to compete in professional sports. He graduated from St. John’s University with a degree in athletic administration. During his last semester, Mr. McGuire interned at the New York City headquarters of the United States Football League. In 1987, he joined the NFL office as a player personnel analyst and eventually became a recognized authority on the league’s pay cap and collective bargaining agreement. In 1993, the CBA was negotiated between the league and the NFL Players Association.
Mr. McGuire stated, “We attempted to consider every imaginable scenario, but you have no clue when you produce a contract from scratch and teams and agents immediately begin looking for loopholes in the cap.” “During my first several years with the NFL, I worked to eliminate these loopholes in the next collective bargaining agreement and negotiate with the union. It was a fascinating sight to watch how teams were doing everything they could to continue pushing money into future years.
It could not have been a better time for me to get so familiar with the pay cap and guidelines.
Mr. McGuire noted that NFL senior vice president of labor relations Peter Ruocco, a founding father of the salary limit and collective bargaining agreement, was a mentor.
During the years, he remarked, “I’ve had really helpful mentors and individuals.” “Just had a fantastic training ground. Better than anything else I could have gotten, which helped me land the position with the Chargers.”
Mr. McGuire, who is now 61 years old, joined the Chargers in 1998 as coordinator of football operations and has been an integral member of the organization ever since. He is the primary negotiator for the Chargers and oversees the team’s pay cap.
When he joined the Chargers, he attempted to discover new methods to exploit the salary cap. “But, the league has done an excellent job over the last quarter-century of making it a pretty black-and-white document. There is now very little ambiguity in the collective bargaining agreement.”
It would be an understatement to say that Mr. McGuire enjoys his profession.
“I’m one of the fortunate individuals who has never woken up and said I don’t want to go to work,” he remarked. “It’s a hobby. It is not work. That is something I adore. I recognize how lucky I am when I say this because I have been a member of the team for 25 years.
Ms. Sabatelle’s enormous influence in her field should not come as a shock. She grew up immersed in sports. Her father, Thomas, who was inducted into the Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame in 2014, was the sports director at Sachem High School. Her family life and routine focused on her participation in numerous sports, attendance at games, and television viewing.
In 2011, she told Ithaca College’s journal IC Perspective, “I cannot recall a period when athletics were not the primary emphasis of my life.” As I entered college, I moved my concentration from the playing field to a career in sports television.
In 1996, two years after graduating from Ithaca College, Ms. Sabatelle landed a job as a liaison between NFL clubs and television networks. This led her to CBS Sports, where she worked as a programming and marketing coordinator.
In January 2021, after eight years as senior vice president, Ms. Sabatelle was appointed to her present post. Her responsibilities at CBS Sports and CBS Sports Network include overseeing media relations, corporate communications, social media, and the marketing of all personalities and programs.
In 2011, Ms. Sabatelle remarked, “When I received my first chance in athletics, I thought that if I worked really hard and did a wonderful job, someone would notice, regardless of my gender.” “I am grateful that I am able to work every day in a field that has fascinated me since I was a child, and that I am able to do it among the finest athletes in the world.”