The National Football League’s Tennessee Titans have hired former lacrosse star Bryce Wasserman as a staff counsel.
Wasserman, who graduated from law school in May and sat for the Tennessee bar exam in July, officially joined the Titans last month. The all-time lacrosse scoring leader in Monmouth University’s history was named Major League Lacrosse’s Most Valuable Player two years ago, while attending law school at the University of Miami.
Wasserman broke his hand in the finals playing for the Boston Cannons, which won MLL’s championship by beating the Denver Outlaws to cap a pandemic-shortened 2020 season. The win was especially sweet for Wasserman, who was drafted by the Outlaws in 2018 after graduating from Monmouth University in New Jersey.
“My lacrosse days were an incredible experience, and I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to play at the professional level for five years while earning my MBA and JD,” Wasserman said in an email. “But I have had an even better experience transitioning to my professional career in the NFL.”
Wasserman is now suiting up for the Titans, where he reports to the team’s general counsel Daniel Werly and associate general counsel Valeria Williams. Burke Nihill, a former chief legal officer for the Titans, was named the team’s president and CEO in 2020, the same year the franchise hired Adolpho Birch III as its new legal chief.
An internship with the Titans last summer led to his current job after his playing days ended, Wasserman said. His brother, Casey, a fellow former lacrosse player, also works for the team. They’re unrelated to sports industry mogul Casey Wasserman.
Club Legal Changes
Wasserman isn’t the only lawyer to recently join an NFL team.
The Las Vegas Raiders recruited a new general counsel earlier this month, joining fellow division rivals the Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Chargers in shaking up their in-house legal ranks. The Cincinnati Bengals also hired the first in-house lawyer in their history this year after falling short in the Super Bowl.
Bloomberg Law reported last month on the Buffalo Bills being without the services of their longtime legal chief Gregg Brandon as the team kicked off the 2022 NFL season. The Bills have since appointed assistant general counsel Kathryn D’Angelo as their interim general counsel, according to the team’s website. D’Angelo, a former prosecutor, was initially hired by the Bills in 2016.
The New Orleans Saints have brought on former Adams and Reese partner Gregory Rouchell as a senior vice president of human resources and corporate counsel, per the team’s website. Rouchell joined GMB Management LLC, an entity affiliated with Saints owner Gayle Benson, earlier this year after having previously represented the Saints in a variety of matters, including at least two lawsuits filed in US federal court, according to Bloomberg Law data. Rouchell didn’t respond to a comment request.
Lastly, the Houston Texans quietly parted ways earlier this year with their former chief legal and administrative officer H. Suzanne “Suzie” Thomas, shortly before trading controversial former star quarterback Deshaun Watson to the Cleveland Browns. Watson agreed in August to an 11-game suspension handed down by the NFL over sexual misconduct claims filed against him by numerous women.
Media representatives for the Texans didn’t respond to requests for comment about Thomas’ departure. She had been the team’s top lawyer for a decade and worked for the McNair family—owners of the Texans—since 2000. Gregory Kondritz, general counsel for the Texans since 2019, was promoted this past January to the additional role of executive vice president of business affairs.
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