Trip MacCracken `92: Building a career in sports

Trip MacCracken `92 is the Director of Football Administration for the Cleveland Browns, and to folks who`ve been around Hawken for awhile, his career path seems like a foregone conclusion - as MacCracken points out, he literally grew up on the playing fields at Hawken. "Sports have been a passion for me since I was five years old," says MacCracken. "I followed my dad [French teacher Al MacCracken +óGé¼-£54] around the field, hung out with Coach Walton`s son Scott, and went to see the Browns, Indians, and Cavs, and all of the games at Hawken." Eventually MacCracken became the Hawken quarterback, and assumed that playing football would be a part of life when he attended Hamilton College. His focus shifted during his junior year, however, when he landed an internship at the White House. "It was the proverbial horizon-broadening experience," he says. "I was doing a lot of grunt work, but being in the real world made me realize that expanding my focus would serve me better than limiting my energies to the playing field." While in Washington, MacCracken augmented his internship by working for the Redskins on game days, gathering press quotes. "It was a foot in the door," he recalls, and he eventually worked three successive summers for the Redskins prior to beginning a law degree at Duke University in the fall of 1996. Following his second year at Duke, he began an internship with the labor division of the NFL where, he says, "I learned and developed the skill set I`m using now." Specifically, that skill set requires MacCracken to negotiate player contracts and manage the club`s salary cap. He describes his job as "navigating a fine line with people that I`m trying to please both inside and outside the organization," but that environment is clearly one in which MacCracken thrives. "I think ultimately competition brings out the best in everyone," he notes. "I enjoy the process the most when the person across the table is really well prepared. The agents and I both have the common goal of seeing the players succeed for the Browns, and when that happens it`s really rewarding." To MacCracken, giving the Browns his best is all part of giving back to the community. "I`ve always had a passion for building things," he says, "and to be able to build what we`re building for Cleveland - to dedicate so much to building a team that means so much to so many people - is really rewarding.