Carmen Policy

Every great dynasty needs a competent pencil pusher. Someone who knows the ins and outs of contract negotiations and is undaunted by the stars who constantly demand for more money. Carmen Policy ws that man for the San Francisco 49ers during their great run of the 1980's and '90's. But just who was this mysterious man? One thing's for sure, he was much more than just owner Eddie DeBartolo's right hand man.

The Early Years

Carmen Policy was born in Youngstown, Ohio on January 26, 1943 to a family that truly valued a dollar well-earned. Both his parents and grandparents had scrimped and saved to buy their own small businesses and worked feverishly day and night to ensure success for their respective operations. Once he finished his homework, young Carmen was expected to help his parents in their drug store. All around him, young Carmen watched as the adults in his life strived to achieve their own version of the American Dream.

But while childhood wonder often leads one to explore their own dreams, it is often tragedy that drives us to even greater achievements. His mother died of a heart attack at the age of 42 when Carmen was just nine and his father never recovered. Just six years later, his father died, leaving him in the capable hands of his loving grandparents.

But tragedy continued to follow the Policy family. His grandpa was well known in the community for cashing the checks of the steel workers who sauntered into his saloon for a night cap. Unfortunately, this service was a little too well known. One day, his grandpa was cornered by gun-wielding burglars. He refused to give up the cash that was in his possession, so they shot and killed him.

Carmen took his frustrations out on the gridiron, but nature soon intervened. His high school was good enough to routinely draw gigantic crowds as large as 14,000 and Carmen Policy was never blessed with a "football body". Instead, he was practice squad fodder all four years. At the end of his high school career, he had been recognized by the school for having the best GPA on the football team, but all he wanted to do was play ball.

After graduating from nearby Youngstown State University, Carmen Policy went to Georgetown Law School where he was met with a harsh culture shock that would prove to be quite useful further down the line. While he now went to class with numerous Ivy Leaguers and the children of famous politicians and the rulers of corporate America, Policy had just enjoyed the first flight of his life. Once he got his law degree in 1966, he moved back home and immediately began sharpening his teeth in the messiest affairs of rough and tumble Youngstown.

For the next decade, he represented numerous figures within the mafia and even defended the man accused of murdering Danny Green. While he didn't win one of the most notorious murder cases in the state, Carmen Policy has proudly stated that his client was not sentenced to death.

In the midst of all the drama that his chosen career brought, he prepared himself for dealing with the multifaceted personalities of pro football players and developed the stamina to stand strong as their owner went through his own temper tantrums.

The 49ers

In the mid-'70's, Carmen Policy met Eddie DeBartolo at a gathering. While their initial meeting didn't spring an instant friendship, it did provide some good faith shortly thereafter. A little while later, Policy was representing a contractor for one of DeBartolo's malls. Seeing how the DeBartolo Corporation had failed to pay them the $250,000 that they were owed, Carmen Policy put a lean on the mall.

Edward J. DeBartolo Sr. was not happy, but his son liked the lawyer and volunteered to resolve the issue himself. After the two sides met, Policy's client got his money and Plicy got a new client: Eddie DeBartolo. From then on, he served as DeBartolo's personal attorney while still operating his own practice.

In 1977, the DeBartolo family bought the San Francisco 49ers. For the next two years, Policy watched from afar as the 49ers crumbled under the shaky hands of their new owner. Finally, Eddie DeBartolo decided to clean house in 1979, firing the incumbent general manager Joe Thomas and hire coach Bill Walsh away from Stanford. It was Carmen Policy who took care of both deals. The franchise has never been the same.

Slowly but surely, Carmen Policy took on more responsibility within the franchise, often handling the written parts of the contracts while Walsh went out and found the pieces to a dynasty. Most importantly, he became a valuable buffer between coach and owner whenever the often volatile DeBartolo wanted to fire Bill Walsh. It has been estimated that Carmen Policy was ordered to fire Walsh seven times, each time ending in the same manner as Policy proved to be the voice of reason, calming his boss just enough to keep the dynasty afloat.

By 1988, Bill Walsh was starting to grow weary of the job. Having already won two Super Bowls, losing in the first round the past three years and dealing with one of the most heated quarterback controversies in NFL history, his great mind was spent and he often found himself running on fumes that year. DeBartolo recognized this was going to occur, stripped Walsh of the vice president label and gave it to Policy. While Walsh was hurt, the shock eventually wore off and he won one more Super Bowl that January before retiring as an NFL coach.

Carmen Policy still had his Youngstown law practice until 1991. At this point he had been named president of the 49ers and had taken on even more responsibility, often giving the organization sound advice about how much they could spend on certain players. With the dawn of the salary cap beaming onto the NFL landscape in 1994, Carmen Policy was so very critical for signing a slew of free agents that year. Free agent studs such as Deion Sanders, Rickey Jackson and Ken Norton Jr. propelled the 49ers to their fifth Super Bowl title that January.

As Policy watched the festivities in the victor's locker room, he got a feeling within the pit of his stomach that all was not well with the organization. Instead of simply reveling in the spoils of victory, many of the players were talking about how much money they stood to get in free agency after winning the Super Bowl. Having been with the organization in some capacity since 1977, Policy new that this attitude was not conducive to winning.

Cleveland and Beyond

In 1995, the Browns stunned the NFL world by leaving Cleveland for Baltimore. For the next several years, Clevelanders worked diligently to bring another NFL team to the city. Yearning to be an owner, Carmen Policy teamed up with Al Lerner to bring another version of the Browns back to Cleveland.

Since its birth in 1999, the Browns were a disaster in every sense of the word. They never could find a competent quarterback and failed so many Drafts that its almost laughable. Still Policy stuck it out until May 2004 when he stepped down as a minority owner and team president. Today, he spends much of his time operating Casa Piena Wines in Yountville, California. He was inducted into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame in 2017.

References