Tracy Perlman, Senior Vice President of Player Operations, began her career with the NFL the day after she graduated from Hofstra University in 1992. 

Perlman leads the marketing and communications of all programs, benefits and resources available across the football community. These efforts positively impact relationships and enhance goodwill for the NFL and its 32 member clubs with coaches, prospects, current players and Legends.

Perlman builds relationships with, and establishes connections between, current players and NFL Legends. She works with players to enhance their images and drive their initiatives by sharing their off-field stories. Her team develops partnerships with incoming NFL rookies to welcome them to the NFL family.

Her team created the NFL Legends Podcast, an unscripted podcast where players and Legends have honest, candid conversations about the challenges and benefits of life off the field and after their football career.

Perlman serves as the contact for players on league-wide initiatives, including “My Cause, My Cleats,” and she has developed events for players at NFL events and assists players and Legends in building their own brands. 

In 2013, in partnership with Player Engagement and the Commissioner’s office, she created the NFL Legends Community. The Legends Community celebrates, embraces and connects all former players with each other, their former teams and the NFL. The NFL Legends Community, the league’s central resource for former players, provides opportunities for Legends to engage with each other year-round — in person and through social media — through team events, educational programs and professional development, total wellness and networking opportunities. Perlman oversees the 24 Legends directors and coordinators who work as peer-to-peer advisors for the more than 10,000 former players who have registered with the NFL Legends Community.  

NFL Player Engagement (PE) takes a four-pillar approach to supporting NFL players and their families during their NFL career and beyond: Continuing Education, Financial Literacy, Professional Development, and Personal Development. Perlman and her team create programs to foster growth opportunities for current players and Legends by partnering with external businesses and NFL corporate partners. 

 A few examples of the programs under Perlman’s direction include: NFL Career Tours, created to give current players and NFL Legends real experience in entertainment, fashion, gaming, finance, and broadcast; The Second Act Podcast with NFL Legends Roman Harper and Peanut Tillman, a peer-to-peer podcast that allows Legends to share their experience in their transition from game of football, speak freely about the challenges of leaving the game and discuss the tools used to assist in the process; and the Personal Branding workshops, which allow current players and NFL Legends an opportunity to develop their personal brand through multimedia platforms.

Before joining Football Operations, Perlman was NFL Vice President of Entertainment and Marketing. In that role, Perlman organized and promoted the Super Bowl halftime show, one of the most-watched events, each year. Her crowning achievement was booking U2 and overseeing their iconic performance at halftime of Super Bowl XXXVI — the first Super Bowl to be played after the September 11 attacks. She also oversaw the creation of the NFL Kickoff Concert event, booked players on Dancing with the Stars, collaborated with the makers of the movies “Draft Day” and “The Blind Side,” and launched “Lombardi” the play.

In 2014, Perlman was named as one of Billboard’s Power 100, and, in 2012, was named one of Sports Business Journal’s Game Changers.