On Sept. 16, over 200 people occupied the room all to see one man — Edward Glazer ’92, owner and co-chairman of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers, an organization valued at approximately $5.4 billion. His family also owns Manchester United F.C., an English Premier League team.
Glazer returned to campus Sept. 16 for a Q&A session with Michael Johnson-Cramer, the dean of the School of Business. Johnson-Cramer said he started talking with Glazer when he began his role as the dean in 2022.
“It was always really just a matter of timing for him to come in,” Johnson-Cramer said. “We kept coming back every semester to figure out if this is the right time given the football season, business scheduling, things like that, and this just happened to work for this fall. But it was never a matter of if, it was always when.”
Glazer said he made time for one-on-one conversations with students after the Q&A session because they went out of their way to connect with him.
“My advice to [students] is to go make an extra effort in life,” Glazer said. “So, if they’re willing to make the extra effort to talk to me, then I want to be able to help them, and I’m happy to help anybody. It’s underscoring my feeling that you got to just pick up the phone and talk to people, and people are happy to talk to you.”
Glazer discussed various topics, exploring the fields of management, marketing, communication and more.
Junior Sidney Bedoya, a business administration major, said that hearing from Glazer inspired him to go the extra mile for his future career.
“It’s definitely motivational for college students to hear somebody at this professional level speaking to you,” Bedoya said. “It definitely motivates me to get out there and do what I want to do.”
Glazer explained the importance of being a customer of competition. He holds season tickets to every NFL team and tries to visit each stadium at least once per season. By attending games, he observes how teams treat their loyal fans, identifying what they do well and what they can improve. On top of this, Glazer said he is always taking pictures with his phone so he can document his positive and negative takeaways.
“On a business level, you should always know what your competition is doing and how they’re operating, and so I’m getting all the communication to see what they’re doing constantly and pushing through to my staff what I think is a good idea,” Glazer said during his lecture.
Glazer discussed the 2020 NFL season, when the Buccaneers brought in legendary quarterback Tom Brady, widely considered one of the greatest of all time. Glazer said that having a leader like Brady completely transformed the team’s energy; not only did the Buccaneers receive more media attention, but players began looking to Brady as a mentor. Stars like Rob Gronkowski also joined the team, and the Buccaneers went on to win Super Bowl LV that season.
Glazer talked about the importance of perseverance and not giving up on your goals. He mentioned the idea of calling Bill Gates, former CEO of Microsoft. While Gates likely would not answer, the effort still matters. Glazer said that giving your best and consistently trying will take you far in all aspects of life.
Bedoya said the idea of perseverance is what stuck with him the most from the lecture.
“I think his advice can be applied to multiple fields,” Bedoya said. “Connections are really important, whether it’s someone like him who owns NFL teams and soccer teams versus someone who runs their own construction business. Just calling and putting yourself out there and connecting with people is the number one thing.”
Similar to Bedoya, Johnson-Cramer said Glazer’s advice on perseverance was the biggest takeaway from the lecture.
“I’ve heard him all day talking about this sort of perseverance and resilience. I think his attitude toward failure and sort of moving forward from failure is one that I know I felt like I could learn from — I think we can all learn from that. So, I think that to me that is the lesson of the night.”
Glazer said it is incredibly fulfilling to speak with students who are now in the position he once was.
“I love it,” Glazer said. “There’s nothing more exciting than seeing students who are interested and excited and ones that take advantage of the opportunities that they have out there. So, I’m thrilled to be here and talk with everybody. I’m thrilled to talk with everyone one-on-one.”
Glazer thought back to his time in college and said he never imagined himself running a multi-billion dollar company.
“I’m fortunate to be in a family business, but for a kid who grew up in Rochester, New York, and was a Minnesota Vikings fan, and I speak for my whole family, it’s just very surreal,” Glazer said. “We’re very fortunate, and it’s been a great ride.”
Glazer said the best advice he can offer is to work hard to prove yourself and your doubters wrong.
“Your mind can be your biggest enemy,” Glazer said “Don’t let your mind tell you that you can’t do something. Your mind is always going to tell you what you cannot do. It’s never going to tell you what you can do, and people are never going to tell you what you can do … and you can’t listen to anybody. You got to just go out there and do it. And don’t let other people get you down. And don’t let anybody tell you 50 reasons why you can’t do something. Do you want to do something? Just go do it. Give it your best.”
