Canadian Catherine Raiche has become the highest ranking football operations female in NFL history.
The 32-year-old Raiche has been promoted to vice president of football operations by the Philadelphia Eagles. It’s the same role at the exact age Andrew Barry held until the Cleveland Browns hired him as their general manager.
In her new role, Raiche will be involved in all areas of football operations and player personnel, including pro and college scouting, contract management, player and staff development, and football research. She previously served as the Eagles football operations and player personnel coordinator for the last two seasons.
Before joining the Eagles, she spent five years in the Canadian Football League working for the Toronto Argonauts and the Montreal Alouettes, including holding the title of assistant general manager with the Als.
She was hired by Jim Popp, then-Alouettes GM, as an unpaid intern in 2015. Following the season, Popp offered her a paid job as coordinator of football administration. When Kavis Reed replaced Popp before the 2017 season, he promoted Raiche to assistant GM responsible for daily operations, managing the salary cap, determining the value of players and handling contractual duties.
Raiche was the first female assistant general manager in the CFL since 1988 when Jo-Anne Polak held that position with the Ottawa Rough Riders. Polak was the first woman to hold the GM title with any pro sports franchise across North America. Raiche has gone on the record stating that her goal is to be a general manager one day.
Raiche has a law degree from the University of Sherbrooke and was admitted to the Quebec Bar Association in 2012. She practised corporate and tax law for three years at the law firm Gascon & Associates but left to achieve her pro football dream.
