It was announced Friday morning that Los Angeles Rams general manager, Les Snead was selected as PFWA’s 2024 Horrigan Award Winner. The award is given to the league or club official for his or her qualities and professional style in helping the pro football writers do their job.
Snead, the 52nd Horrigan Award winner, is the second member of the Rams franchise to receive the award, as head coach John Robinson won the award in 1992. Snead is the first GM to win the Horrigan since Brandon Beane with the Buffalo Bills in 2021, and the third general manager in the last five years to be honored with the award by the PFWA membership.
The other 2024 nominees were 49ers general manager John Lynch, NFL VP of communications Brian McCarthy, and NFL EVP of football operations Troy Vincent.
Los Angeles Rams GM, Les Snead Wins Horrigan Award
The intrepid beat writer for The Athletic and PFWA Los Angeles Rams chapter vice president Jourdan Rodrigue was given the honor of describing what set Les Snead apart in order to win this award;
“Les believes that football is an endless source of curiosity. He is also in a position of power to where, should he want to seek and find the answers to a million questions about the evolution and dynamics of the sport, he could very well keep that gate shut for himself and his staff, and keep those answers for himself and everyone else out. Instead, when Les comes across journalists who are ALSO curious, who want to learn, and who are on the outside of buildings looking in — he opens that gate”
“When I arrived in Los Angeles — a young, female beat reporter hungry to learn — Les’ open-door policy about all things football changed my life. A two-dimensional world became three and four-dimensional. By explaining things and answering endless questions and saying “yes” to endless ideas, Les empowered curiosity, and he helped preserve in history some of the key stories that are shaping this league.”
HORRIGAN AWARD WINNERS:
1970s: 1973 – John Breen (Houston Oilers); 1974 – O.J. Simpson (Buffalo Bills); 1975 – Art Rooney Sr. (Pittsburgh Steelers); 1976 – Floyd Little (Denver Broncos); 1977 – Jerry Wynn (San Diego Chargers); 1978 – Bob Peck (Denver Broncos); 1979 – John Madden (Oakland Raiders);
1980s: 1980 – Bum Phillips (Houston Oilers); 1981 – Bob Sprenger (Kansas City Chiefs); 1982 – Joe Gordon (Pittsburgh Steelers); 1983 – Archie Manning (New Orleans Saints/Houston Oilers); 1984 – Art Rooney Sr. (Pittsburgh Steelers); 1985 – Joe Browne (NFL); 1986 – Dick Steinberg (New England Patriots); 1987 – Charlie Dayton (Atlanta Falcons); 1988 – Art Modell (Cleveland Browns); 1989 – Tom Landry (Dallas Cowboys);
1990s: 1990 – George Young (New York Giants); 1991 – Jim Finks (New Orleans Saints); 1992 – John Robinson (Los Angeles Rams); 1993 – Warren Moon (Houston Oilers); 1994 – Don Shula (Miami Dolphins); 1995 – Leslie Hammond (NFL); 1996 – Ron Wolf (Green Bay Packers); 1997 – Don Smith (Pro Football Hall of Fame); 1998 – Tony Dungy (Tampa Bay Buccaneers); 1999 – Greg Aiello (NFL);
2000s: 2000 – Ernie Accorsi (New York Giants); 2001 – Jeff Fisher (Tennessee Titans); 2002 – Charley Casserly (Houston Texans); 2003 – Herman Edwards (New York Jets); 2004 – Ozzie Newsome (Baltimore Ravens); 2005 – Rich McKay (Atlanta Falcons); 2006 – Floyd Reese (Tennessee Titans); 2007 – Steve Alic (NFL); 2008 – Mike Holmgren (Seattle Seahawks); 2009 – Dan Rooney (Pittsburgh Steelers);
2010s: – Gil Brandt (NFL.com); 2011 – Rex Ryan (New York Jets); 2012 – Thomas Dimitroff (Atlanta Falcons); 2013 – Michael Signora (NFL); 2014 – Pete Carroll (Seattle Seahawks); 2015 – Bruce Arians (Arizona Cardinals); 2016 – John Elway (Denver Broncos); 2017 – Mike Mayock (NFL Network); 2018 – Randall Liu (NFL); 2019 – Joe Horrigan (Pro Football Hall of Fame);
2020s: 2020 – Chris Ballard (Indianapolis Colts); 2021 – Brandon Beane (Buffalo Bills); 2022 – Michael Signora (NFL); 2023 – Ron Rivera (Washington Commanders)
