CLEVELAND, Ohio — The general manager position in any National Football League front office is often considered the most important, as this individual is responsible for managing the team’s 53-man roster, selecting players in every draft, negotiating player contracts, among so many other responsibilities.
And out of all 32 general managers in the NFL, one happens to be from Bel Air, Md.— his name is Andrew Berry, a graduate of Bel Air High School where he played football alongside his twin brother, Adam, for all four years until graduating in 2004.
“There’s nobody I’ve ever met in my entire life that worked harder than those two boys on and off the field,” said Anthony Hynes, a former teammate of the brothers at Bel Air High School. Once Andrew’s lifting partner in high school, Hynes played running back at Bel Air—taking handoffs from Andrew, the quarterback.
Andrew is a month away from entering his fifth season as the general manager and executive vice president of football operations for the Cleveland Browns. He signed his contract with Cleveland in January of 2020, and at the time he was considered the youngest GM in the history of the NFL at the age of 32.
Now 37, Berry recently signed a contract extension with Cleveland back at the start of June, but the length of his new term—nor any details about his contract—were ever announced by the team.
Both Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski received extensions, and the pair were first brought into the organization together back in 2020. Since pairing up, Cleveland improved its win percentage across four seasons to .552, the highest it’s ever been since the mid-to-late ‘80s.
“I swear, if [the Browns] ever have a chance for a Super Bowl, it’s with Andrew,” Hynes told Harford Lifestyle. “I do believe that Andrew will win, absolutely. He already has turned that team around.”
Berry’s extension stacks on top of what’s already an impressive resume. Transitioning from offense to defense during his time at Harvard University, Berry started at cornerback in all four years for the Crimson and received All-Ivy League honors on three separate occasions. It was a sizable transition from being the starting quarterback.
His brother, Adam, too, has since made a name for himself in the NFL, currently serving as the vice president of football operations and strategy for the Philadelphia Eagles—a title Andrew held there in 2019.
“Adam, if he ever ran for President of the United States—I don’t care what he’s running for and what side, I would vote for him,” Hynes said. “He was a born leader. He was more of an outspoken leader like that.”
A former wide receiver at Princeton, Adam enters his second season with Philadelphia. His run as a managing director at Goldman Sachs lasted from 2009 until May 2023, according to his LinkedIn profile.
“[Andrew and Adam] could have gone to a private high school all day. They came from a very structured family, but their parents really just believed [Bel Air] was perfect for them,” Hynes said. “And I mean, clearly they were right, because they both had full academic scholarships to Princeton and Harvard.”
After graduating from Harvard, Andrew had a go at playing professional football by attending the Washington Redskins rookie minicamp in 2009, but not having any luck, he initially settled for a career at Goldman Sachs with his brother.
While Adam lasted 14 years at the banking firm, Andrew didn’t even finish out one. Shortly after being hired, he received a call from the Indianapolis Colts who brought him in as a scouting assistant. Over a six-year stint, he worked his way up to becoming the organization’s pro scouting coordinator. He then moved onto the Browns in 2016 and the Eagles in 2019 before returning to Cleveland in 2020 where he’s remained since.
“I’ve never seen those two kids be part of anything and fail, and yeah—I know we all fail,” Hynes said. “Failure is measured differently by everybody, but they will never not put in the work and put in more work again.”
