Mickey Loomis

Mickey Loomis is the executive vice president and General Manager of the NFL's New Orleans Saints. He was named NFL executive of the year for 2006.^[1] Since June 2012, he is also head of basketball operations for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association.^[2]

Loomis grew up in Eugene, Oregon and graduated from Willamette High School in 1974, then attended Northwest Christian University in Eugene, where he played basketball. He earned his degree in accounting from the University of Oregon and a masters degree in sports administration from Wichita State University. Before coming to the Saints, Loomis spent 15 years in the Seattle Seahawks organization. Loomis joined the Saints in 2000 and became general manager in 2002. He was with the Saints when they were forced to relocate to San Antonio in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and helped rebuild the team afterward, culminating in its victory in Super Bowl XLIV.^[3]

Loomis was one of the Saints officials to be penalized in 2012 in the aftermath of the New Orleans Saints bounty scandal, in which an NFL investigation found that players were paid bonuses from a pool for their on-field performance, including, allegedly, deliberately trying to knock opposing players out of games. A league investigation found that Saints team owner Tom Benson had ordered Loomis to shut the program down, but Loomis failed to do so.^[4] As a result, Loomis was suspended for the first 8 games of the 2012 NFL season.

In April 2012, ESPN's Outside the Lines reported allegations that Loomis had an illegal eavesdropping device that allowed him to listen to real-time playcalls of opposing coaches during the 2002-2004 seasons.^[5] Loomis denied the allegation, calling the report "absolutely false",^[6] and in August 2012, the Louisiana State Police announced that a four-month investigation had found no evidence to corroborate the allegations.^[7]

In June 2012, Loomis was named head of basketball operations for the Hornets after Tom Benson bought the team. In this capacity, Loomis is responsible for overseeing Pelicans general manager Dell Demps.^[2]

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