Jan Van Duser
{{Short description|American football executive}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name = Jan Van Duser
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| birth_place = Elmira, New York
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| college = Columbia University
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- Atlanta Falcons ({{NFL Year|1966|1970}})
Director of public relations - National Football Conference ({{NFL Year|1971|1972}})
Assistant to the president - National Football League ({{NFL Year|1973|1981}})
Director of personnel - National Football League ({{NFL Year|1982|1990}})
Director of operations - National Football League ({{NFL Year|1991|1995}})
Director of game operations - National Football League ({{NFL Year|1996|1997}})
Secretary
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Jan Van Duser is an American sports executive who worked for the National Football League from 1971 to 1997.
Career
A native of Elmira, New York, Van Duser graduated from Columbia University in 1959. He was a sportswriter for the Tampa Times and St. Petersburg Times during the early 1960s. In 1964, he joined the staff of The Atlanta Constitution.
In 1966, Van Duser was named public relations director of the expansion Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League.{{cite news |title=Former Times Sportswriter Joins Falcons |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a-xRAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA36&dq |access-date=2 March 2024 |work=St. Petersburg Times |date=February 10, 1966}} In 1971, he was appointed assistant to the president of the National Football Conference. In 1973, he became the NFL's director of personnel.{{cite news |last1=Katz |first1=Michael |title=Van Duser Rejected Giants' Job |work=The New York Times |date=February 11, 1979}} In this role, Van Duser managed the National Football League draft and processed all player contracts.{{cite news |title=Giants' Family Feud Gets NFL Boss, Rozelle, Into Act |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KucgAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA29&dq |access-date=2 March 2024 |work=The Hour |date=February 10, 1979}} In 1979, Van Duser was offered the position of general manager of the New York Giants after Commissioner Pete Rozelle stepped in to resolve a stalemate between the team's feuding owners – Wellington Mara and Timothy J. Mara. Van Duser declined the job, which led to the position going to a second compromise candidate, George Young.{{cite news |last1=Katz |first1=Michael |title=George Young Is Appointed General Manager of Giants |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/02/15/archives/george-young-is-appointed-general-manager-of-giants-dolphins-aide.html |access-date=18 April 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=February 15, 1979}} Van Duser remained in the league office until his retirement in 1997.{{cite news |last1=Simers |first1=T. J. |title=Ferreting out NFL truths takes intrepid reporting |work=The Sporting News |date=October 27, 1997}}