Katie Blackburn officially joins NFL competition committee

The return of in-person NFL owners meetings has put Cincinnati Bengals Executive Vice President Katie Blackburn into the spotlight.

Blackburn, the eldest child of team president and owner Mike Brown, has represented the team down in Palm Beach, Florida this week, as her duties are expanding beyond just running the team her grandfather created 55 years ago.

Last November, it was revealed that Blackburn would become the first women to join the league’s competition committee.

On Wednesday, NFL Football Operations Executive Vice President Troy Vincent Sr. officially welcomed Blackburn to the committee.

The Bengals have had a consistent presence within the competition committee, but Blackburn represents a new voice and perspective. Vincent, a former player of 15 years, has nothing but praise for the committee’s newest member.

“You have an appreciation for Katie and the body of work,” Vincent told Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. “Sometimes with legacy, family, you don’t have to go through that path. But she worked and earned it and, frankly, the competition committee is The Committee of the National Football League. You get to that level, and you are driving the game, and she’s earned that right.”

Blackburn is the present and future of Bengals ownership. She’s already got two hands on the wheel inside Paul Brown Stadium, and now she’s got a say in the future of the league as a whole.