Newsome holds fast to the notion that general managers really earn their salaries in the later rounds

"I think the biggest thing is that when you're dealing with the players, you've got to be truthful to them, " Newsome told me on Tuesday when i asked him about that transition. "They'll trust you if you tell them the truth, and sometimes, you'll tell them things they don't want to hear. A lot of what I do in evaluation -- I had to evaluate how i wanted to pretend to block Lawrence Taylor or Carl Banks, or some of those other guys. You're evaluating talent while you're playing. "

And the challenge of evaluating talent never dissipates. As a team-builder, Newsome has generally managed to avoid the high-round bust rate that turns execs into ex-execs quicker than anything else. There are exceptions, of course, but the Ravens have been able to make up for their mistakes with other players who made huge impacts for years. Newsome's most obvious draft misstep was the selection of Cal quarterback Kyle Boller with the 19th overall pick in the 2003 draft, but when you get Terrell Suggs with the 10th pick in that same first round, things tend to work out. Baltimore's one clear and potentially fatal flaw -- the lack of a marquee quarterback -- was solved when the Ravens took Delaware's Joe Flacco in the first round five years later. Newsome and the Ravens came back to the well in the next round and picked up an allegedly "too small/too slow" running back from Rutgers named Ray Rice, and Baltimore's offense was off to the races.

Moreover, Newsome holds fast to the notion that general managers really earn their salaries in the later rounds. Among the players taken in the third round or lower who have made serious contributions to the current Super Bowl team are guard Marshal Yanda, tight ends Ed Dickson and Dennis Pitta, defensive lineman Pernell McPhee, and running back Bernard Pierce. Every quality personnel man has his own style, and Newsome's core belief is one of inclusion -- he will listen before he speaks. "I don't say anything through the draft meetings up until the Thursday or Friday before the draft, " he said. "I try and take the opportunity to be a good listener, and try to consume as much information as i can before I make a decision. If I'm the guy doing all the talking, I'm not the guy doing all the listening. ".