Jon Dubé of the Ravens is honored with the Pro Football Hall of Fame Award of Excellence.
When Jon Dubé started working for the Cleveland Browns straight out of high school, they took Polaroid pictures from high above the field and ran them down to the sideline for coaches and players to study.
Times have changed a lot since then, thanks in large part to Dubé’s pioneering work over a 41-year career in Cleveland and Baltimore.
Dubé retired as the Ravens’ Sr. Video Operations Advisor last summer. Less than a year later, he’s part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, honored with an Award of Excellence as part of the fourth class.
“What an honor,” Dubé said. “You’re going at such a record pace that you don’t take the time to look back. You just don’t realize until it stops, and it sinks in, and you say, ‘Wow, yeah, I definitely influenced a lot of people.'”
Dubé got the news a few weeks ago during the NFL Scouting Combine from Executive Vice President Ozzie Newsome, who is also in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Dubé was watching TV with his wife, Diane, at the bed and breakfast they run together in Hanover, Pa. when his phone rang.
“Hey Dubé, where do you get your mail at now?” Newsome asked. “As of now, you’ll be getting your mail in Canton, Ohio.”
“Woah, what?” a stunned Dubé said.
Dubé started working in Cleveland when Newsome was still a player. Dubé was one of the select few members of the team that made the move to Baltimore in 1996, and he was the Ravens’ most seasoned NFL staffer.
But more than longevity, Dubé was known for being an innovator. He was responsible for implementing the NFL’s cutting-edge gameday technology, in accordance with video rules and regulations. He headed a team responsible for providing Baltimore’s coaching and scouting staffs with game and practice footage, as well as opponent and college footage.
After the Polaroid pictures came print-outs on medical-like paper. Two of his biggest projects was making the shift from film to video, then from video to digital. When Dubé began making DVD cutups for players to take home and study, it spread like wildfire.
You know those tablets that players grab as soon as they come to the sideline to review plays? Dubé was heavily involved in that as part of the NFL Video Directors Committee, which he served on for 13 years (2011-23).
On and on the process went, with Dubé working with vendors, pitching the organization to invest in the latest technology, installing the equipment and workflows, and getting everybody comfortable with the evolution. Dubé is thankful to have an organization that trusted him to find and implement the best tools.
“We were never afraid to push it, constantly come trying to come up with new stuff,” Dubé said. “You always wipe the slate clean every year, just like you do as a football team. What can we put in our coaches’ and players’ hands to make to make their lives easier, to get to serve them, to study better, to prepare better, to do whatever better?”
It’s not the first time that Dubé has been honored. He was also named the 2017 Collegiate Sports Video Association’s NFL Hall of Fame Award winner, becoming the first active video director to receive the prestigious award.
Dubé’s fondest memories were the Ravens’ two Super Bowls. But it was the relationships he built that will last a lifetime. Getting the Hall call from Newsome, with General Manager Eric DeCosta and Head Coach John Harbaugh nearby, still makes him emotional. Now he’ll have a permanent place among the greats for all to see.
“Your grandkids, your kids, you know, they’re proud,” Dubé said. “They’re like, ‘Wow dad, wow Grandpa.’ They’ll be looking at you.”