As the former president of American Express, Alfred F. Kelly, Jr. was “looking at a number of corporate CEO opportunities’’ in early January when he received a call from the recruiting firm seeking to fill an unprecedented position: Chief Executive Officer of the New Jersey/New York Super Bowl Host Committee.
“This was not something that was on my radar screen,’’ Kelly said Monday in an interview with The Post. “I quite frankly didn’t know anything about it, wasn’t seeking it out, was somewhat surprised when I got the call and actually didn’t think much of it.’’
Despite the less-than-enthusiastic initial vibes, Kelly, 52, was convinced he was the right man to serve as CEO, and he will oversee preparations for Super Bowl XLVIII to be played in 2014 at New Meadowlands Stadium, the first open-air, cold-weather Super Bowl in NFL history.
A meeting with host committee co-chairmen Woody Johnson and Jonathan Tisch planted the idea in Kelly’s head that this is the direction he should take.
“They convinced me this is how I should spend my next three years,’’ Kelly said of the Jets and Giants executives. “They were quite compelling and I was quite excited about it when I thought more about it and here we are. Today, I can’t think of anything I’d prefer to do in terms of spending my time in the next three years.’’
Johnson, the Jets owner, said, “Having led one of the most successful Fortune 500 companies, Al is a great choice to lead our host committee and drive this effort forward energetically and efficiently. We believe we have secured one of the best minds in the business world to guide us as we set out on this historic endeavor.’’
Tisch, the Giants treasurer and whose family co-owns the team along with the Mara family, added, “Al’s professional career to date can best be mapped by marking one success after another. At American Express, he set effective, strategic objectives, drove operating excellence, and assembled focused teams that produced top quality results, helping to mold the company into the innovative marketing and customer service powerhouse that it is today.’’
Kelly said he believes his main responsibilities are to “make sure we fulfill the commitments that have been made in the bidding process’’ as well as maximizing the economic impact the Super Bowl has on the region.
“That we help small business owners and restaurants and hotels and taxi drivers and limo companies and everybody thrive as a result of getting this great opportunity,’’ Kelly said. “We’re going to bring a lot of people into New York in a time of the year that is not necessarily a huge time in the tourism calendar in a normal year.’’
Kelly also wants to make sure the Super Bowl makes a positive impression for future events.
“We want to make sure the world understands that any and all events being considered should look very hard at the New Jersey/New York region,’’ he said.
Kelly also wants to “figure out how to create some kind of charitable legacy hook to this great event.’’
Growing up mostly in Yonkers, Kelly was a fan of the Green Bay Packers because his father and grandfather attended Fordham University and was obviously drawn to Vince Lombardi. Nowadays, Kelly, who lives in Westchester, says, “I have five kids and there’s lots of different allegiances in my family and to keep family peace I’m largely a big New York fan.’’
Kelly prior to joining American Express in 1987 was head of information systems at the White House from 1985 to 1987, where he led the information processing functions for eight of the agencies that constitute the Executive Office of the President. From 1981 to 1985, he held a series of positions at PepsiCo in Information Systems and Strategic and Financial Planning.
One of the biggest issues in getting a Super Bowl in the region was the open-air weather factor. Kelly is not searching the Farmer’s Almanac hoping for unseasonable warmth.
“I actually hope there are some elements,’’ he said. “I think we’d all be disappointed if we had an incredible Indian summer day where it’s 63 degrees and sunny. I’m certainly not rooting for a blizzard but a little bit of white stuff and a temperature with a ‘2’ or ‘3’ in front of it is the type of elements that are real in the Northeast in February. That would be a real fun way to see the greatest game.’’