3. Humility for the Horseshoe
Despite team owner Jim Irsay calling Ballard the “best G.M. candidate in the 21st century“, Ballard seems to have a great deal of humility for someone who’s so highly regarded in league circles.
He’s admittedly said that he may not be quite ready to be a general manager, but that he’ll ‘figure it out’ just like he always has.
Even if he does a mistake, Ballard said that he’ll ‘own it’ and presumably learn from it and simply move forward:
"“Let me put it this way,” said Ballard. “I’m probably not completely ready to be a GM. I’m going to screw some things up. I’m going to make some mistakes, and I’ll own them.” “But I’ll say this, I wasn’t ready to coach Al Harris–who played in the National Football League for 14 years when I coached the secondary…but I figured it out, I wasn’t ready to be an area scout but I figured it out, I wasn’t ready to be a director of pro personnel…I figured it out, I wasn’t ready to be a director of player personnel…I figured it out.” “I’ve got enough good people around me that they’re going to help guide me along the way, and one of my real strengths is that hey, when I make a mistake, I own it. It’s on me. I’ll never put the blame off.”"