Adolpho Birch serves as Senior Vice President of Law & Labor Policy for the National Football League, which is headquartered in New York, New York.  Upon joining the NFL in 1997, his primary responsibility was the enforcement of the League's Collective Bargaining Agreement, which encompassed issues including player and Club contract and injury grievances, benefits matters and salary cap disputes.  In his current capacity, he oversees the development, administration and enforcement of the League's policies on substances of abuse, steroids and other performance-enhancing substances and criminal misconduct.  Mr. Birch also oversees the League's player engagement efforts, which comprise a number of initiatives designed to support player and employee off-field success, focusing on continuing education, financial education, career development, career transition and clinical assistance.  Today, the NFL is widely regarded as the most proactive, comprehensive and effective sports organization in dealing with these issues. 

Prior to joining the NFL, Mr. Birch was in private practice in Houston, Texas, initially with Fulbright & Jaworski's Antitrust/Complex Litigation and Public Law group; and later with a boutique firm specializing in labor, insurance defense and municipal finance.  Preceding his firm affiliations, he served as judicial law clerk to the Honorable Thomas A. Wiseman, Jr., Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.

Mr. Birch attended Vanderbilt University Law School as a Patricia Roberts Harris Scholar, serving on the Editorial Board of the Vanderbilt Law Review and earning his juris doctorate in 1991.  He did his undergraduate work at Harvard University, where he graduated with honors in Government and was a member of the junior varsity lacrosse and basketball teams, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. and other student organizations.

Mr. Birch was raised in Nashville and is actively involved in a number of professional and philanthropic organizations including the Sports Lawyers Association, Partnership for Clean Competition (Board Member), Why Not Sports? (Board Member) and the National Bar Association.  In October 2010, Mr. Birch was chosen as one of the top 100 young leaders of the African-American community by The Root, an online collaboration between scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and the Washington Post.