As a kid, Omar Khan prepared for the NFL Draft on a Monopoly game board. Now, he's set to run his first draft as the Steelers' GM. MikeDeFabo on how the proud son of immigrants heeded the lessons of his hard-working parents to fulfill his dreams.
If A.R. and Carmen were going to make it in America, they knew the importance of keeping their heads down and working, whether it was a Monday, a Wednesday or Super Bowl Sunday.
A.R. passed his passion on to the oldest child, Omar. As they bonded over their shared love of the game, Omar became enamored with the hometown team and its tough-nosed linebacking corps of Rickey Jackson, Vaughan Johnson, Sam Mills and Pat Swilling nicknamed the “Dome Patrol.” But Khan had his mind made up. He wrote his senior term paper at Archbishop Rummel High School on NFL free agency and enrolled at nearby Tulane University to study sports management.
Khan met with then-Tulane and current Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens. Impressed with his ambition, Teevens offered Khan an opportunity. He started in a copy room working on any task he was assigned.While building his resume, Khan continued to mail letters to NFL teams. He bombarded the hometown Saints, sending them his own analysis of what the team could do to upgrade at various positions.
“They introduced me to him, and I was like, ‘I can’t believe I just shook my Mike Ditka’s hand,’” Khan said. “We put a lot of trust in his recommendations,” Kuharich said. “Even though he was young, he listened. He didn’t try to show everybody he was the smartest person in the room. The Steelers’ front office was in the midst of a shakeup. Colbert was hired as de facto general manager in 2000 — his official title was director of football operations before he— bringing expertise in player evaluation from his time in the Lions’ organization. But he needed a salary-cap wizard and negotiator to manage the financial side of the operation. Enter Khan in 2001.
From left to right, Art Rooney II, Mike Tomlin, Kevin Colbert, Dan Rooney and Omar Khan after the Steelers’ Super Bowl XLIII victory over the Cardinals.
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