He had so impressed the Tulane coaches with his ability to handle anything - from taping practice to helping break down tape of opposing teams - that Teevens called Bill Kuharich, the Saints' general manager at the time, without telling Khan.Ī glowing review turned into Khan interviewing for an internship with the Saints in their scouting department. Khan received a call in 1997 from the Saints that he recalls as "out of the blue," but it really wasn't. "He was the happiest guy on the planet," Teevens recalled. Teevens, impressed by Khan's sincerity, cleared out an old copy room in the football facility and somehow wedged a desk into it. Khan told Teevens he wanted to work for the football team as a student volunteer. ![]() Those replies led Khan to Buddy Teevens, then the Tulane football coach. While at Tulane University, Khan wrote more than 70 letters to team executives asking their advice about breaking into the business.Ī handful of people called or wrote him back. He set his sights on one day running an NFL team as a general manager or president. He played sports growing up but realized that he didn't have the kind of athletic ability to play in the league. Khan knew from an early age that he wanted work in the NFL. "To this day I am very passionate about the game and love the game and love the league that I am blessed to be a part of," Khan said. Omar Khan wasn't old enough at the time for receiving the gift to be more than a hazy memory now, but the picture symbolizes the love of the NFL that his father also passed on to him. He had the charismatic quarterback sign one of the pictures on the sheet he received at the function, and later he gave it to his first-born son. Khan encountered Bradshaw when he attended a promotional event while working on a petroleum plant for Texaco in Calgary, Alberta. The Saints were the team he followed the most, but he also admired how the Steelers owned the 1970s, winning four Super Bowls with players such as "Mean Joe" and "Franco" and a cigar-chomping owner affectionately known as "The Chief."Ī.R. Khan, an engineer who also dabbled in real estate, became a passionate NFL fan while working and raising a family in New Orleans. How a first-generation American got to Pittsburgh, well, that faded autograph from Bradshaw is as good a place as any to start.Ī.R. Khan is the son of an Indian father and Honduran mother, and he was born and raised in New Orleans. You better be prepared because he's on top of his business." A Saints fan first He's always going to be willing to listen to you even if he doesn't agree with you. "He's going to be prepared, he's going to be forward, he's going to be tough. "In dealing with Omar you always know what you are getting," said agent Joel Segal, who represents four Steelers players, including Pro Bowl center Maurkice Pouncey. That is one reason why the Steelers have been able to strike a balance between fiscal responsibility and spending the kind of money that allowed them to play in three Super Bowls from the 2005 to 2010 seasons, winning two of them. The Steelers' director of football administration is also widely regarded as a nothing less than a wizard when it comes to the dynamics of the NFL. Khan, Pittsburgh's point man on contract negotiations, is respected by agents as tough but fair. Just 36, Khan has risen to the upper echelons of the Steelers' front office - as well as the short list of potential NFL general managers. Omar Khan may not enjoy Bradshaw's level of fame, but he also has helped the Steelers win more Lombardi trophies than any other organization in the NFL. You have to look closely at the picture on the left to see the autograph, but sure enough there it is: "To Omar, Terry Bradshaw." The photos show Terry Bradshaw from the glorious era that transformed a downtrodden organization into an institution whose fans now extend far beyond the rolling hills and rivers of western Pennsylvania. ![]() The sheet of pictures has been preserved in a rectangular frame, which sits on a desk in one of the spacious offices that overlooks the practice fields at Pittsburgh Steelers headquarters. Scott Brown, ESPN Pittsburgh Steelers reporter You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browser
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