Roman Oben

Oben is currently the NFL Vice President of Youth & High School Football. He joined the NFL as Director of Health & Safety in January 2015.

At the age of four he moved with his mother from Cameroon to the United States and settled in Washington, D.C.. He attended Gonzaga College High School and spent one year at Fork Union Military Academy where he set a FUMA discus record at 185 ft 10 in (56.64 m) that stood for 21 years (the record was broken in 2012).

After retiring from football in 2008, Oben worked in broadcast media as a football analyst, and held executive positions in sales and business development. He is now Vice President of Youth & High School Football Strategy and Development for the National Football League.

Oben has been honored for his work with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America in San Diego where he was recognized as the 2007 Man of the Year.

In 2004, the Chargers traded a fifth-round pick in the 2005 NFL Draft to the Buccaneers for Oben. The move was made with the pick obtained from the Giants in the Rivers-Manning trade. Oben quickly became a fixture at the left tackle position and after bouncing back from a career-threatening foot injury, he spent the 2007 season as a player-mentor on the Chargers' young offensive line.

Oben was the starting left tackle for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in their Super Bowl victory in 2002, leading an offensive line that allowed only one sack in 100 passing situations during the postseason, and earning a Super Bowl XXXVII championship ring in the process.

Oben joined the Browns as an unrestricted free agent prior to the 2000 season and registered 29 starts at left tackle during his two-year tenure in Cleveland.

Selected in the third round (66th overall) by the New York Giants in the 1996 NFL Draft, Oben was the first Cameroonian-born NFL player drafted. Oben started in over 90% of the games in his 12-year career at left tackle. He played for the New York Giants (1996–99), Cleveland Browns (2000–01), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2002–03), and San Diego Chargers (2004–07).

Oben spent four seasons (1996–99) as a member of the New York Giants where he started 48 of 50 games.

Oben earned a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Louisville in 1995. He took graduate courses each NFL off-season towards a master's degree in public administration which he earned from Fairleigh Dickinson University in 2001 while playing for the Cleveland Browns.

A two-sport college athlete, Oben played college football at the University of Louisville, and was a four-year letterman in football and three-year letterman in track and field. In football, he was an All-National Independent first team selection as a junior. In track and field, as a freshman in 1991,he placed at the Metro Conference Championship in the shot put.

Roman Oben (born October 9, 1972) is a former professional American football player. He played college football at the University of Louisville before being drafted by the New York Giants in 1996. Oben spent 12 years as an offensive tackle in the National Football League playing for the Cleveland Browns, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the San Diego Chargers. He was a starting offensive lineman on the Buccaneers Super Bowl XXXVII Championship team.