Roman Oben (born 9 October 1972) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

at the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public university, public research university in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. Chartered in 1798 as the Jefferson Seminary, it became in the 19t ...

before being drafted by the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

in 1996. Oben spent 12 years as an

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tendency to cause acts of violence by the ...

in the

(NFL) playing for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

and the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

. He was a starting offensive tackle on the Buccaneers

Super Bowl XXXVII Super Bowl XXXVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Oakland Raiders and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champio ...

Championship team. Oben is currently the NFL Vice President of Football Development. He joined the NFL as Director of Health & Safety in December 2014.

Early life

At the age of four he moved with his mother from

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and settled in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

He attended

Gonzaga College High School Gonzaga College High School is a private Catholic college-preparatory high school for boys in Washington, D.C. Founded by the Jesuits in 1821 as the Washington Seminary, Gonzaga is named in honor of Aloysius Gonzaga, an Italian saint from the ...

and spent one year at

Fork Union Military Academy Fork Union Military Academy (abbreviated as FUMA) is a private school, private, all-male, college preparatory Christian school, Christian Military school, military boarding school located in Fork Union, Virginia. Founded in 1898, Fork Union is co ...

where he set a FUMA discus record at that stood for 21 years (the record was broken in 2012).

College career

A two-sport college athlete, Oben played

at the

, and was a four-year letterman in football and three-year letterman in

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

. 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. While at the University of Louisville, Oben became a member of

Alpha Phi Alpha Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the ...

fraternity and was Vice President of the Alpha Pi chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha.

Professional career

Selected in the third round (66th overall) by the

in the

1996 NFL draft The 1996 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The NFL draft, draft was held April 20–21, 1996 NFL seas ...

, Oben was the first

ian-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),

(2000–01),

(2002–03), and

(2004–07).

New York Giants

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

Cleveland Browns

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.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Oben was the starting left tackle for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in their

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

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.

San Diego Chargers

In 2004, the Chargers traded a fifth-round pick in the

2005 NFL draft The 2005 NFL draft, the 70th in league history, took place on April 23 and 24, 2005 NFL season, 2005. The draft was held at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City and was televised for the 26th consecutive year, with coverage on E ...

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 A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a tackle played on both offense and Defensive tackle, defense. In the modern system of ...

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.

Off the field

While serving as the

National Football League Players Association The National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) is the labor unions in the United States, labor union representing National Football League (NFL) players. The NFLPA, which has headquarters in Washington, D.C., is led by executive directo ...

(NFLPA) team representative for three teams over seven years, Oben was integral in drafting a resolution that ensures NFL Player Programs pay for continued education for retired players and as an active team representative. Oben was a charter member of the NFLPA Benefits Committee that ensured future medical coverage for all NFL players.

Education

Oben earned a bachelor's degree in economics from the

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 Fairleigh Dickinson University () is a private university with its main campuses in New Jersey, located in Madison / Florham Park and in Teaneck / Hackensack. Founded in 1942, Fairleigh Dickinson University offers more than 100 degree prog ...

in 2001 while playing for the

Ring of Fame honors

Football Ring of Honor, 2006 *

Athletic Hall of Fame, 2009 *

Sports Hall of Fame, 2009 * Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Fame, 2013

Awards

Oben has been honored for his work with

Big Brothers Big Sisters of America Big Brothers Big Sisters of America is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to "create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth". Adult volunteers are matched with children from ag ...

in San Diego where he was recognized as the 2007 Man of the Year.

After football career

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 a Vice President in the Football Operations department at the National Football League.

Personal

He is the father of RJ Oben, a defensive end for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

References

External links

Roman Oben Official Website

NFL Players

thecorporateplaybook.com
# http://www.gocards.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/oben_roman00.html # http://www.buccaneers.com/news/article-1/Where-Are-They-Now-Roman-Oben/f3a1075a-80e6-403f-8de5-57f299069aa5 # http://holmdel-hazlet.patch.com/articles/nfl-new-york-giant-visits-holmdel#photo-10966467 # https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/football-insider/post/six-days-two-lives-two-deaths/2012/05/11/gIQAFFL9HU_blog.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Oben, Roman 1972 births American football offensive tackles Cameroonian players of American football Cleveland Browns players Fork Union Military Academy alumni Living people Louisville Cardinals football players New York Giants players People from Kinnelon, New Jersey Players of American football from Morris County, New Jersey San Diego Chargers players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Gonzaga College High School alumni New York Giants announcers NFL announcers College football announcers