NFL Jaguars Purchase Says Muslims Like Football, Too

Sports - Sports

Written by Muslim Link Staff Reporter

Wednesday, 11 January 2012 16:55

Jacksonville Jaguars fans are the sporting more than the usual teal, black, white and gold. Trademark handlebar mustaches have become a new trend for the NFL team’s fans now that Pakistani native Shahid Khan is owner of the football franchise, and the first minority owner in the league.

In a unanimous vote, the National Football League approved the sale of the Jacksonville Jaguars to Khan, owner of auto-parts maker Flex-N-Gate Corp. Khan’s official first day as an NFL team owner began on January 4th.

The team is neither the most profitable, with an estimated value of $725 million, the lowest in the NFL according to Forbes, nor the most popular considering their 2011 attendance record that landed it in the 25th spot out of 32 teams.

However, some NFL team owners feel as though Khan’s unique background can breathe new life into the franchise and ultimately the league.

“It takes some skill to come from where he came from to where he is today. You add that to your (NFL) ownership group, and we’ve gotten better. The more people we can have sitting around those tables in there that have wanted it real bad, that have paid a high price to get in, and have a vision of how to grow the pie, the better the NFL will be,” said Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys, in an interview that appeared on ESPN.com.

And what a journey Khan has had.

Khan came to the United States from Pakistan at the ripe age of 16 to attend the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

While still an engineering student at the University, Khan began working for Flex-N-Gate. In 1978 he left the company to start his own business that designed and manufactured bumpers. His unique design boasted of lightweight metal with no seams that resisted corrosion and rust.

In 1980, just two years after starting his own company, Khan bought his previous employer, Flex-N-Gate. The company is now has over 10,000 spread over 48 different manufacturing plants and brings in over three billion dollars in sales a year.

Chances are if you own an an SUV or pick-up truck built in North America, you are likely driving a vehicle with a bumper based on Khan’s design.

Khan already accomplished what many would consider the epitome of the American dream.

He entered the country as a young immigrant and attended a fine university in pursuit of a lucrative degree while working for a profitable company. Soon after, he started his own business and gained enough success to buy his former employer.

His dream didn’t stop there. Khan was determined to enter the exclusive fraternity of NFL team owners, a club whose roster reads like a who’s who list of the most wealthy individuals in the country.

Few would argue that there’s anything more down right American than that.

“This is a business, but I think it’s also a civic asset...This is really a combination of business acumen and a love of football.” said Khan a in recent Bloomberg article.

Khan has garnered much support from the league as well as from Jaguar fans who have donned Khan-style stick on mustaches as a sign of support for the new ownership. Still, there have been some who have expressed their distaste for a Pakistani native as a prominent player in the most profitable sports league in the nation.

As the leagues first minority owner, Khan is facing unique criticism due to his ethnicity and religion.

Comment sections below articles on Khan’s purchase of the NFL team have been no stranger to less favorable remarks with some questioning his motives, suggesting terrorist ties and using racially derogatory terms, and others simple expressing their distaste for a Pakistani interfering in a rooted American tradition.

Still, sports have seemingly always served as a safe haven for Muslim participants. From Muhammad Ali to Hakeem Olajuwan, some of the greatest and most revered athletic heroes have also been Muslim or have brought their talents from overseas.

Who’s to say the same isn’t true for owners.

The Jacksonville Jaguars started as an expansion team in 1993 and began playing in the league in 1995. During their second season, they ended the season just one win away from the Super Bowl. Since then they have made the playoffs five times, most recently in 2007.