Kwesi Adofo-Mensah: "I Don't Know Many People Who Want To Learn More Than Me"
Much of the introductory conference call with Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was focused on figuring out who he was and how he got here. Because the new Vice President of Football Operations took an unorthodox path to the NFL, trying to understand his path and his perspective was a big aspect of the questions he answered.
One of the first things that he addressed was the fact that he is a black man that is part of a front office that is now led by three black men, the pride he feels in that and the NFL's efforts to improve in this area.
Mensah talked about the dual reality he exists in where he faces lower expectations, lower standards while also being able to improve his own situation. The word he repeated was agency. He has agency and the ability to alter his reality. That's been his focus through his career.
He also noted the amount of people, both Browns fans and black men, who reached out to him on LinkedIn to congratulate him and wish him luck. In the case of black men reaching out, it was people thrilled to see a person like him get this opportunity.
When it comes to the NFL, Mensah discussed the struggles to hire minorities as less deliberate than self fulfilling feedbacks that build up over time that exists throughout society. He said he intends to help them on that front.
Mensah wanted to get into the NFL and thought he might have a chance to do it when he was in grad school at Stanford, but the biggest hurdle was figuring out how to break in and get that opportunity. He also discussed some of the early struggles coming into the NFL after being a commodities trader and having a background playing basketball.
