As the highest-ranking black person working on the business side of an NFL franchise, Vikings chief operating officer Kevin Warren will be honored with the inaugural Texas Southern University Pioneer Award on Saturday in Houston.
Warren is a trailblazer, much like his father.
"I studied the history of what life was like for an African-American family in the South," Warren said on Wednesday. "I know what my family went through."
Warren's father, Morrison, was born in Marlin, Texas, and attended Phoenix Union Colored High after his family moved to Arizona.
He would enlist in World War II and as a sergeant major witness the liberation of Buchenwald concentration camp. According to his obituary on the Arizona State website, it was then that Morrison Warren dedicated himself to bridging differences between people.
After the war he enrolled at Arizona State and became the football team's most valuable player.
"He was part of a team that integrated football in the South," Kevin Warren said. "My dad and my uncle were the only black players on the team."
Texas Western told ASU not to bring black players to a game. ASU refused to play. In 1966, Texas Western would start five black players in an historic upset of Kentucky, a game credited with speeding the integration of major college basketball.
"Any time I think about breaking the color barrier and what it means, I think of my father," Warren said. "That's what makes this so special, for so many different reasons."
Warren, 53, earned his law degree at Notre Dame and has worked with the Rams, Lions and Vikings, as well as working as a lawyer and running a sports agency. He helped the Wilfs purchase the Vikings and has been instrumental in the franchise's major projects of late, including U.S. Bank Stadium and the new team complex in Eagan.
He credited his wife, Greta, with sacrificing her own career while he made his way in the NFL, as well as his support staff with the Vikings. The son of a pioneer also raved about his children — Peri, who plays volleyball at Occidental College, and Powers, a star tight end who recently left Minnetonka High to enroll at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., a boarding school specializing in athletic achievement.
"I'm going to hand this award to my wife," Warren said. "She's the one who deserves this because she has taken care of our family."
When the Vikings promoted Warren to chief operating officer two years ago, he became the first African-American to hold that job in NFL history. He also has worked on the NFL committee on workplace diversity.
"One thing this honor means is I'm starting to realize I've had some longevity in a business that probably doesn't breed longevity," Warren said. "It's interesting how my life has come full circle."