Kwesi Adofo-Mensah (born October 1981) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

executive who is the

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

of the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He previously served as the vice president of football operations for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

from 2020 to 2021 and also served in various executive roles for the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

from 2013 to 2019.

Early years

A native of

Cherry Hill, New Jersey Cherry Hill is a township within Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the township had a population of 74,553, which reflected an increase of 3,508 (+4.94%) from the 71,045 counted in the 2010 census.

, Adofo-Mensah attended and earned his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in economics from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

, where he would also walk-on to the basketball team. He earned his

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in economics from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

. Before entering the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

, Adofo-Mensah had several ventures as a portfolio manager and commodities trader on

Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...

Executive career

San Francisco 49ers

In 2013, Adofo-Mensah began his NFL career with the

, under general manager

Trent Baalke Trent John Baalke ( ), (born February 14, 1964), is an American football executive who is the general manager of the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). Early years A Rosendale, Wisconsin native, Baalke earned his bachel ...

, and Head Coach

Jim Harbaugh James Joseph Harbaugh (; born December 23, 1963) is an American football coach and former quarterback, who is the current and 20th head football coach of the Michigan Wolverines. He played college football at Michigan from 1983 to 1986. He play ...

following a chance meeting with the team’s executive vice president of football operations and NFL cap and contract manager Paraag Marathe. As manager of football research and development, Adofo-Mensah developed under Paraag, who is renowned for his cap management work in the NFL. In 2017, Adofo-Mensah was retained under new general manager John Lynch and was promoted to director of football research and development.

Cleveland Browns

On May 15, 2020, Adofo-Mensah was hired by the

as their vice president of football operations under general manager Andrew Berry.

Minnesota Vikings

On January 26, 2022, Adofo-Mensah was announced as the new general manager of the

References

External links

Minnesota Vikings profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adofo-Mensah, Kwesi 1981 births Living people Cleveland Browns executives Minnesota Vikings executives National Football League general managers People from Cherry Hill, New Jersey Princeton Tigers men's basketball players San Francisco 49ers executives Stanford University alumni