Shahid Khan Quotes

“I’m from the colonies, so I remember when the sun never set on the British Empire.”

― Shahid Khan

“Discretion is a very valuable asset.”

― Shahid Khan

“Nobody cares about ’60 Minutes.’ Everybody cares about the Jaguars. Isn’t that amazing?”

― Shahid Khan

“I’ve lived the American Dream and had a great life. Immigration and religion and racial tolerance are the foundation of this country.”

― Shahid Khan

“One good thing about being in business is you learn to compromise. And so you learn to strike a deal that maybe isn’t what you were looking for but is better than what you’ve got.”

― Shahid Khan

“In the auto industry, I spent years perfecting processes. Now, the successes and failures don’t get the kind of publicity obviously NFL football does.”

― Shahid Khan

“It doesn’t matter how hard you work, there are forces that kind of prevent you from being the best you can be.”

― Shahid Khan

“You go through life and learn valuable lessons.”

― Shahid Khan

“It’s not an easy thing to captive-breed a falcon. You need to take extreme care of its diet and exercise and keep it close to its natural environment. Whenever the birds take ill, I only use Ayurveda to cure them.”

― Shahid Khan

“I learned analytics. It’s a point of reference, of information. It has to be a factor in decision making.”

― Shahid Khan

“Throwing money on the fire is normally not the solution to every problem. You put the fire out by listening to the people who are smarter than you are.”

― Shahid Khan

“I would encourage someone to go to Brazil and try to do business there. BRIC countries get a lot of hype, but business there is brutal.”

― Shahid Khan

“I love it. In the NFL, you win or you lose, and the money still shows up.”

― Shahid Khan

“The bedrock of this country are immigration and, really, a great separation between church and state.”

― Shahid Khan

“In a way, NAFTA is like a scrambled egg. How do you unscramble an egg? The value chains are so interwoven that it would be very difficult to do that. But government policies force us to look for ways to unscramble it.”

― Shahid Khan

“Football is about as popular as it can be in the U.S. The upside, the expansion and growth lies overseas.”

― Shahid Khan

“There’s a lot of young talent. I felt strongly that we wanted somebody with a great football mind who’d make it their mission to succeed. And a coach, likewise. Somebody young, energetic, open.”

― Shahid Khan

“When I got there, there were two sides: business and football. Business I understand. It was pretty obvious to me what we had to do. But the football side was like the Holy Grail.”

― Shahid Khan

“Toronto is a world-class city. You don’t have a debate here about immigration because you need it to just maintain your pensions: that’s dependent on people coming in to fund that. And again, I don’t want to be controversial, but I think the average education level in Canada is probably higher than in the United States.”

― Shahid Khan

“In just my interaction, I go to factories, and I talk to our employees. And in Canada, they have had a least a year or two more education. It’s like, almost, I never run into anybody who hasn’t finished high school. And in the United States, you have a lot who dropped out of 11th grade or whatever.”

― Shahid Khan

“I discovered the Four Seasons brand many years ago. There is a certain magic.”

― Shahid Khan

“We have the talent in place, and I think if you are a Jaguars fan, you should be excited, and you should have some expectations that we’re going to be a sustainable, winning organization now.”

― Shahid Khan

“I almost felt like I knew London before the first time I went there.”

― Shahid Khan

“People will stop me on the street, and they know – Jaguars. It’s a certain street recognition we didn’t have years ago.”

― Shahid Khan

“I really believe in fate or destiny, and I believe the Jacksonville Jaguars were my destiny. I believe, when it’s all said and done, it couldn’t have worked out better for me… man, oh man, this was just perfect.”

― Shahid Khan

“As a fan, there are times you get frustrated as to what you think a team ought to be doing.”

― Shahid Khan

“As an engineer, I learned that a long time ago: you don’t want to get into a rational discussion about irrational subjects.”

― Shahid Khan

“You can do anything you want to do. You have to work hard, you have to create your own luck, and you have to have some luck also.”

― Shahid Khan

“You can’t confuse safety with religion or national origin.”

― Shahid Khan

“I love architecture, but I learned early on that architects just don’t make a lot of money.”

― Shahid Khan

“Urban living is an intersection of business and personal life.”

― Shahid Khan

“You have to take the time to live in a place to collect all the pieces, develop a vision. You can’t just go to Home Depot and buy everything.”

― Shahid Khan

“Washing dishes gave me the sense of empowerment and feeling that I control my destiny.”

― Shahid Khan

“Cold calling is about developing social skills and getting used to rejection. We are constantly selling something to somebody.”

― Shahid Khan

“If you aren’t learning, you are regressing, because more growth comes from failure than from success.”

― Shahid Khan

“There are 320 million American dreams. Go get yours.”

― Shahid Khan

“I’ve gotten to know them and love everything about the people of Jacksonville. There is an energy and a youth factor here that you don’t typically associate with Florida. There’s a real vitality. It’s energizing.”

― Shahid Khan

“I feel I have to play a role to help Jacksonville achieve big things, to achieve its potential. There is opportunity here, and sometimes it isn’t always evident, but it’s there.”

― Shahid Khan

“We have made a great effort to stabilize the Jaguars, and London has played a key part in that. We see the Jaguars as an engine and catalyst for the overall growth of Jacksonville, and I believe we have proven our commitment beyond a doubt.”

― Shahid Khan

“Jacksonville has exceptionally good talent in the areas of modality activities.”

― Shahid Khan

“I have a huge affinity with London, and I have a lot of relatives here – now and before I was born. I pretty much look at London as the centre of the universe.”

― Shahid Khan

“I think imagination is a crazy thing, and that’s what makes the world go around.”

― Shahid Khan

“The great thing about the NFL is that you get into it for love, and you realise it is a fabulous business.”

― Shahid Khan

“The NFL is one of the few sports where it’s possible to tear things down and start again.”

― Shahid Khan

“Whenever I was flying commercial, I would land in Chicago, and they would announce, ‘Get your passports out.’ It happened so often, I would walk to the front of the plane and say, ‘You’re looking for me. Just take me; it will be easier for everybody else.”

― Shahid Khan

“I can control my destiny; I control my life.”

― Shahid Khan

“I had to overcome a lot of barriers. Until 1947, it was illegal for people from the subcontinent to migrate to the U.S. The subcontinentals were the last ethnic minority to gain citizenship. You assimilate. My name was too hard. They said, ‘Shad is what we are calling you.’ You go with the flow.”

― Shahid Khan

“You balance sport and business by having a sustainable model for a club and by winning. Because winning makes people feel better.”

― Shahid Khan

“I can help as chairperson, and Fulham can help our NFL effort. Collectively, these synergies will help everybody.”

― Shahid Khan

“I own two species of the raptors – Falco peregrinus and Falco biarmicus.”

― Shahid Khan

“Manager Kit Symons sees our players daily. As a top-flight player not that long ago, Kit knows and feels the game.”

― Shahid Khan

“I have learned lessons in America about how you go about things, and what I know is that you find the best people, empower them, give them the resources, and hold them accountable.”

― Shahid Khan

“You have to have commercial income so you can spend on players.”

― Shahid Khan

“Mohamed Al Fayed took Fulham from the second tier to where they are today.”

― Shahid Khan

“I promise that no one wants to deliver a winner to Fulham supporters more than I do.”

― Shahid Khan

“In the end, all we need to remember is Slavisa has promoted a club from the Championship to the Premier League and has managed sides at the highest level of football. In other words, Slavisa is exactly the head coach we need.”

― Shahid Khan

“I believe the term ‘head coach’ has been misunderstood, though not by Slavisa nor nearly every one of the other candidates we interviewed. Slavisa avidly embraces the concept of head coach, which is to be on the pitch, training, organising, planning, and everything that comes in preparing for and leading the Club on match day.”

― Shahid Khan

“The concept of head coach simply means being hyperfocused on the pitch and team performance.”

― Shahid Khan

“When you hire in business, you don’t worry about marquee value.”

― Shahid Khan

“I want Fulham to be very successful.”

― Shahid Khan

“I don’t think it’s any different if I’m in the U.S. or in London. I look at operations globally.”

― Shahid Khan

“Paul came to the Jaguars in 1994 and has loyally served the franchise in a variety of capacities, most recently holding the title of Senior Vice President of Football Operations and General Counsel.”

― Shahid Khan

“Sashi will assume the general counsel responsibilities formerly held by Paul Vance, who is leaving the franchise after 18 years of service.”

― Shahid Khan

“I have no regrets about buying Fulham. Absolutely not. This is a perfect club for what we wanted to do. It’s absolutely historic, small, and has just the perfect fan base.”

― Shahid Khan

“Clubs shouldn’t be counting on an owner just as a benefactor.”

― Shahid Khan

“I was recently very fortunate to have been introduced to Mohamed Al Fayed, a man I respect and admire immensely for what he has accomplished in his life and – above all – what he has given others.”

― Shahid Khan

“I want to be clear: I do not view myself so much as the owner of Fulham but a custodian of the club on behalf of its fans.”

― Shahid Khan

“My priority is to ensure the club and Craven Cottage each have a viable and sustainable Premier League future that fans of present and future generations can be proud of.”

― Shahid Khan

“I’ve said this before: a homeless guy in Detroit has more mojo than a millionaire in Jacksonville.”

― Shahid Khan

“Basically, what I want to share with the Jacksonville fans is, here I am, reporting for duty and ready to serve the fans. Let the fun begin.”

― Shahid Khan

“I’ll be spending most of my time really relating to the fans and developing the relationships. The rebirth, really, of the franchise in Jacksonville where we will win on and off the field.”

― Shahid Khan

“This is a partnership really with the fans. They have to come and support the team.”

― Shahid Khan

“To me, the worst thing is to just be knee-jerk and emotional.”

― Shahid Khan