By Luke Pero, Staff Writer

For Woodbridge Township native Karan Patel, football has always been a huge part of his life. Despite Karan’s love for the game, he couldn’t play in high school due to his size. He wanted to be a part of the team still, so the coaches gave him the opportunity to become the teams equipment manager. He began his coaching career at Colonia High School, where he also graduated from in 2014. After his first-year coaching, he knew that was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life.

Karan coached at Colonia for 4 and a half years, which helped shape him into the coach and person he is today. He was a part of Colonia’s best season in history after they finished 11-1 during the 2014-15 season. Karan was also selected to coach in the Snapple Bowl, which is a high school all-star game between Middlesex County and Union County players. After graduating high school, Karan attended Rutgers University where he also looked to pursue coaching at the next level. His wish became a reality in 2016 when he was asked to join the Rutgers coaching staff becoming a student equipment manager. He then stayed on the Scarlet Knights staff for 6 long years, acquiring his bachelor and graduate degrees along the way. Patel still wanted to chase his dream of making it to the highest level and become a part of an NFL team. Sure enough, his dream came true in July of 2020 as he was hired by the Los Angeles Rams to be a junior equipment manager. Fast forward two years, Karan is now a Super Bowl champion following the Rams thrilling 23-20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals this past February. When I asked Karan about some of the obstacles he faced throughout his long journey, he said “Everyday isn’t easy and when the hours get long you have to find your why and keep pushing no matter how hard it gets. LA Rams SBLVI Champs!!”