Kaya comes at a time when the Suhs are doubling down on their already strong connections to Portland, which, in addition to their part-time home and business interests, include a family foundation based around the “three pillars” of education, health and wellness. They’re also involved in such community endeavors as financial-literacy programs and backpack giveaways, including at Grant High School, which is not at all coincidentally just a few miles from Alberta Alley. That’s where Ndamukong used to eat the free breakfast as a middle-schooler at Beverly Cleary School before his own time as a Grant student and star athlete. Google the name of the 6-foot-4, 313-pound Super Bowl champion (with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2021) and it’s mostly football facts. But the first word of his Twitter bio is “Investor” (with a dollar-bill emoji). And the first words of his LinkedIn summary? “An engineer….” “I’m very proud of my engineering degree,” says Ndamukong, who majored in engineering and construction management at the University of Nebraska, graduating in four years even as he became a Heisman Trophy finalist — rare for a defensive player — in 2009, his senior year. “And I’ve always wanted to be known as somebody more than an athlete.” An athlete who may or may not be retired: Ndamukong played his 13th season last year for the Philadelphia Eagles on a part-time basis, joining the team in November for eight regular-season games and the playoffs; as this issue of OB went to press, in mid-December, Ndamukong had not returned to the NFL, though in theory, he could still sign with a team in January. While many athletes struggle to find their way in “life after sports” — or find something they love as much as sports — neither of the Suhs ever assumed sports would be their careers or only passion. Katya played college basketball for the University of Nebraska and Kansas State before putting her mass communications degree to work in television journalism, marketing, real estate and hospitality. And in Ndamukong’s case, you might say the NFL turned out to be his side hustle. While plenty of professional athletes lend their name and/or money to companies (Damian Lillard Toyota, in McMinnville), new media endeavors (LeBron James and Maverick Carter’s SpringHill Company) or passion projects (CJ McCollum’s Heritage 91 wine partnership with Adelsheim) even when they’re playing, Ndamukong pursued entrepreneurship more doggedly than most. He was mentored by Warren Buffet in Omaha and has investments with the Silicon Valley VC firm Andreessen Horowitz, in such startups as Quip (toothbrushes) and Judy (emergency kits) and in the national restaurant chains Blue Sushi and Pizzana. He owns or has owned both hotels and real estate in other cities he has lived in (including Omaha and Detroit). His current Portland company, HMS Development, a partnership with fellow Irvington resident Joel Andersen (of Andersen Construction), has multiple projects in Portland, both residential and commercial buildings, including Alberta Alley. “I tell people this all the time: I was ready for Ndamukong to retire after his second contract,” says former Grant High School assistant coach Joe Rollins, referring to the six-year, $114 million deal Ndamukong — who was originally drafted No. 2 overall by the Detroit Lions in 2010 — signed with the Miami Dolphins in 2015, which made him the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history at the time. “Because I didn’t view him as a professional football player anymore. I look at Ndamukong Suh as a businessman, a father and a husband now.” Ndamukong and Katya met at the University of Nebraska in 2009; by the time she transferred to Kansas State, Ndamukong, who’d been a senior when she was a freshman, was already in the NFL. He was also just a friend. Sort of. Here’s how they describe it: Boy meets girl, girl holds boy at arm’s length, girl eventually agrees to date. “Courting,” Ndamukong calls it. They stayed friends and, as a couple, were sort of on-again, off-again throughout their 20s and through his moves to lots of different cities. They got married in 2020 and had their twin sons, Kingston and Khari, in March of 2021. “I’m very proud of my engineering degree. And I’ve always wanted to be known as somebody more than an athlete.” NDAMUKONG SUH Ndamukong Suh outside Bae’s on Alberta COURTESY OF NDAMUKONG SUH Ndamukong was a Grant High School student and star athlete. 21
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