ACCRA, Ghana — Despite winning Super Bowl with the Los Angeles Rams Ogbonnia ‘Obo’ Okoronkwo was a defensive end who told ESPN last season that the next step was to sign for the team. Houston Texans So he could give back his community.
Okoronkwo currently assists at the NFL’s first training camp for Africa. Okoronkwo started playing football at Alief Taylor High School in Texas in his junior year. He was playing the game in secret against his father’s will.
Houston is what made him fall in love football. As the son of Nigerian parents, it’s no surprise that he feels at ease in a place that has so much to offer. second-largest Nigerian population in the US.
Okoronkwo said that “after winning the Super Bowl I felt it was very important to go home and begin working in my community,” and signed a deal with Texas to do so.
“At the moment, I’m ready for another win.” [Super Bowl]. I have celebrated, and now I am ready to go back to work. My new team has a lot of work ahead. I am grateful for all the experiences I have had. But it is time to get back to work.
Okoronkwo is known for his impressive work ethic, but he admits that this was not always the case. He was unaware of his potential and treated the sport as a hobby until his team trusted him.
“When I went to college, I was just starting to play organised football. So I didn’t have any idea of how far it would take me. He admitted that he was still learning the nuances of the game, trying to determine if he was capable and good enough to do it.
“I was playing behind some talented players… Once their time was up, it was my turn to play. I was also seeing that Oklahoma was counting on me to fill big shoes. The pressure made me realize I needed to lock in.”
Okoronkwo was named Big 12 Defensive Player-of-the Year in 2017. He was drafted by Rams in the fifth round in 2018. He made an impact on a team that was competitive once again. He is now ready to step up to a senior role, and the environment Houston provides is ideal for him to do so.
However, he has not only returned to Texas, but football has also brought him back full circle. He was approached by NFL Africa and has been helping with their camp at Right to Dream Academy in Ghana.
Osi Umenyiora is the two-time Super Bowl champion. The NFL is looking for the most promising talent to add to its International Player Pathway program (IPP). This week, forty outstanding players from Umenyiora’s Uprise camps of South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana and Nigeria took part.
Okoronkwo was a camp participant like many others who started playing the game in his teens. He was impressed with the skills that the prospects had mastered in a relatively short time.
“I certainly did.” [expect the high standard of play]. But, I wasn’t sure it would be as polished as it is. I thought it would be more raw. Okoronkwo stated that she was impressed by how far the game has come.
Although this was his second trip to Africa, he doesn’t intend to make it his last.
“This is my first experience ever doing anything similar and I’ve only been once to Africa before.” It’s been an incredible experience to be back in my homeland and to contribute to such a large project,” he said.
“[I hope that the NFL can] Continue to expose these athletes who aren’t normally exposed to the world. A guy from my team went through. [the IPP]. His name is Dayo [Adedayo Odeleye].
“The guy is an extraordinary athlete. There’s so much potential. We are seeing him get better under the Texans coaching team.
“Just to look at that, it showed me how many men are out there that are just hidden treasures that could really go to the NFL to be successful.”