Rooting for Kenneth Odumegwu
Let me tell you a story.
It’s about a guy called Kenneth Odumegwu.
His remarkable journey began with Osi Umenyiora. Osi was born in London to Nigerian parents in 1981. Osi’s family moved from London to Nigeria when he was seven years old. At fourteen years old, Osi moved to Alabama to live with his sister. From there, he went to college where he shone at football (what we rightly call American football). He shone like a million stars and then became an NFL profession with the New York Giants, ultimately signing a $8.55 million with the Atlanta Falcons in 2013.
Two years later, Osi retired from football and decided to dedicate his life to providing opportunities for talented individuals in Africa. The Uprise, an initiative he founded, aims to offer African athletes a chance to pursue a career in the NFL. As part of this initiative, he employs scouts in Nigeria and across Africa.
It was one of these scouts who spotted Kenneth Odumegwu on a basketball court. Prior to that period, Kenneth was playing football (the real football where Lionel Messi is GOAT). However, due to his towering height of 6ft 6in, he eventually transitioned to basketball. Nevertheless, in 2022, the scouts from The Uprise took notice of his imposing physique, which piqued their interest. They invited Kenneth, who had never heard of American football before, to participate in a trial. Initially, he joined other athletes they had discovered across Nigeria. Then, he traveled to Ghana to join athletes from various parts of the continent. Finally, he journeyed to London alongside 37 other players for the International Combine. Kenneth was among the 13 chosen for this year’s International Player Pathway program (IPP).
Through the IPP, he has now been assigned to the Green Bay Packers, a team that holds the record for the most league championships in NFL history.
“The first day I came in here … I was literally shaking,” Kenneth shared while in the Packers locker room last week.
Although he is yet to play his first official NFL game, comparisons have already been drawn between him and one of the game’s prominent stars, Khalil Mack.
“This is gonna sounds blasphemous, but Khalil Mack,” Osi expressed. “His frame and his abilities, if he studies Khalil Mack, he should be able to emulate him.”
Only time will reveal the outcome, but this achievement is already a significant milestone for someone who had no knowledge of what a line of scrimmage was less than a year ago. In Kenneth’s diary, he has inscribed the following words: “I am here for a reason. Things don’t just happen.”
This 22-year-old Nigerian, weighing 117kg, is precisely the kind of individual for whom I cannot help but root for.
