Osi Umenyiora, a two-time Super Bowl winner with the New York Giants, is reportedly bringing the NFL to Africa, according to Leonard Solms of ESPN. He seems to be recruiting the best young athletes in Africa and convincing anyone who’d listen to try out American football. The popular sports out there are basketball, rugby, and soccer. Naturally, these three sports are considered to be global sports while someone in Africa may have limited access or less exposure to American football.
Luckily, the standard of players at Umenyiora’s camps was high enough to help convince the NFL. He’s able to travel to Africa to further the International Player Pathway (IPP). The biggest takeaway from his camp happens to be a basketball player. They were able to later convert into a potential offensive tackle. Nigeria’s CJ Okoye is a 6’8 barely made the camp; however, Giants legend saw a spark in the 20-year-old. The potential appears to be there with a large man gifted with abnormal athletic abilities.
“He didn’t perform well in the drills at The Uprise,” Umenyiora told ESPN. “The issue is that they have never done those drills before, and it requires a different type of training to perform them correctly. When you evaluate their results, the numbers won’t be as impressive.”
“But when you place him in a competitive setting, he truly shines. Therefore, after observing his performance in competition, I concluded that he deserved a worthwhile opportunity,” he further added.
Osi Umenyiora Instincts Proves to be Right
While Okoye was a bit raw he still managed to win the offensive MVP at the NFL camp unexpectedly. Umenyiora surprisingly admitted he hoped he performed to an exceptional level. Never did he believe he can go into this camp and absolutely annihilate his competition and win the offensive MVP.
“To be honest, I never thought I could be the offensive MVP. When Osi introduced Uprise in Nigeria, I barely made the cut. When he included my name, he said, ‘This one needs to put in the effort,'” Okoye shared with ESPN.
“I used to play basketball, and I was quite good at it. I participated in one of the local leagues in Nigeria.”
“I didn’t really think about it because American football isn’t a thing in Nigeria. But thanks to Osi, that is changing.”
It is safe to say, many more players from Africa will break the mold due to this program and help globalize the sport of football. Globalizing the sport (football) like basketball, soccer, and rugby will benefit the game and many athletes. The game will see more diversity and will allow many more athletes around the world opportunities to play the game much love and adore!
