Kenneth Odumegwu

Kenneth Ikechukwu Odumegwu (born 29 November 2000)^[1] is a Nigerian professional American football defensive end for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He joined the Packers as part of the NFL's International Player Pathway Program (IPPP) in 2023.

Early life

Odumegwu was born in Lagos, Nigeria and grew up in Anambra State.^[2][3] He attended high school in Lagos at Bright Future College, then studied criminology for two years at the National Open University of Nigeria.^[2] He initially played association football (soccer) at defensive midfielder as a youth; his favorite player was Ivan Rakitić.^[4] He eventually grew too tall for the sport and switched to basketball, with his favorite player being Giannis Antetokounmpo.^[4][5]

Odumegwu played basketball as part of the Educational Basketball program run by Iseolupo and Olutobi Adepitan.^[4] While there, he was noticed by American football scouts sent by Osi Umenyiora and was offered the chance to tryout the sport as part of Umenyiora's academy The Uprise, designed to get Africans opportunities to play in the National Football League (NFL).^[6] He trained there for a month and was later selected to the NFL Africa Touchdown Camp in Ghana in June 2022.^[4] He was assigned the position of defensive end and ultimately won defensive most valuable player honors at the camp, being chosen to attend the international player combine in London.^[7]

Odumegwu posted a reported 4.8-second 40-yard dash and a 33.5 inch vertical jump at the combine.^[8] Of the 38 participants, he was among the 13 that performed well enough to be chosen for the NFL's International Player Pathway Program (IPPP), which gives foreign players chances in the league.^[6] He spent 10 weeks training at IMG Academy and held a pro day with the University of South Florida.^[6] He won selection as one of eight IPPP players to be allocated to NFL teams.^[6]

Professional career

Odumegwu was allocated to the Green Bay Packers through the IPPP on 4 May 2023.^[9][10] He appeared in the team's preseason win over the Cincinnati Bengals, playing 14 combined snaps (12 defense, two special teams) in his first organized football game.^[11] Afterwards, he was given the game ball by head coach Matt LaFleur.^[12] He was released at the final roster cuts on 29 August 2023, and then re-signed to the practice squad a day later while being given the IPPP exemption for international players.^[13][14] After having spent the entire 2023 season on the practice squad, he was signed to a reserve/future contract on 22 January 2024.^[15]

References

External links

• Green Bay Packers bio