Carl Isioma Ihenacho (born May 28, 1988) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

. He played college football at

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...

High school career

Carl Ihenacho was born in

Carson, California Carson is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the South Bay region of Los Angeles, located south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately away from Los Angeles International Airport. Incorporated on February 20, 1968, ...

and is of Nigerian descent. Although Ihenacho's mother did not allow Carl or his younger brother

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

to play

Pop Warner Glenn Scobey Warner (April 5, 1871 – September 7, 1954), most commonly known as Pop Warner, was an American college football coach at various institutions who is responsible for several key aspects of the modern game. Included among his inn ...

football, Duke Ihenacho joined the football team at Junipero Serra High School at

Gardena, California Gardena is a city located in the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 58,829 at the 2010 census, up from 57,746 at the 2000 census. ...

in senior year. At Serra, Carl Ihenacho played the defensive end and tight end positions. Ihenacho was also a second-team all-league pick and his team's Rookie of the Year in 2005.

College career

Ihenacho played at

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sys ...

and started 31 games. He was a two-time second-team All-

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington (state), Washington, and Texa ...

honoree during his four seasons at San Jose State. He ranks number five on the university’s career list for tackles for loss (33.5) and is tied for fifth in quarterback sacks with 17. In December 2009, he graduated one semester early with a bachelor's degree in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

. Carl Ihenacho played at San Jose State with his younger brother

Duke Ihenacho Duke Uba Ihenacho (born June 16, 1989) is a former American football strong safety. He played college football at San Jose State. He signed with the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free agent following the 2012 NFL Draft. He has also played for ...

from the 2007 to 2009 seasons. In 2008,

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

ranked Carl and Duke Ihenacho as one of the top ten brother combinations in college football for being among the top defensive players in FBS football.

Professional career

On January 26, 2011, Ihenacho signed a reserve/future contract with the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

. Ihenacho participated in training camp with the Chargers until being waived on September 3, 2011. On December 7, 2011, Ihenacho signed with the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

practice squad. Ihenacho debuted professionally in Week 1 of the 2012 season (September 10), a ''

Monday Night Football ''ESPN Monday Night Football'' (abbreviated as ''MNF'' and also known as ''ESPN Monday Night Football on ABC'' for simulcasts) is an American live television broadcast of weekly National Football League (NFL) games currently airing on ESPN, AB ...

'' game and 22-14 home loss to the

. In Week 2 (September 16), a 35-13 loss to the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

, Ihenacho recorded his first tackle as a professional. On September 25, 2012, the Raiders waived Ihenacho, but re-signed him to the practice squad two days later. On October 2, 2012, the Raiders cut Ihenacho. Ihenacho retired from football to become a personal trainer after being released.

References

External links

Oakland Raiders bio

San Jose State Spartans bio

NFL combine results
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ihenacho, Carl 1988 births Living people Nigerian players of American football American football linebackers American sportspeople of Nigerian descent Oakland Raiders players People from Carson, California Players of American football from California San Jose State Spartans football players Sportspeople from Los Angeles County, California American exercise instructors