Chidi Francis Iwuoma (born February 19, 1978) 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 ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

who is currently a scout for BLESTO. He was signed by the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2001. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Iwuoma has also played for the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

and

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

. He won

Super Bowl XL Super Bowl XL was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Seattle Seahawks and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion f ...

over the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

with the Steelers.

Early years

Iwuoma's parents were Nigerian immigrants. Chidi Iwuoma attended Pasadena High School in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

. He then attended the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

where he played football. At California, Iwuoma returned kicks and punts while also playing cornerback. Chidi Iwuoma is a member of

Iota Phi Theta Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. It was founded on September 19, 1963, at Morgan State University (then Morgan State College) in Baltimore, Maryland, and is currently the 5th largest Black Greek Le ...

fraternity.

Professional career

Detroit Lions

Iwuoma signed with the

as an

following the

2001 NFL Draft The 2001 NFL Draft was the 66th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft, which is officially referred to as the "NFL Player Selection Meeting," was held at the ...

Pittsburgh Steelers

Iwuoma primarily played on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

while with the

. He earned a

Super Bowl ring The Super Bowl ring is an award in the National Football League given to the team members of the winning team of the league's annual championship game, the Super Bowl. Since only one Vince Lombardi Trophy is awarded to the team (ownership) itsel ...

with the Steelers following the 2005 season. Iwuoma was elected the special teams co-captain for two consecutive seasons. In 2006, he underwent shoulder surgery but returned in time for pre-season camp. During the pre-season he suffered a concussion and was released on September 6.

New England Patriots

Iwuoma signed with the

on October 4, 2006. He was released on October 31.

St. Louis Rams

A few weeks after his release from the Patriots, Iwuoma signed with the

on November 14. He was released again on November 28.

Return to Pittsburgh

On December 5, 2006, with four games remaining in the season, the Steelers re-signed Iwuoma. Iwuoma ended his 2006 season with the Steelers but dislocated his wrist. He was re-signed on March 16, 2007 as an

unrestricted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

. The Steelers waived Iwuoma as a final cut on September 2.

Tennessee Titans

He was signed by the Titans on December 26, 2007. He became an unrestricted free agent after the season.

After professional career

Iwuoma worked with the University of California's Athletic Study Center from 2009–2012, where he served as Assistant Director of Student-Athlete Development. In May 2013 he joined the Steelers as their designated BLESTO scout.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iwuoma, Chidi 1978 births Living people Players of American football from Los Angeles Players of American football from Pasadena, California American sportspeople of Nigerian descent Nigerian players of American football American football cornerbacks California Golden Bears football players Detroit Lions players Pittsburgh Steelers players Tennessee Titans players New England Patriots players St. Louis Rams players Pasadena High School (California) alumni