Chinedum "Nedu" Ndukwe ( ; born March 4, 1985) 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 ...

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

. He was drafted by the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

in the seventh round of the 2007 NFL Draft. 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 ...

for the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

. He also played for 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 ...

. He founded the Cincinnati-based Kingsley + Co., a commercial real estate company.

College career

After graduating from

Dublin Coffman High School Dublin Coffman High School is a public high school located in Dublin, Ohio, United States, a suburb northwest of Columbus, Ohio. The school was formerly known as Dublin High School. It is the oldest of three high schools in the Dublin City School ...

, Ndukwe went on to start as

for the

for his junior and senior seasons. He played in 46 games with 25 starts and made 157 tackles. During his tenure at Notre Dame, his fellow Dublin Coffman graduate,

Brady Quinn Brayden Tyler "Brady" Quinn (born October 27, 1984) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons. He played college football at Notre Dame, where he won the Maxwell Award, and w ...

, was his roommate. Ndukwe had a double major in Marketing and Psychology.

Professional career

Cincinnati Bengals

Ndukwe was drafted by the

in the seventh round (253rd overall) of the 2007 NFL Draft. Ndukwe made an immediate impact by playing in 14 games and starting two in place of an injured Dexter Jackson at strong safety. Ndukwe finished the season with 35 tackles, two sacks, three interceptions, six pass deflections, a fumble recovery that he returned for a touchdown, and one forced fumble. He finished the season one of four Bengals to log an entry in every statistical column on the defensive stat sheet for the season. Ndukwe missed the second and third games of the season due to a hamstring injury suffered against the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

. In a December 23 contest against the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

, Ndukwe totaled two interceptions off quarterback Derek Anderson. His first interception was returned 44 yards to the five-yard line, setting up a Bengals' score. His next interception came off of a pass intended for tight end

Kellen Winslow Kellen Boswell Winslow Sr. (born November 5, 1957) is an American former professional football player in the National Football League (NFL). A member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame (1995), he is widely recognized as one of the greatest tight ...

that Ndukwe grabbed in the end zone. He also recorded 12 tackles, which was second-best on the team. In a November game against the Ravens, Ndukwe intercepted a

Kyle Boller Kyle Bryan Boller (born June 17, 1981) is a former American football quarterback. After playing college football for California, he was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the first round (19th overall) of the 2003 NFL Draft. He played for the Rav ...

pass in the end zone in the fourth quarter. In the season finale against 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 ...

, Ndukwe returned a fumble 54 yards for a touchdown that put the Bengals ahead 28-10 in the fourth quarter. After the touchdown, excited commentator Joe Woeste claimed Ndukwe was a future

Hall of Famer A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

. He was competing with Dexter Jackson for the starting safety role; however, in 2009 the Bengals cut Jackson, leaving Ndukwe as the starting strong safety. He became a free agent after the 2010 season.

Oakland Raiders

After rehabbing a knee injury for 10 months, the

signed Ndukwe on October 18, 2011. He played in two games with one interception before aggravating the original injury, ending his comeback and his season on November 10.

Personal

Ndukwe's name, "Chinedum," means "God is my Guiding Light" in

Igbo Igbo may refer to: * Igbo people, an ethnic group of Nigeria * Igbo language, their language * anything related to Igboland, a cultural region in Nigeria See also * Ibo (disambiguation) * Igbo mythology * Igbo music * Igbo art * * Igbo-Ukwu, a ...

. In 2008, Ndukwe attended the

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

, followed by the

Wharton School of Business The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania ( ; also known as Wharton Business School, the Wharton School, Penn Wharton, and Wharton) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in ...

at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

in 2009 for the NFL Business Management Program. On January 30, 2012, Ndukwe made his voiceover debut, working for NFL Films as the narrator for ESPN's Hey Rookie. Ndukwe is the youngest of the three sons; his oldest brother Kelechi is Commanding Officer of USS HALSEY who previously served on the Minesweeper Crew SWERVE, based in San Diego, as the Executive Officer and later as Commanding Officer of USS DEVASTATOR in Manama, Bahrain. The middle brother,

Ikechukwu Ikechukwu Onunaku, known professionally as Ikechukwu and Killz is a Nigerian singer, rapper, and actor. He was a cast member in '' The Wedding Party'' and '' The Wedding Party 2: Destination Dubai''. Onunaku was born in Manassas, Virginia to Ni ...

, is an offensive tackle in the NFL who is a free agent. The youngest sibling, Ezinne, is earning her masters in public health at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

References

External links

Official Web Site of Chinedum Ndukwe
*

Bengals Player Bio

Official Blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ndukwe, Chinedum 1985 births Living people People from Dublin, Ohio People from Powell, Ohio Players of American football from Ohio American football safeties Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Cincinnati Bengals players Oakland Raiders players Igbo sportspeople American people of Igbo descent Sportspeople from Charlottesville, Virginia Players of American football from Virginia Players of American football from Cincinnati American sportspeople of Nigerian descent