David Onyemata (born November 13, 1992) is a

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

professional

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 wi ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is ...

for the Atlanta Falcons of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played college football at

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Winn ...

Early years

Onyemata is a native of

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 fo ...

, where he attended the Chrisland Schools but he graduated from Rainbow College. He immigrated, on his own, to

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...

in 2011 to attend college the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.Manitoba Bisons The Manitoba Bisons are the athletic teams that represent the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The football team plays their games at Investors Group Field. The soccer team play their home games at the University of Manit ...

. He won the 2015 J. P. Metras Trophy as the top down lineman in CIS football, was invited to play in the East–West Shrine Game, and became the top Canadian prospect in the 2016 draft.

Professional career

New Orleans Saints

Onyemata was drafted by the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

in the fourth round of the

2016 NFL draft The 2016 NFL Draft was the 81st annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015 NFL Draft, 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park (Chicago), ...

as the 120th overall pick. He was the first player from the University of Manitoba ever selected for the NFL draft, and the twelfth NFL draft pick from the

CIS Cis or cis- may refer to: Places * Cis, Trentino, in Italy * In Poland: ** Cis, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, south-central ** Cis, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, north Math, science and biology * cis (mathematics) (cis(''θ'')), a trigonome ...

(now U Sports). The Saints traded their fifth round picks for 2016 and

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in order to draft Onyemata. As of the 2020 NFL Draft, he remains the most recent draft selection from CIS/U Sports. He was also selected by the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in ...

in the fourth round of the 2016 CFL Draft. In 2018, Onyemata played in all 16 games with four starts, recording 35 tackles, 4.5 sacks, and a forced fumble. Onyemata was suspended the first game of the 2019 season for violating the league's substances of abuse policy. He was reinstated to the active roster on September 10, 2019. On March 18, 2020, Onyemata signed a three-year, $27 million contract extension with the Saints. In Week 9 against the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The cl ...

on ''Sunday Night Football'', Onyemata recorded his first career interception off a pass thrown by

Tom Brady Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. (born August 3, 1977) is an American football quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He spent his first 20 seasons with the New England Patriots organization, with which ...

during the 38–3 win. On March 3, 2021, Onyemata agreed to convert part of his $7MM base salary into a signing bonus to free up cap space for New Orleans. On July 16, Onyemata was suspended six games by the NFL after testing positive for a banned substance.

Atlanta Falcons

On March 16, 2023, Onyemata signed a three-year, $35 million contract with the Atlanta Falcons, reuniting him with his former Saints position coach, Ryan Nielsen, who was named the Falcons defensive coordinator.

References

External links

Manitoba Bisons bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Onyemata, David 1992 births Living people American football defensive tackles Atlanta Falcons players Canadian football defensive linemen Manitoba Bisons football players New Orleans Saints players Nigerian players of American football Nigerian players of Canadian football Sportspeople from Lagos