Edmund Kugbila (born September 21, 1990) is a former
Ghanaian-born 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 ...
offensive guard
Offensive may refer to:
* Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative
* Offensive (military), an attack
* Offensive language
** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict in ...
. He played
college football at
Valdosta State
Valdosta State University (VSU or Valdosta State) is a public university in Valdosta, Georgia. It is one of the four comprehensive universities in the University System of Georgia. , VSU had over 12,000 undergraduate and graduate students. VSU a ...
, and was drafted by the Panthers in the fourth round of the
2013 NFL Draft
The 2013 NFL Draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall ...
.
Early years
Kugbila was born in
Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
. He moved to the United States at age 10, after his parents won
permanent residency allowance in the "green card lottery".
[ ] He attended
Central Gwinnett High School
Central Gwinnett High School is a public high school in Lawrenceville, Georgia, United States. The school is operated by Gwinnett County Public Schools. Jordan Middle School and Moore Middle School are its feeders.
Orchestra
The Central Gwinnett ...
in
Lawrenceville, Georgia
Lawrenceville is a city in and the county seat of Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States. It is a suburb of Atlanta, located approximately northeast of downtown. As of the 2020 census, the population of Lawrenceville was 30,629. In 2019, the ...
, and played high school football for the Central Gwinnett Black Knights.
College career
While attending
Valdosta State University
Valdosta State University (VSU or Valdosta State) is a public university in Valdosta, Georgia. It is one of the four comprehensive universities in the University System of Georgia. , VSU had over 12,000 undergraduate and graduate students. VSU ...
, Kugbila played for the
Valdosta State Blazers football
The Valdosta State football team represents Valdosta State University in football. The Blazers are a member of the Gulf South Conference (GSC) in NCAA Division II. Valdosta State University has had a football team since 1981. The Blazers play in ...
team from 2009 to 2012.
Professional career
The
Carolina Panthers
The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...
chose Kugbila in the fourth round, with the 108th overall pick, of the
2013 NFL Draft
The 2013 NFL Draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall ...
. Kugbila suffered from a strained hamstring, and after suffering numerous setbacks, he was placed on injured reserve on August 27. After rehabbing the injury in the offseason, he injured his back. It was announced on July 24, 2014 that he would undergo back surgery and miss the entire season. On May 20, 2015, he was waived, appearing in zero games.
References
External links
Valdosta State Blazers bio
1990 births
Living people
People from Lawrenceville, Georgia
Sportspeople from the Atlanta metropolitan area
Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state)
Ghanaian players of American football
American football offensive guards
Valdosta State Blazers football players
Carolina Panthers players
Ghanaian emigrants to the United States
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