Eric O. Ogbogu (born July 18, 1975) 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 ...

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 formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

in 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) for the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

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 ...

, and

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

. He previously 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 ...

at the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

Early years

Ogbogu attended

Archbishop Stepinac High School Archbishop Stepinac High School is an American all-boys' Roman Catholic high school in White Plains, New York. It was operated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York until the 2009–2010 school year, when it became independent of the ...

. He didn't start practicing

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

until his freshman year in high school, because he suffered from

Blount's disease Blount's disease (or Blount disease) is a growth disorder of the tibia (shin bone) which causes the lower leg to angle inward, resembling a bowleg. It is also known as "tibia vara". Description and risk factors Blount disease is a growth disorder ...

as a child. He played

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

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 ...

and sometimes

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

. As a senior, he rushed for 1,803 yards and was one of the top ranked

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

s in the state, while averaging 8 tackles per game as a

. He also lettered in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

College career

Ogbogu accepted a football a scholarship from the

. He played 5 games at

as a freshman. As a sophomore, he almost quit school after his father was killed in a carjacking in his native Nigeria. He was moved to

that season, recording 45 tackles (12 for losses) and led the team with 6 sacks. As a junior, he posted 64 tackles and led the team with 7 sacks. As a senior, he was limited with a sprained ankle and had 43 tackles (eighth on the team), 4 sacks, 3 forced fumbles and 3 fumble recoveries. He finished ranked fifth in school history in career sacks (18½). He was named the MVP for the winning South team in the 1998

Hula Bowl The Hula Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game held annually, usually in January. From inception through the 2021 playing, it was held in Hawaii; since the 2022 edition, it has been played in Orlando, Florida. The game was first st ...

after registering 4 sacks.

Professional career

New York Jets

Ogbogu was selected by the

in the sixth round (163rd overall) of the

1998 NFL Draft The 1998 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 18–19, 1998, at the Theater at M ...

. As a rookie, he had 8 tackles in 12 games. In

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

, he made 12 tackles, one sack, one pass defensed and 2 fumble recoveries in 14 games (2 inactive). In

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, he entered

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events, ...

as the starter at right defensive end, but suffered a shoulder injury before the first preseason game. He was waived/injured on August 5 and was placed on the

injured reserve list The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

on August 7. In

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, he had 24 tackles and one fumble recovery.

Cincinnati Bengals

On April 29,

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, he was signed as a

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 ...

by the

. He registered 4 tackles in 12 games (4 inactive). He wasn't re-signed after the season.

Dallas Cowboys

On August 11,

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, he signed with the

as a

, reuniting with

Bill Parcells Duane Charles "Bill" Parcells (born August 22, 1941) is an American former football coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 19 seasons. He rose to prominence as the head coach of the New York Giants from 1983 ...

, who coached him with the

. He collected 30 tackles, 3.5 sacks, 10 quarterback pressures and 3 forced fumbles. Ogbogu was mostly a backup at

and

outside 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, ...

, but had a memorable game on Thanksgiving Day in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

against the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

, racking up 3½ sacks, second most in franchise history (

Bob Lilly Robert Lewis Lilly (born July 26, 1939), nicknamed "Mr. Cowboy", is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle. After playing college football for the TCU Horned Frogs, he played for the Dallas Cowboys of the Nat ...

and

Jim Jeffcoat James Wilson Jeffcoat, Jr. (born April 1, 1961) is a former American football defensive end in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys and Buffalo Bills. He was most recently an assistant football coach for the Dallas Renegades of the ...

are first with five sacks). He finished 11 tackles, 4.5 sacks (third on the team), 6 quarterback pressures, one pass defensed and one fumble recovery. In

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, he was declared inactive in 10 games, had 2 quarterback pressures and wasn't re-signed at the end of the season.

Personal life

Ogbogu is also the official star and spokesperson of the

Under Armour Under Armour, Inc. is an American sports equipment company that manufactures footwear, sports and casual apparel. Under Armour's global headquarters are located in Baltimore, Maryland, with additional offices located in Amsterdam (European hea ...

brand, and is named "Big E" in the Under Armour commercials, after being hired by founder and former Maryland teammate

Kevin Plank Kevin Audette Plank (born August 13, 1972) is an American billionaire businessman and philanthropist. Plank is the founder and executive chairman of Under Armour, a manufacturer of sportswear, footwear and accessories, based in Baltimore, Maryland ...

. His saying, "We must protect this house!" has been made famous from these advertisements. He was featured as "Big E" on

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to imitate real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" ...

Fight Night Round 3 ''Fight Night Round 3'' is a boxing video game developed by Electronic Arts. It is the sequel to EA Sports' previous boxing title, ''Fight Night Round 2'', which was released in 2005. ''Fight Night Round 3'' was released on February 20, 2006, for ...

''. He also starred in the movie '' The Game Plan'' as the

Drake.

References

External links

For Terrapins' Ogbogu, Football Is Part Of Healing Process
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ogbogu, Eric 1975 births Living people Sportspeople from White Plains, New York Players of American football from Westchester County, New York Nigerian players of American football American sportspeople of Nigerian descent American football defensive ends Maryland Terrapins football players New York Jets players Cincinnati Bengals players Dallas Cowboys players Male actors from New York (state) Archbishop Stepinac High School alumni