Hakeem Adeniji (born December 8, 1997) is an

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 ...

offensive tackle 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 inj ...

for 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 ...

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 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 ...

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

. At Kansas, he was a two-time All-Big 12 selection, making the 1st team in 2019 and 2nd team in 2018. He was drafted in the sixth round (180th overall selection) of the

2020 NFL Draft The 2020 NFL Draft was the 85th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2020 NFL season. The first round was held on April 23, followed by the second and third rounds on April 24. The d ...

by the Bengals.

High school

Adeniji attended high school at

Garland High School Garland High School is a high school located in Garland, Texas, which serves grades 9-12. It is a part of the Garland Independent School District. The school is a member of the AP program, the IB program, and is known for its football team, the ...

in Texas. In high school, he had committed to play at the

United States Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academy in El Paso County, Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs. It educates cadets for service in the officer corps of the United States Air Force and Uni ...

. However, he failed to receive a medical waiver to attend due to an allergy to

cashew The cashew tree (''Anacardium occidentale'') is a tropical evergreen tree native to South America in the genus ''Anacardium'' that produces the cashew seed and the cashew apple accessory fruit. The tree can grow as tall as , but the dwarf cult ...

s. After failing to receive the waiver, he committed to the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

College career

As a freshman, Adeniji became a starter at tackle immediately, starting all twelve games. Throughout his college career, Adeniji showed durability, not missing a single game due to injury. By the end of his senior year, he had been on the roster for 48 games and started in all of them. In his junior and senior years, he helped pave the way for running back

Pooka Williams Jr. Anthony "Pooka" Williams Jr. (born June 19, 1999) is an American football running back for the San Antonio Brahmas of the United Football League (2024), United Football League (UFL). He played college football at Kansas Jayhawks football, Kansas ...

to rush for over 1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons. For his efforts, he was named 2nd team All-Big 12 as a junior and 1st team as a senior.

Professional career

NFL Draft

Adeniji was invited to the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine. Although he played tackle at Kansas, NFL Analyst Lance Zierlein said he believed Adeniji may have to move to guard in the NFL.

2020

Adeniji was drafted by the

with the 180th overall selection in the sixth round of the

. In week 8 of the 2020 season, he recorded his first career start at tackle. He helped the Bengals, who had allowed 28 sacks through 7 games, allow zero sacks in the game for the first time all season. He finished his rookie season with five starts and played in fifteen games.

2021

Adeniji tore his pectoral muscle during offseason workouts and had season ending surgery to repair it in June 2021. He was placed on the reserve/non-football injury list following the preseason. He was activated on November 4, 2021. In his first game back from injury, he made his sixth career start 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 ( ...

. He finished the season starting in and playing in nine games. He also got the start for the Bengals in their postseason victory over the

Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West divis ...

, which was the Bengals first playoff win in 31 years.

Personal life

His mother, Joke, was a television anchor in

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 ...

before the family moved to the

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

area. His brother, Moshood, played offensive line at

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

References

External links

Kansas Profile

Bengals profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adeniji, Hakeem 1997 births Living people African-American players of American football Players of American football from Texas People from Garland, Texas Sportspeople from the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex American football offensive tackles Kansas Jayhawks football players Cincinnati Bengals players American sportspeople of Nigerian descent 21st-century African-American sportspeople