Ifomeno "Ifo" Ekpre-Olomu ( ; born July 10, 1993) 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 wi ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

. He was drafted by the

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in the seventh round of the 2015 NFL Draft. He played college football for the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

Early years

Ekpre-Olomu, who is of

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

descent, attended

Chino Hills High School Chino Hills High School, abbreviated CHHS, is located in Chino Hills, California, United States and is a public comprehensive high school serving a student body from three cities in the Chino Valley Unified School District. The school was establ ...

Chino Hills, California Chino Hills (''Chino'', Spanish for "Curly") is a city located in the southwestern corner of San Bernardino County, California, United States. The city borders Los Angeles County on its northwest side, Orange County to its south and southwest ...

and played both

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 handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

and defensive back. He was named to the 2010 California All-State Defensive first-team, All-Southern Section Defensive first-team and was the Sierra League MVP. Considered a four-star recruit by

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, Ekpre-Olomu was listed as the No. 17 cornerback in the nation in 2011.

College career

Over the course of three seasons at

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

, Ekpre-Olomu helped the Ducks to a 35–5 record with three consecutive post-season bowl victories. He was praised by Duck's longtime secondary coach John Neal as, "(...) the best player I've ever coached.” Despite being projected as a late first-round draft selection in the 2014 NFL Draft, Ekpre-Olomu decided to return for his senior season at the University of Oregon to complete his degree in general social science. As a

true freshman Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

in 2011, Ekpre-Olomu played in all 14 games while recording 34 tackles for the Ducks. He was named to the first-team All-Pac-12 and third-team All-American by the

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as a sophomore in 2012 after starting 13 games and recording 59 tackles with four interceptions. As a

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

in 2013, Ekpre-Olomu was named first-team All-Pac-12 for the second consecutive year while also earning first-team all-America status from ESPN and was a second-team all-America according to no less than four organizations, including the prestigious

Walter Camp Football Foundation The Walter Camp Football Foundation (WCFF) is one of the organizations whose College Football All-America Team is recognized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The organization also presents various awards. It is named in honor of foo ...

. Starting in all 13 games, he recorded 84 tackles with three interceptions. The 2014 season featured #3 Oregon against #7 Michigan State in a highly anticipated game considered to be the best non-conference match-up of the season. Oregon's win over #7 Michigan State was sealed after a game-changing interception by Ekpre-Olomu. Later in the year, Ekpre-Olomu sustained a knee injury which ended his season prior to the

2015 Rose Bowl The 2015 Rose Bowl (officially known as the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual) was a college football bowl game played on January 1, 2015, at the Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena, California. ...

, in which Oregon received the second seed for the new

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called Ekpre-Olomu the best cornerback in the

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Professional career

NFL draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. of

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rated Ekpre-Olomu as the top senior cornerback available in the 2015 NFL draft. However, an anterior cruciate ligament injury (ACL) he suffered in December 2014 during practice left many teams no longer interested in him. Ekpre-Olomu later revealed that he had also dislocated his knee. He underwent two major reconstructive surgeries, with his ACL reconstruction being much more extensive than usual. An insurance policy taken out by his family through International Specialty Insurance disability insurance program paid him $3 million.

Cleveland Browns

Ekpre-Olomu was picked by the Cleveland Browns in the seventh round of the 2015 NFL Draft. He was the 241st player picked overall. His injury meant that he fell at least four rounds during the draft. On May 13, 2015, Ekpre-Olomu signed a four-year, $2.337 million with the Browns. His contract includes a $57,300 signing bonus. On July 28, 2015, the Browns said Ekpre-Olomu would sit out the entire 2015 season so that he could continue to recover from his knee surgery. Head coach

Mike Pettine Michael Mark Pettine (born September 25, 1966) is an American football coach who currently is an assistant head coach for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League. He was the head coach of the Cleveland Browns from 2014 to 2015, an ...

said the team knew Ekpre-Olomu was unlikely to play when they drafted him. Ekpre-Olomu was waived by the

on April 2, 2016.

Miami Dolphins

On April 5, 2016, Ekpre-Olomu was claimed off waivers by 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 p ...

. The Dolphins waived him on August 7, 2016 and placed him on injured reserve after he injured his other knee. On February 16, 2017, Ekpre-Olomu was released by the Dolphins.

Personal life

His parents Joshua and Queen Ekpre-Olomu are

, and his birth name of Ifomeno means "something that fits you well."

References

External links

Oregon Ducks bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ekpre-Olomu, Ifo 1993 births Living people People from Chino Hills, California Players of American football from San Bernardino County, California American football cornerbacks American sportspeople of Nigerian descent Oregon Ducks football players All-American college football players Cleveland Browns players Miami Dolphins players Chino Hills High School alumni