Kelechi Keith Ayo Osemele (; ;Zrebiec, Jeff. "Ravens rookie offensive lineman Kelechi Osemele credits a complicated past with opening up his future," ''The Baltimore Sun'', Saturday, August 25, 2012.
/ref> born June 24, 1989) 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 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 ...

who is a free agent. He played college football at Iowa State. He was selected by the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays it ...

in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft, and was a

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

starter throughout the team's

Super Bowl XLVII Super Bowl XLVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Baltimore Ravens and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

championship run that season.

Early years

Of Nigerian descent, his name Kelechi means "Thank God" in the

Igbo language Igbo ( , ; Igbo: ''Ásụ̀sụ́ Ìgbò'' ) is the principal native language cluster of the Igbo people, a meta-ethnicity from Southeastern Nigeria. The number of Igboid languages depends on how one classifies a language versus a dialect, so ...

. Osemele was born and raised in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

, where he attended

Langham Creek High School Langham Creek High School is a high school located in an unincorporated area in Harris County, Texas, United States, near Houston. Langham Creek, which was established in 1984, is part of the Cypress Fairbanks Independent School District. Severa ...

College career

Osemele attended and played college football at Iowa State. Entering his senior season at Iowa State in 2011, Osemele had started 30 consecutive games. He was a second-team all

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its f ...

selection in 2009 and an honorable mention in 2010.

Professional career

Baltimore Ravens

Kelechi Osemele Ravens Stadium Practice 2013

Osemele was selected in the second round with 60th overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft by the

. He started at right tackle in every Ravens game during his rookie season. He replaced the injured Jah Reid at left guard for the Ravens' playoff run. This, along with the insertion of Bryant McKinnie at left tackle and the move of

Michael Oher Michael Jerome Oher (; né Williams Jr.; born May 28, 1986) is a former American football offensive tackle who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons, primarily with the Baltimore Ravens. He played college football at t ...

to right tackle, solidified the offensive line. With the Ravens finishing 10–6, the team won the AFC North pennant and eventually won

over the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

, making Osemele's rookie year successful giving him his first championship title. On November 1, 2013, it was announced Osemele would have back surgery. After playing seven games, he would finish the rest of the 2013 season on injured reserve. Osemele successfully recovered from back surgery and started all but two games for the Ravens in the 2014 season.

Oakland Raiders

Osemele signed a five-year, $60 million contract with the Oakland Raiders on March 10, 2016. He was selected to his first Pro Bowl for the 2016 season along with fellow Raider offensive linemen Donald Penn and Rodney Hudson. He was also named First-team

All-Pro All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list t ...

. He was also ranked 95th on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2017. On December 19, 2017, Osemele was named to his second Pro Bowl along with fellow Raider offensive linemen Donald Penn and Rodney Hudson for the second straight year. As of October 2018, he was the second-highest paid left guard in the NFL in average salary at $11.7 million, behind the Jaguars'

Andrew Norwell Andrew Norwell (born October 25, 1991) is an American football guard for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Ohio State and was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Carolina Panthers ...

($13.3 million) and ahead of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Ali Marpet ($10.825 million).

New York Jets

On March 10, 2019, the Raiders agreed to trade Osemele and a 2019 sixth round draft pick (originally acquired from the Chicago Bears) to the New York Jets in exchange for a fifth round pick. The deal was completed on March 14, 2019. On October 15, 2019, it was revealed that Osemele suffered a shoulder injury and was contemplating surgery. Osemele’s doctors told him that he needed surgery for his injury but the Jets disagreed and did not believe that Osemele needed surgery. Osemele was fined for every practice that he missed due to his injury. On October 26, 2019, Osemele was released from the team after undergoing shoulder surgery.

Kansas City Chiefs

On July 27, 2020, Osemele signed a one-year deal with the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The ...

. He started the first five games at left guard before suffering torn tendons in both his knees in Week 5. He was placed on injured reserve on October 17, 2020.

References

External links

*
NFL Combine bio

Kansas City Chiefs bio

Oakland Raiders bio

Baltimore Ravens bio

Iowa State Cyclones bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Osemele, Kelechi 1989 births Living people American people of Igbo descent American sportspeople of Nigerian descent Igbo sportspeople Players of American football from Houston American football offensive guards American football offensive tackles Iowa State Cyclones football players Baltimore Ravens players Oakland Raiders players New York Jets players American Conference Pro Bowl players Kansas City Chiefs players