Levi Onwuzurike (born March 2, 1998) 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 ...

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

for the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

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 ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, and was selected by the Lions in the second round of the

2021 NFL Draft The 2021 NFL Draft was the 86th National Football League Draft, the annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2021 NFL season. The draft was held in Cleveland from April 29 to May 1, 2021 ...

Early years

Onwuzurike grew up in

Allen, Texas Allen is a city in Collin County in the U.S. state of Texas, and a northern suburb of Dallas. According to the 2020 U.S. census its population was 104,627, up from 84,246 in 2010. Allen is located approximately twenty miles (32.2 km) nort ...

, and attended Allen High School. As a senior, he was named the District 6-6A Defensive MVP and ''

The Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the '' Galvest ...

'' All-Area Defensive Player of the Year after finishing the year with 53 tackles and 8.5 sacks. Onwuzurike committed to play

over offers from Baylor,

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

and

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

College career

Onwuzurike redshirted his true freshman season. As a redshirt freshman, he recorded 16 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and two sacks. Onwuzurike played in all 14 of the Huskies games with four starts in his redshirt sophomore season and finished the year with 34 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and three sacks. He was named first-team All-Pac-12 Conference as a redshirt junior after recording 45 tackles, six tackles for loss, and two sacks with a blocked kick on special teams. In September 2020, Onwuzurike announced he was opting out of the season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

and would prepare for the

Professional career

Onwuzurike was drafted 41st overall by the

in the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft. He signed his four-year rookie contract on June 17, 2021, worth $8.14 million. On September 10, 2022, Onwuzurike was placed on

injured reserve 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 ...

with a back injury. During the Lions' bye week in week 6, Onwuzurike underwent season-ending back surgery.

Personal life

Onwuzurike's parents immigrated from

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 ...

References

External links

Detroit Lions bio

Washington Huskies bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Onwuzurike, Levi 1998 births Living people Players of American football from Allen, Texas American football defensive tackles Washington Huskies football players Detroit Lions players American sportspeople of Nigerian descent