Oday Aboushi (born June 5, 1991) is a Palestinian-American American football offensive guard who is a free agent. 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 ...

at Virginia and was selected by 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 ...

in the fifth round of the

2013 NFL Draft The 2013 NFL Draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in ...

. He has also played for the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

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 ...

and Los Angeles Chargers.

Early years

Aboushi was born in Brooklyn, New York. He attended Xaverian High School in Brooklyn, where he was a member of the Xaverian high school football team.

College career

Aboushi attended the University of Virginia, where he played for the Virginia Cavaliers football team from 2009 to 2012. During his college career, he started 37 of 43 games in which he appeared. As a senior in 2012, he was a first-team All-

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

(ACC) selection.

Professional career

New York Jets

The

selected Aboushi in the fifth round, with the 141st overall pick, of the

. The Jets signed him to a four-year rookie contract on May 10, 2013; financial terms were not disclosed. Aboushi was inactive in 2013 for all 16 regular season games with the Jets. In 2014, he started 10 games after the starter was injured. Aboushi was suspended without pay (about $34,400) for the first game of the 2015 season for violating the NFL Policy and Program for Substances of Abuse, in August 2015. Aboushi was released by the Jets on September 15, 2015, one day after his suspension for violating the NFL's

substance abuse Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods which are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder. Differing definitions of drug abuse are used in public health, ...

policy ended.

Houston Texans

The

claimed Aboushi off of waivers on September 16, 2015.

Seattle Seahawks

On March 17, 2017, Aboushi signed with the

. He started eight games at right guard before suffering a dislocated shoulder injury in Week 15. He was placed on injured reserve on December 13, 2017.

Oakland Raiders

On July 28, 2018, Aboushi signed with the

reuniting him with his previous year offensive line coach Tom Cable. He was released on September 1, 2018.

Arizona Cardinals

On October 23, 2018, Aboushi signed with the

Detroit Lions

On March 14, 2019, Aboushi signed a one-year, $2 million contract with the

. On March 27, 2020, he re-signed with the Lions. He was released during final roster cuts on September 5, 2020, but re-signed with the team the next day. He was fined $5,221 by the NFL for unnecessary roughness in Week 2.

Los Angeles Chargers

On March 20, 2021, Aboushi signed with the Los Angeles Chargers. He was named the Chargers starting right guard for the 2021 season. However, he suffered a torn ACL in Week 5 and was placed on season-ending injured reserve on October 12, 2021.

Los Angeles Rams

On September 14, 2022, Aboushi signed with the practice squad of the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

. He was promoted to the active roster six days later. He was suspended for one game on December 26, 2022. His suspension was overturned a day later.

Personal life

Aboushi is the ninth of ten children born to Palestinian parents who immigrated to New York from Beit Hanina, a Palestinian neighborhood in

East Jerusalem East Jerusalem (, ; , ) is the sector of Jerusalem that was held by Jordan during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to the western sector of the city, West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel. Jerusalem was envisaged as a separat ...

. He is the brother of civil rights lawyer and Democratic candidate for Manhattan District Attorney

Tahanie Aboushi Tahanie A. Aboushi is a Palestinian-American civil rights lawyer and partner at The Aboushi Law Firm in New York City with two of her siblings. She was a Democratic candidate for Manhattan District Attorney in the June 2021 Democratic primar ...

. He speaks English and Arabic. He is a practicing Muslim, one of few in the NFL. During

Ramadan , type = islam , longtype = Religious , image = Ramadan montage.jpg , caption=From top, left to right: A crescent moon over Sarıçam, Turkey, marking the beginning of the Islamic month of Ramadan. Ramadan Quran reading in Bandar Torkaman, Iran. ...

, which fell during training camp season at Virginia, he fasted from dawn to sunset most days. He was one of about a dozen Muslim athletes honored by the U.S. Department of State for contributions in 2011. He is one of the first Palestinian players in the NFL. On July 12, 2013, the Jewish NGO the

Anti-Defamation League The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is an international Jewish non-governmental organization based in the United States specializing in civil rights law. It was founded in late Septe ...

issued a press release defending Aboushi after an article circulating online claimed he was a 'Muslim extremist'. The ADL defended Aboushi's right to take 'pride in his Palestinian heritage' and emphatically stated that being pro-Palestinian is in no way equivalent to being anti-Semitic or a Muslim extremist.

References

External links

Detroit Lions bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aboushi, Oday Living people 1991 births American football offensive tackles American football offensive guards American people of Palestinian descent American Muslims Sportspeople from Brooklyn Players of American football from New York City Xaverian High School alumni Virginia Cavaliers football players New York Jets players Houston Texans players Seattle Seahawks players Oakland Raiders players Arizona Cardinals players Detroit Lions players Los Angeles Chargers players Los Angeles Rams players