Ogbonnia "Ogbo" Okoronkwo (born April 24, 1995) 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 end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

for 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 ( ...

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 ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

Early years

Ogbonnia was born in

Gainesville, Florida Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, Alachua County, Florida, and the largest city in North Central Florida, with a population of 141,085 in 2020. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, Florida, Gaine ...

. He is of

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 ...

n descent.

College career

As a junior in 2016, Okoronkwo had 71 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, and nine sacks. As a senior in 2017, he won the

Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Coaches of the Big 12 Conference bestow the following individual awards at the end of each football season. Offensive Player of the Year * 1996: Troy Davis, RB, Iowa State * 1997: Ricky Williams, RB, Texas * 1998: Ricky Williams, RB, Texas * 1999: ...

and was named an All-American while recording 75 tackles, 17 tackles for loss, and eight sacks.

Professional career

Los Angeles Rams

Okoronkwo was drafted by 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 ...

in the fifth round (160th overall) in the

2018 NFL Draft The 2018 NFL Draft was the 83rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2018 NFL season. The draft was held on April 26–28 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas; it was the first draft ...

. He was placed on the physically unable to perform list to start the 2018 season due to foot surgery he had in May. He was activated off PUP on November 5, 2018. On October 20, 2020, Okoronkwo 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 ...

after suffering an elbow injury. He was activated on December 5, 2020. On September 2, 2021, Okoronkwo was placed on injured reserve. He was activated on October 2. Okoronkwo won the

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

when the Rams defeated 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 ...

23-20.

Houston Texans

On March 23, 2022, Okoronkwo signed a one-year contract with 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 ...

Cleveland Browns

On March 15, 2023, Okoronkwo signed a three-year, $19 million contract with the

References

External links

Oklahoma Sooners bio Ogbonnia Okoronkwo
on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Okoronkwo, Ogbonnia 1995 births Living people American sportspeople of Nigerian descent Players of American football from Houston Nigerian players of American football American football linebackers American football defensive ends Oklahoma Sooners football players All-American college football players Los Angeles Rams players Players of American football from Gainesville, Florida Houston Texans players Cleveland Browns players