Onome Johnson Ojo (born June 3, 1977) is a Nigerian 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 with ...

wide receiver in 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 also played in

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

. Ojo played college football at

UC Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...

Early life and education

Onome Ojo was born on June 3, 1977, in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

, to Nigerian parents. His name means "gift from God" in Nigerian. He attended

The Urban School of San Francisco Urban School of San Francisco is an independent coeducational high school located in the Haight-Ashbury district in San Francisco, California. History Urban was founded in 1966 by a group of Marin Country Day School parents. Urban has grown fro ...

before going to college at

. He played tennis, basketball, and soccer in high school. He didn't play football until after two years of college, when Ojo told coach

Bob Biggs George Robert Biggs (born February 20, 1951) is a former American football player and coach. He played college football for UC Davis and was selected by the Associated Press as the first-team quarterback on the 1972 Little All-America college foo ...

that he was interested in playing football. “When Onome first came in the office I thought he was a basketball player and was lost,” the coach said, “Then he said he was interested in playing football. I thought he was a JC kid, so I asked him where he played. He said he had never played.” During practice, Biggs said that Ojo was "a pretty impressive athlete" but was far from being a player. “He didn’t know a Go route from an Out route. He was the rawest football player I have ever seen.” Biggs said “But you could see there was something special. Plus, Onome is a very bright young man with a tremendous work ethic. He has developed his skills now to where he can catch the ball, run the routes. What he lacks is instincts, the things a lot of kids learn because they have been playing so long." He appeared in five games during the season, but failed to catch as pass. The next season, he caught 18 passes for 366 yards and two touchdowns, including one of 86 yards. He caught 33 passes in his senior year, gaining 865 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Professional career

In a pre-draft workout in front of

(NFL) teams, only one team showed up, the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

. They would be the team to draft him, selecting him with the 153rd pick of the

2001 NFL Draft The 2001 NFL Draft was the 66th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft, which is officially referred to as the "NFL Player Selection Meeting," was held at the ...

. He was signed on July 17. He spent time on the practice squad and inactive list for the Saints in 2001, and did not make any appearances. The following season he was sent to the

Rhein Fire Rhein may refer to: Places * Rhine, a major river in Europe (german: Rhein, link=no) * Rhein, a village in the municipality of Morsbach in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany * Rhein (Ostpreussen), a former name of the town Ryn in Poland Ships * SM ...

. He played in eight games with them, catching 11 passes for 111 yards and one touchdown. He was released by the Saints in 2002 at roster cuts. After being released he was signed by the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

to the practice squad. He was later placed on injured reserve. Ojo won a

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ring Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...

after the Buccaneers defeated the

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 ...

Super Bowl XXXVII Super Bowl XXXVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Oakland Raiders and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers to decide the National Football League (NFL) cham ...

. He was released the next season. He was then signed by the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

, but released shortly afterwards.

Later life

After his sports career he became a police officer in

Richmond, California Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was municipal corporation, incorporated on August 7, 1905, and has a Richmond, California City Council, city council.

References

External links

Ex-NFL player Ojo helps organize local health and fitness festival
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ojo, Onome 1977 births Living people Players of American football from San Francisco Players of American football from San Jose, California American sportspeople of Nigerian descent UC Davis Aggies football players New Orleans Saints players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Rhein Fire players San Diego Chargers players