Otito Ogbonnia (born August 25, 2000) 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 ...

nose tackle for the Los Angeles Chargers 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 ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

Early years

Ogbonnia attended

James E. Taylor High School James E. Taylor High School (THS) is a public high school in unincorporated Harris County, Texas, in Greater Katy. The school, in Nottingham Country, which serves grades 9 through 12, is part of Katy Independent School District. Established in ...

in Katy, Texas. He was a two-time all-district selection in football, recording 68 tackles, 24 tackles for loss, five sacks, and two forced fumbles as a senior. He also competed in

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

, winning state titles in both the

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

and the discus throw as a senior. He was also the top-ranked shot putter in the class of 2017.

College career

Ogbonnia won shot put gold medals at the 2019 USATF U20 Outdoor Championships and the

2019 Pan American U20 Athletics Championships The 2019 Pan American U20 Athletics Championships is the 20th edition of the biennial track and field competition for under-20 athletes from the Americas, organised by the Association of Panamerican Athletics The Association of Panamerican Athl ...

Professional career

Ogbonnia was selected by the Los Angeles Chargers in the fifth round (160th overall) of the

2022 NFL Draft The 2022 NFL Draft was the 87th edition of the National Football League's annual draft and was held from April 28–30, 2022, at the Caesars Forum on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The first round was held on Thursday, April 28, and w ...

. He 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 ...

on November 16, 2022, with a ruptured

patellar tendon The patellar tendon is the distal portion of the common tendon of the quadriceps femoris, which is continued from the patella to the tibial tuberosity. It is also sometimes called the patellar ligament as it forms a bone to bone connection when t ...

. Ogbonnia was placed on the reserve/ physically unable to perform list on August 29, 2023. He was activated on November 5.

References

External links

Los Angeles Chargers bio

UCLA Bruins football bio

UCLA Bruins track and field bio
* 2000 births Living people Players of American football from Houston American sportspeople of Nigerian descent American male shot putters American football defensive tackles UCLA Bruins men's track and field athletes UCLA Bruins football players Los Angeles Chargers players {{Defensive-lineman-stub