Henry-William Obiajulu Melifonwu (born April 5, 1994) 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 ...

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

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 ...

UConn The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Ha ...

. He was selected in the second round of the

2017 NFL Draft The 2017 NFL Draft was the 82nd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It was held in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 27–29, returning to Philadelphia f ...

by 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 ...

Early years

Henry William Obiajulu Melifonwu was born in London on April 5, 1994. His parents are Igbo Nigerians who moved to England. At age 3, Melifonwu's family moved to the USA. His middle name, Obiajulu, means 'consoled heart'. He has one older brother Michael, a sister, and two younger brothers, Nonso and Ifeatu. Melifonwu attended Grafton High School in

Grafton, Massachusetts Grafton is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 19,664 at the 2020 census. The town consists of the North Grafton, Grafton, and South Grafton geographic areas, each with a separate ZIP Code. Incorporated in ...

. He played defensive back,

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

and

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

. As a senior, he rushed for 1,394 yards with 17 touchdowns. Melifonwu committed to the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Hart ...

to play college football.

College career

Melifonwu redshirted his first year at Connecticut in 2012. As a redshirt freshman in 2013, he started all 12 games and had 70 tackles and two

interceptions In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...

. As a redshirt sophomore in 2014, he started 11 games, recording 75 tackles. As a redshirt junior in 2015, he started 12 of 13 games and had 88 tackles and two interceptions. As a senior in 2016, he started all 13 games and recorded 118 tackles and four interceptions.

Professional career

Melifonwu received an invitation to the

Senior Bowl The Senior Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game played annually in late January or early February in Mobile, Alabama, which showcases the best NFL Draft prospects of those players who have completed their college eligibility. Pr ...

and made three combined tackles as a part of the North who lost 16-15 to the South. He was able to raise his draft stock after performing well during the Senior Bowl practices. Melifonwu attended the NFL Combine and completed the majority of combine and positional drills, but decided to skip the three-cone drill and short shuttle. He had impressive performances in the vertical jump, broad jump, and 40-yard dash that further raised his draft stock. He also participated at Connecticut's Pro Day and completed the short shuttle, three-cone drill, and positional drills in front of 25 NFL scouts from 20 NFL teams. His numbers in the short shuttle and three-cone drill would've ranked second among all positions if he would've posted those times at the NFL Combine. He had private workouts and visits with 11 NFL teams, including the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

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 ( ...

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

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 ...

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

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 ...

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 ...

, and

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

. NFL draft experts and analysts projected him to be a second round pick. He was ranked the fourth best strong safety in the draft by NFLDraftScout.com, the fourth best safety by NFL analysts Mike Mayock and

Bucky Brooks William Eldridge "Bucky" Brooks Jr. (born January 22, 1971) is a sportswriter and former professional American football player. He played for five National Football League (NFL) teams in a five-year career, primarily as a kick returner. Brooks i ...

, was ranked the fifth best safety by

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

, and was ranked the sixth best safety by ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

''.

Oakland Raiders

The

selected Melifonwu in the second round (56th overall) of the

. He was placed on injured reserve on September 5, 2017, with eligibility to return in 2017. He was activated from injured reserve to the active roster on November 4, 2017. He was placed back on injured reserve on December 15, 2017 after having hip surgery. On August 23, 2018, Melifonwu was waived/injured by the Raiders. He was placed on injured reserve the next day after clearing waivers. He was released on October 23, 2018.

New England Patriots

On November 5, 2018, Melifonwu signed a two-year contract with the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

. Melifonwu appeared in 2 games for the Patriots, recording 3 tackles. Melifonwu and the Patriots eventually reached

Super Bowl LIII Super Bowl LIII was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2018 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots defeated the National Football Confe ...

where they beat 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 ...

13-3. On September 9, 2019, Melifonwu was waived by the Patriots and re-signed to the practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Patriots on January 6, 2020. On April 27, 2020, Melifonwu was released by the Patriots.

San Francisco 49ers

On January 4, 2021, Melifonwu signed a reserve/future contract with the

. He was waived on April 29, 2021.

Philadelphia Eagles

On July 29, 2021, the

signed Melifonwu. He was waived/injured on August 9, 2021 and placed on injured reserve. He was released on September 14, 2021.

Tampa Bay Bandits

Melifonwu was drafted by the

Tampa Bay Bandits The Tampa Bay Bandits were a professional American football team in the United States Football League (USFL) which was based in Tampa, Florida. The Bandits were a charter member of the USFL and was the only franchise to have the same principal o ...

in the 18th round of the

2022 USFL Draft The 2022 USFL Draft, also known as the 2022 USFL Player Selection Meeting, was the player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams for the 2022 USFL season. The draft was held on February 22–23, 2022, with results released throug ...

. He was transferred to the team's inactive roster on May 6, 2022, with a thigh injury. He was moved back to the active roster on May 11.

St. Louis BattleHawks

On February 4, 2023, Melifonwu was signed by the St. Louis BattleHawks. He was released on February 9, 2023.

Personal life

His younger brother, Ifeatu Melifonwu, played college football at

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

and was selected by the

in the 3rd 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 ...

References

External links

Connecticut Huskies bioNew England Patriots bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Melifonwu, Obi 1994 births Living people English players of American football People from Grafton, Massachusetts Sportspeople from Worcester County, Massachusetts Igbo sportspeople English people of Igbo descent American people of Igbo descent Players of American football from Massachusetts American football safeties UConn Huskies football players Oakland Raiders players New England Patriots players San Francisco 49ers players Philadelphia Eagles players Tampa Bay Bandits (2022) players