Patrick C. Chukwurah (born March 1, 1979) 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 ...

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 ...

. He was drafted by the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

in the fifth round 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 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 ...

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

. Chukwurah has also been a member of 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 ...

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

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 ...

Florida Tuskers Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to th ...

, and the

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 ...

College career

Chukwurah went to the University of Wyoming. He was a three-year starter there and played in 45 career games while racking up 245 tackles and 27 sacks. As a senior, he earned first team All-Mountain West Conference honors, recording 100 tackles and seven sacks. He was UW's defensive captain his senior year. As a junior, he was a second team all-conference selection and earned defensive MVP honors. He ranks 11th on UW's tackles list.

Professional career

Minnesota Vikings

He was drafted with the 26th pick of the 5th round in the 2001 NFL draft by the

. On June 18, he signed a 3-year contract with the Minnesota Vikings. During the 2001 season, he played in all 16 games, starting 3 of them, while recording 9 tackles and 2½ sacks. He made his NFL debut on September 9, 2001 against the

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 ...

, recording 4 tackles and becoming the first Viking rookie linebacker to start a game since

Dwayne Rudd Dwayne Rudd (born February 3, 1976) is a retired American football linebacker who played in the National Football League. He was drafted in the first round of the 1997 NFL Draft. During his career he played for the Minnesota Vikings, the Clevela ...

did it in 1997 and the first to start the opener since

Roy Winston Roy Charles Winston (September 15, 1940 – March 5, 2022) was an American professional football player. He played 15 seasons as a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Minnesota Vikings. Winston graduated from Louisiana St ...

did it back in 1962. On November 19, he started his second career game against the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

recording his first career sack, sacking quarterback

Kerry Collins Kerry Michael Collins (born December 30, 1972) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons. Collins was a member of six NFL teams, most notably the Carolina Panthers, New York Giants, ...

for a 14-yard loss. That game, he started at defensive end. On December 16, Chukwurah recorded a career high 1½ sacks against the Detroit Lions. In 2002, Patrick Chukwurah played in 11 games, starting two of them. He recorded a career high 14 tackles, recording 12 of them on special teams. At the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

on September 8, 2002, he recorded 4 tackles, and on October 13, he recorded a career high 7 tackles against the

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 ...

. On February 27, 2003, he was cut by the Vikings.

Houston Texans

On March 1, 2003, Chukwurah was acquired from waivers. During the training camp prior to the 2003 season, Patrick Chukwurah tried out for the

, however got cut at the final cutdown on September 1.

Denver Broncos

On December 24, 2003, he signed with the Denver Broncos, but was only on the 53-man roster for 2 days, and was released on December 26. He re-signed with the Broncos on January 13, 2004 after the season ended. During the 2004 season, he played in 14 games recording only 4 tackles appearing primarily as a defensive end on passing downs. In 2005, he once again played in 14 games recording 9 tackles, two on defense and seven on special teams. He played in both postseason games that year, recording a special teams tackle against 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 ...

on January 14, and played against the

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 ...

in the AFC Championship game on January 22. On April 3, 2006, he re-signed with the Denver Broncos. During the 2006 season, Chukwurah converted to defensive end. He made his first career start at defensive end in week 1 against the St. Louis Rams.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

On March 2, 2007, the first day of free agency, the Bucs signed Chukwurah to a five-year, $5.5 million contract. They released him after only one season with the Bucs on June 19, 2008. He later re-signed with them on August 27, 2008, but was released again on August 30. He was re-signed to the Bucs roster on December 17, 2008.

Florida Tuskers

Chukwurah was signed by the

of the United Football League on August 25, 2009. In the league's first

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

, Chukwurah led the league in sacks.

Seattle Seahawks

Chukwurah was signed by the

on January 8, 2013.

Career statistics

References

External links

Just Sports Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chukwurah, Patrick 1979 births Living people Nigerian players of American football American football defensive ends American football linebackers Wyoming Cowboys football players Minnesota Vikings players Houston Texans players Denver Broncos players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Florida Tuskers players Seattle Seahawks players