Onochie Quincy Enunwa (born May 31, 1992) is a 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 wi ...

wide receiver. He played college football at

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

, and he was drafted by the New York Jets in the sixth round of the 2014 NFL Draft.

Early years

Enunwa attended Rancho Verde High School in Moreno Valley, California. He was selected All-Inland Valley League first-team in high school. He played football and ran track. As a senior, he caught 40 passes for more than 600 yards and 15 touchdowns. He was selected and played in the Inland Empire All-Star Game while in high school. In addition to football, he competed as a jumper on the school's

track & 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 eve ...

team. He finished sixth in the

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to the long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down th ...

at the 2009 CIF-Southern Meet, setting a personal-best leap of 13.79 meters. He won the high jump at the 2010 Rancho Verde Relays of Champions, with a career-best jump of 2.06 meters.

College career

Enunwa was named to the Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll in his junior season. He was selected as the 2014 TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl MVP and was also the Nebraska Offensive MVP in his senior season. In the 2013 season, Enunwa broke Heisman Trophy winner

Johnny Rodgers Johnny Steven Rodgers (born July 5, 1951) is an American former football player. He played college football for the Nebraska Cornhuskers and won the Heisman Trophy in 1972. Rodgers played professionally in the Canadian Football League (CFL) ...

's school record for most touchdown receptions in a season, catching 12 touchdowns in his senior year. At the 2014 TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl, Enunwa broke the Nebraska school record for longest reception, by scoring a touchdown on a 99-yard reception from quarterback

Tommy Armstrong Jr. Tommy Armstrong Jr. (born November 8, 1993) is an American football quarterback for Omaha Beef of the Continental Indoor Football League (IFL). He played college football as a quarterback for Nebraska. Early years Armstrong was born in Gulfpor ...

in the third quarter. His 12 receiving touchdowns in 2013 led the Big Ten. In his time with Nebraska, Enunwa recorded 115 receptions for 1,526 receiving yards and 15 receiving touchdowns in four years.

Collegiate statistics

Professional career

The New York Jets selected Enunwa in the sixth round (209th overall) of the 2014 NFL Draft on May 10, 2014. On May 15, 2014, the New York Jets signed Enunwa to a four-year, $2.29 million

contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...

that includes a signing bonus of $78,680. He was released by the team on September 1, 2014 and signed to the team's practice squad a day later. Enunwa was promoted to the active roster on December 27, 2014. During his rookie year in 2014, Enunwa played in only one game, which was in Week 17 against the

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 p ...

, and played mainly on special teams. On October 19, 2015, Enunwa was suspended for four games of the 2015 season without pay due to violating the NFL Personal Conduct Policy. On November 21, Enunwa was re-activated from his suspension. During the 2015 season, he played in 12 games and recorded 315 receiving yards. With the Jets being short-handed on

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Lik ...

s in 2016, the team announced that Enunwa would be the slot receiver and an end-around sweep specialist. In 2016, Enunwa has had a breakout year filling in for the injured wide receiver

Eric Decker Eric Thomas Decker (born March 15, 1987) is a former American football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons. He played college football and college baseball at the University of Minnesota, and was dr ...

, coming second in receptions, yards, and touchdown receptions on the team. Enunwa posted a quality performance on ''

Thursday Night Football ''Thursday Night Football'' (often abbreviated as ''TNF'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that broadcast primarily on Thursday nights. Most of the games kick off at 8:15 Eastern Time (8:20 prior to 20 ...

'' in Week 2 against the Buffalo Bills on September 15, 2016, when he had six receptions for 92 yards in the 37–31 victory. Enunwa had a great third season, having totals of 58 catches, 857 yards, and four touchdowns. On August 7, 2017, Enunwa was placed on injured reserve with a neck injury. It was eventually revealed that Enunwa was diagnosed with bulging discs in his neck, and that aftermath of surgery could require from six to nine months to recover. Enunwa returned healthy in 2018, recording 38 receptions for 449 yards and one touchdown. He was placed on injured reserve on December 29, 2018. On December 28, 2018, Enunwa signed a four-year, $36 million contract extension with the Jets through the 2022 season. On September 11, 2019, it was announced that Enunwa would miss the remainder of the season after suffering a neck injury in the first quarter of the Jets' season-opening loss to the Buffalo Bills. On May 5, 2020, the Jets announced that Enunwa would miss the entire 2020 season and was placed on the reserve/

physically unable to perform Physically unable to perform (PUP) is a roster designation used in the National Football League (NFL) for players who suffered injuries during football-related activities prior to the start of training camp. Players on the PUP list may participate ...

(PUP) list. He was released from the reserve/PUP list with a failed physical designation on August 3, 2020.

References

External links

Nebraska Cornhuskers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Enunwa, Quincy 1992 births Living people American football wide receivers American sportspeople of Nigerian descent Nebraska Cornhuskers football players New York Jets players People from Moreno Valley, California Players of American football from California Sportspeople from Riverside County, California Ed Block Courage Award recipients