Rome Odunze (born June 3, 2002) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

wide receiver for 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 ...

of the National Football League (NFL). He played

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for the Washington Huskies, where he was a consensus All-American and runner-up for the national championship in 2023. Odunze was selected by the Bears ninth overall in the 2024 NFL draft.

Early life and high school

Odunze was born on June 3, 2002, in Orem, Utah, later moving to Las Vegas, Nevada, when he was three. He attended Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, where he was named the state's

Gatorade Football Player of the Year The Gatorade Player of the Year awards are given annually to up and coming high school student-athletes in the United States. They are given for boys' baseball, boys' and girls' basketball, boys' and girls' cross country, boys' football, boys' a ...

as a senior in 2019 after recording 54 catches for 1,222 yards and 15 touchdowns. For his career, he had 121 receptions for 2,699 yards and 31 touchdowns. Odunze committed to the University of Washington to play college football.

College career

As a true freshman at Washington in 2020, Odunze played in four games and had six receptions for 72 yards. As a sophomore in 2021, he started seven of nine games, recording 41 receptions for 415 yards and four touchdowns. He returned to Washington as a starter in 2022. As a junior in 2022, Odunze led the team in receiving yards with 1,145, the fifth-most in single-season history for Washington. He had six games going over the 100-yard mark and three games going over 150 yards. He also led the Pac-12 in receiving yards and was second in receptions per game. On September 30, 2023, Odunze recovered an onside kick from University of Arizona kicker Tyler Loop and absorbed a hit from safety Dalton Johnson. He revealed later that season that he had suffered a broken rib and punctured lung on the play then played with these ailments during the season. Odunze played in all 15 games, which included two playoff games, and recorded 92 receptions for 1,640 yards and 13 touchdowns. He had ten games with over 100 receiving yards on the season. He led the NCAA in receiving yards and the Pac-12 in receptions for 2023. He was a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award. Odunze declared for the 2024 NFL draft following Washington's loss in the

2024 College Football Playoff National Championship The 2024 College Football Playoff National Championship is a college football bowl game that is scheduled to be played on January 8th, 2024, at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. It will be the tenth and final College Football Playoff National Cha ...

Professional career

Odunze was selected by the

ninth overall in the 2024 NFL draft. On July 16, 2024, Odunze signed his four-year rookie contract with the Bears worth $22.7 million. Odunze scored his first career touchdown with a 1 yard receiving touchdown against the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

. In that game, Odunze caught 6 passes for 112 yards and a TD in the Bears' 21–16 loss.

NFL career statistics

References

External links

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Chicago Bears bio

Washington Huskies bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Odunze, Rome 2002 births All-American college football players American football wide receivers Bishop Gorman High School alumni Chicago Bears players Living people Players of American football from Las Vegas Players of American football from Utah County, Utah Washington Huskies football players