Sewo Olonilua (born November 27, 1997) 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 ...

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 ...

who is currently 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 ...

TCU TCU may stand for: Education * Tanzania Commission for Universities, regulatory body for Universities in Tanzania * Texas Christian University, a private university in Fort Worth, Texas ** TCU Horned Frogs, the athletic programs of the school * Tok ...

Early years

Olonilua attended

Kingwood High School Kingwood High School is a Humble Independent School District secondary school located in the Kingwood community of Houston, Texas, United States and serves Portions of Kingwood and Atascocita. Ted Landry had been principal since May 29, 2011 unti ...

. He played as a running back in his four seasons and also started two-ways as an

outside linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

beginning as a junior. As a senior, he registered 1,073 rushing yards (11.4-yard avg.) and 14 touchdowns. He played in the

U.S. Army All-American Bowl The All-American Bowl is a high school football all-star game, held annually at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Typically played in January, the All-American Bowl is played between all-star teams representing the eastern and western United S ...

and received the

Glenn Davis Army Award The Glenn Davis Army Award is given annually to the player of the West team at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, who best epitomizes the US Army's high standards of excellence in community service, education, and athletic excellence. The award i ...

. He was a four-star recruit coming out of high school and committed to play football at

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples ...

, turning down offers from

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

and

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

College career

Olonilua accepted a football scholarship from

(TCU). As a true freshman, he appeared in all 13 games, with his only start coming in the

Liberty Bowl The Liberty Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in late December or early January since 1959. For its first five years, it was played at Philadelphia Municipal Stadium in Philadelphia before being held at Atlantic City ...

. During the season he had 15 carries for 122 rushing yards and one touchdown. As a sophomore, he appeared in all 14 games, making 64 carries for 330 yards, 7 touchdowns, 19 receptions for 166 yards and 5

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

tackles. As a junior, he appeared in all 13 games, leading the team with 135 carries for 635 yards (4.7-yard avg.). He was named the

Cheez-It Bowl The Cheez-It Bowl is an annual college football bowl game that is played in Orlando, Florida, at Camping World Stadium. The bowl is operated by Florida Citrus Sports, a non-profit group which also organizes the Citrus Bowl and the Florida Cla ...

Offensive Most Valuable Player after rushing for a TCU bowl record 194 yards. As a senior, he was third on the team with 537 yards (4.0-yard avg.) and had 8 rushing touchdowns (led the team). He tallied 18 carries for 106 yards and one touchdown against

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Olonilua was signed as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the

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 ...

after the

2020 NFL Draft The 2020 NFL Draft was the 85th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2020 NFL season. The first round was held on April 23, followed by the second and third rounds on April 24. The d ...

on April 27. He was waived on September 5, 2020, and signed to the practice squad the next day. He was elevated to the active roster on November 7 and December 19 for the team's weeks 9 and 15 games 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 ...

and

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 ...

, and reverted to the practice squad after each game. He was promoted to the active roster on December 26, 2020. On August 17, 2021, Olonilua was placed on season-ending injured reserve with a neck injury. On May 4, 2022, he was released after the Cowboys signed fullback

Ryan Nall Ryan Nall (born December 27, 1995) is an American football running back who is a free agent. He played college football at Oregon State. Early years Nall was raised by his mother and father (Teri and Fred) with four siblings (two half-brothers ...

Houston Roughnecks

The

Houston Roughnecks The Houston Roughnecks are a professional American football team based in Houston, Texas. The team is an owned-and-operated member of the new XFL founded by Vince McMahon's Alpha Entertainment and plays its home games at TDECU Stadium. History ...

selected Olonilua in the sixth round of the

2023 XFL Supplemental Draft The 2023 XFL Draft, is the player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams of the 2020 reboot of the XFL, and the second draft in that league's history following the 2020 draft. The draft was held on November 15–17, 2022, with ...

on January 1, 2023. He was no longer listed on the roster after the 2023 season.

References

External links

TCU Horned Frogs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Olonilua, Sewo 1997 births Living people People from Kingwood, Texas Players of American football from Texas American football running backs TCU Horned Frogs football players Dallas Cowboys players Houston Roughnecks players