Thomas Ayodele Odukoya (born May 5, 1997) is a Dutch professional

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 ...

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. Like ...

for the Tennessee Titans of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). From the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, 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 ...

at West Hills–Coalinga, Garden City and Eastern Michigan and joined the Titans as part of the

International Player Pathway Program The International Player Pathway Program (IPPP) is a program run by the National Football League (NFL) to increase the number of non-American and Canadian players in the NFL. The program was formed as part of the NFL's strategy to grow globally as ...

(IPPP) in .

Early life

Odukoya was born on May 5, 1997, in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, to a Dutch mother and Nigerian father. He grew up playing

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

(soccer) but left the sport before high school. At age 16, he was brought to a practice of the

Flevo Phantoms Flevo can refer to: *Lake Flevo ('), a former lake (now the Zuiderzee), Netherlands. *Flevoland, a province in the Netherlands *The Flevo Festival, a Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch peopl ...

team and "fell immediately in love" with the sport for what he called "the sheer violence of the game and just the physicality of it." Odukoya played three seasons in two years for the Phantoms, a nine-man team, while attending Helen Parkhurst High School. He normally played for the Phantoms at

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 ...

and

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

. He recorded 22 sacks in one season and was named the Dutch national

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

, also being selected to play for the Netherlands national American football team.

College career

Wanting to play football in the United States, Odukoya looked for opportunities to play

for a year, uploading a

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highlight video of himself and joining a

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group devoted to helping foreign players earn athletic scholarships. He realized he needed to start at a

junior college A junior college (sometimes referred to colloquially as a juco, JuCo or JC) is a post-secondary educational institution offering vocational training designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations and workers in su ...

as he had not taken

SAT The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and scoring have changed several times; originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was later called the Schola ...

or ACT tests. He joined

West Hills College Coalinga West Hills College Coalinga is a public community college in Coalinga, California, with a satellite facility in Firebaugh. Both locations serve students in the central San Joaquin Valley. Established in 1932, West Hills College Coaling is in the ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

for the 2016 season and was transitioned to playing

. He recorded 15 receptions for 184 yards and two

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s, being named all-conference. Odukoya transferred to Garden City Community College in

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

in 2017, but broke his foot in the second game of the season and

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

. He was able to join the FBS

Eastern Michigan Eagles The Eastern Michigan Eagles, formerly known as the Normalites and the Hurons, are the athletic teams for Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States. The Eagles compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) a ...

in 2018 and ended up playing four seasons for them. Mainly used as a blocker, he played eight games for Eastern Michigan in 2018 before appearing in 13 games in 2019, six in 2020, and 13 in his final season, 2021. He was named team

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

as a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

in 2021 and was selected third-team all-conference after posting 13 catches for 130 yards and two touchdowns. Odukoya finished his stint at Eastern Michigan with 40 games played and 21 catches for 194 yards and four touchdowns, being invited to the Hula Bowl all-star game at the conclusion of his college career.

Professional career

After going unselected in the

2022 NFL draft The 2022 NFL Draft was the 87th edition of the National Football League's annual draft and was held from April 28–30, 2022, at the Caesars Forum on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The first round was held on Thursday, April 28, and w ...

, Odukoya joined the Tennessee Titans as part of the

(IPPP). On January 10, 2023, Odukoya signed a reserve/future contract with the Titans. In the 2023 offseason, he received praise from

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

Mike Vrabel saying that they "lucked out" in finding him. On August 29, 2023, he was waived for final roster cuts before the start of the 2023 season, but signed with the

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

the following day. Following the end of the 2023 regular season, the Titans signed him to a reserve/future contract on January 8, 2024.

References

External links

Tennessee Titans bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Odukoya, Thomas 1997 births Living people Dutch players of American football West Hills Falcons football players Garden City Broncbusters football players Eastern Michigan Eagles football players Tennessee Titans players American football tight ends International Player Pathway Program participants