Seppo Evwaraye (born June 1, 1982) is a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

former

offensive guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict in ...

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 ...

and former general manager and interim head coach of Finnish team

Wasa Royals Wasa may refer to any of the following: *Wasa, British Columbia, a settlement in the East Kootenay region of British Columbia *Wasa Lake, a place in British Columbia, Canada *Wasabröd, a brandname used by the Swedish company AB Wasabröd *IK Wasa, ...

of Maple league. Seppo was first signed by

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. ...

as a free agent in 2006, and also played for

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 expansi ...

as an international practice squad member.

Career

Playing career

Evwaraye started playing football in his home city of

Vaasa Vaasa (; sv, Vasa, , Sweden ), in the years 1855–1917 as Nikolainkaupunki ( sv, Nikolajstad; literally meaning "city of Nicholas),

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. During his year as an exchange student in Nebraska, Evwaraye received an offer to play for

University of Nebraska A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

. He

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after ...

ed as a freshman. Evwaraye played as a defensive tackle during his freshman and sophomore year, but turned to

right tackle Tackle is a playing position in gridiron football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a tackle played on both offense and defense. In the modern system of specialized units, ...

as a junior. Evwaraye had been signed by the

as a

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 ...

in 2006, however he was unable to make the team due to problems with his work permit. Evwaraye played during the 2007 spring in NFL Europa for Cologne Centurions as a guard. After the season, he joined the Vikings as an International Practice Squad Program member. Evwaraye retired in September 2010 after winning his second consecutive

Finnish Championship Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

with the

Porvoo Butchers Porvoo (; sv, Borgå ; la, Borgoa) is a city and a municipality in the Uusimaa region of Finland, situated on the southern coast about east of the city border of Helsinki and about from the city centre. Porvoo was one of the six medieval to ...

Coaching career

Evwaraye has been the head coach and general manager of Finnish team Wasa Royals since 2013 season. In his first season as head coach Royals achieved promotion to Finnish first division. In his second season, Royals won the Finnish first division championship, Spaghetti Bowl. In 2015 Royals again won the Spaghetti Bowl and achieved promotion to Finland's top tier,

Vaahteraliiga The Vaahteraliiga (Maple League) founded in 1980 is the highest level of American football in Finland played under American Football Association of Finland. The winner of the Vaahteraliiga is the Finnish champion. The Vaahteraliiga season is play ...

. Royals finished fourth in the regular season with a record of 6–6 and were defeated by Seinäjoki Crocodiles in the semi-finals. At the end of 2016 season Evwaraye left his position as head coach and became a full-time general manager of the team. Evwaraye is currently the head coach and offensive line coach of Finland's under-15's national team. Evwaraye took over as interim head coach of Royals when the team fired Dan Grass after week one of 2018 Maple league.

Personal life

Evwaraye's mother is Finnish and father

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

. He has two football playing brothers, Ari and Efe, who both are Finnish champions and Finnish National Team players. All three brothers joined forces for the 2009 season and played for

championship winning team. Seppo was inducted to the Finnish American Football Hall of Fame in 2016.

References

External links

Just Sports Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Evwaraye, Seppo 1982 births Living people Sportspeople from Vaasa American football offensive linemen Carolina Panthers players Cologne Centurions (NFL Europe) players Minnesota Vikings players Nebraska Cornhuskers football players Finnish players of American football Finnish people of Nigerian descent