At age 15, greater than 3,000 miles from his household, David Ojabo discovered consolation in meals.
At Blair Academy in New Jersey, not a lot linked Ojabo to his roots. But on the boarding faculty, he’d met a buddy whose mother and father, like his, are descendants of the Igbo individuals in southeastern Nigeria. The buddy, Odafe Oweh, stated that connection made them household. Before lengthy, Ojabo discovered himself being handled to do-it-yourself Nigerian dishes, hand-delivered by Oweh’s mother and father from over an hour away.
“All he ate was Nigerian food,” Oweh stated of Ojabo, who spent the primary seven years of his life in Nigeria, moved to Scotland after which traveled to the United States together with his household’s blessing early in highschool. “He had no one else who was Nigerian that he knew. He asked me if my parents could bring him some stuff, and that’s where it kind of started.”
That was just the start for Ojabo and Oweh. Five years later, their parallel paths — basketball standouts turned soccer prospects who captivated faculty recruiters and NFL scouts alike — would converge as soon as extra, reuniting them as foundational items on the Ravens’ revamped protection. But it’s their shared historical past that has made their future so shiny.
“It’s a bond that won’t break,” Ojabo stated.
‘I can’t even block a shot’
Before coming to the U.S. at age 15, Ojabo was an elite basketball participant in Scotland. The 6-foot-5 teenager was larger and stronger than his friends, even in opposition to stiffer competitors at Blair.
“I’ve never seen a guy dunk so easily off the [vertical] at 6-foot-5,” former basketball teammate Gabe Ravetz stated. “It felt like he was 6-foot-10 when you played against him in practice.”
But throughout Ojabo’s sophomore season, he realized the expertise stage within the U.S. was “night and day” in contrast with Scotland’s, as he had by no means seen 7-foot gamers with guard-like ball-handling expertise. To make issues worse, the Buccaneers confronted a few of the high gamers within the nation, equivalent to present Golden State Warriors rookie Jonathan Kuminga.
Ojabo, who additionally performed soccer and ran observe, was a superior rebounder, however he wasn’t dominating like he used to. He was the tenth man in a rotation of eight or 9 Division I basketball gamers, together with Oweh, who was the sixth man, based on Blair coach Joe Mantegna.
“David was like, ‘Yeah, this is not for me, bro. I can’t even block a shot,’” Oweh stated.
Ojabo knew he wasn’t going to be the subsequent LeBron James, and watching Oweh excel in his first season of organized soccer — totaling 42 tackles (5 for loss) and 7 sacks — gave him the assumption that he may do the identical.
But Oweh by no means would’ve performed soccer if it weren’t for former Blair coach Jim Saylor. After Oweh was kicked off the basketball crew at Rutgers Prep as a junior as a result of he yelled on the coach, he reclassified at Blair in hopes of getting faculty affords and finally reaching the NBA. But when Saylor noticed Oweh touring campus, he had different plans.
“[Saylor] asked me what I played, and I said basketball,” Oweh stated. “He was like, ‘Yeah, you got to play football.’”
Even although Oweh was a strong basketball participant for 2 seasons, he shortly developed right into a star on the soccer discipline. After only one season, Oweh picked up a scholarship provide from Rutgers, whose line of defense coach was enamored together with his uncooked athleticism. He developed right into a consensus four-star recruit, commanding the eye of high faculty applications like Penn State, Alabama and Ohio State. But it got here at a price.
During Oweh’s senior yr, his recruiting visits reduce into his observe time with the basketball crew, so he had to select.
“You can either go to college for basketball, play four years, be a decent starter and then find a job somewhere else, or go to the NFL and make money with this football stuff,” Mantegna informed Oweh.
“I want to make money,” Oweh stated.
‘I copied everything he did’
While Oweh had a fundamental understanding of soccer, having grown up within the U.S., Ojabo was clueless when he began. Ojabo didn’t know what a hash mark was, or methods to strap on his helmet or get right into a three-point stance. Saylor stated Ojabo would observe two to 3 occasions a day in order that he may catch up within the two weeks earlier than the primary recreation of his junior season.
“After three days, he could barely walk because of getting into a three-point stance because his body and muscles had to adjust,” Saylor stated. “I think he took a day or two off practice because of how sore he was from getting into football positions.”
Ojabo leaned on Oweh for steerage, regardless that he was nonetheless studying. The hours they spent studying about pad ranges, taking part in line of defense, watching soccer highlights and envisioning the kind of gamers they needed to turn into served as an ideal illustration of their friendship.
“I copied everything he did,” Ojabo stated. “If a guy is having success, I don’t know why you wouldn’t follow his lead.”
In Ojabo’s first yr of organized soccer, he totaled 35 tackles, six sacks and two pressured fumbles in seven video games. Meanwhile, Oweh registered 60 tackles with 13 sacks whereas being chosen to play within the Under Armour All-America Game. And identical to Oweh, Ojabo landed his first soccer scholarship provide from Rutgers.
In the spring, Ojabo continued to showcase his great athleticism, profitable the 100-meter sprint within the 2018 state prep observe and discipline championship with a personal-best 10.93 seconds. “He was so athletic,” Saylor stated.
Oweh went off to Penn State, and Ojabo returned for his senior season at Blair with newfound confidence. Ojabo tallied 33 tackles, 8 1/2 sacks and one pressured fumble whereas impressing the teaching employees together with his pace, athleticism and go off the road of scrimmage.
“He made some plays during his senior year where you were like, ‘Holy cow, did he just do that?’” stated present Blair soccer coach Greg Bowman, who was the defensive coordinator on the time. “His understanding of the sport skyrocketed.”
A consensus four-star recruit within the Class of 2019, Ojabo signed with Michigan, selecting the Wolverines over Oweh’s Nittany Lions.
‘This could really happen’
Despite Ojabo’s success at Blair, he performed in solely six video games in his first two seasons at Michigan. But when Mike Macdonald grew to become the Wolverines’ defensive coordinator in 2021 after seven seasons with the Ravens, he noticed Ojabo’s immense potential.
“We saw a 6-4, 6-5 guy that could fly, and we’re like, ‘Well, why don’t we just get this guy to rush the passer every down?’ And it worked out for us,” stated Macdonald, who took over for Don “Wink” Martindale as Ravens defensive coordinator this offseason.
Ojabo got here alive as a junior, totaling 35 tackles (12 for loss), 11 sacks and a school-record 5 pressured fumbles. He was named a second-team All-American by the Associated Press whereas serving to the Wolverines attain the College Football Playoff alongside fellow edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson, the No. 2 total decide in April’s draft by the Detroit Lions.
“Y’all got to understand how nice this man is going to be,” Oweh stated. “He got 11 sacks off pure athleticism.”
As Ojabo grew to become some of the menacing edge rushers in faculty soccer, he always informed Oweh, who was taking part in in his rookie season with the Ravens, “I’m going to meet you there.”
Despite tearing his Achilles tendon at Michigan’s professional day, main him to fall out of the primary spherical of the NFL draft, Ojabo was capable of crew up with Oweh as soon as once more when the Ravens chosen him forty fifth total.
“As I watched the draft unfold, I sat there and said, ‘Oh, my gosh, this could really happen,’” Bowman stated. “This story keeps getting better.”
If you ask the basketball and soccer coaches at Blair, they’d name Oweh and Ojabo’s reunion in Baltimore the right film script. For Oweh and Ojabo, their journey to Baltimore was destined.
“It’s crazy because [Ojabo] wouldn’t have played football if it wasn’t for me, and we both wouldn’t have continued to do it if it wasn’t for [us] pushing ourselves,” Oweh stated. “It’s God, man.”
“[Oweh’s] part of my story,” Ojabo stated. “Every opportunity I have, I let him know that he put me on.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com