David Onyemata

David Onyemata (born November 13, 1992) is a Nigerian-Canadian professional American football defensive tackle for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at the University of Manitoba.

David Onyemata
Onyemata in 2019
No. 93 – New Orleans Saints
Position:Defensive tackle
Personal information
Born: (1992-11-13) November 13, 1992
Lagos, Nigeria
Height:6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight:300 lb (136 kg)
Career information
High school:Chrisland Schools
(Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria)
University:Manitoba
NFL Draft:2016 / Round: 4 / Pick: 120
CFL draft:2016 / Round: 4 / Pick: 35
Career history
Roster status:Active
Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2020
Total tackles:167
Sacks:16.0
Pass deflections:5
Forced fumbles:1
Interceptions:1
Player stats at NFL.com

Early years

Onyemata is a native of Lagos, Nigeria, where he attended the Chrisland Schools but he graduated from Rainbow College . He immigrated, on his own, to Winnipeg in 2011 to attend college.

College career

Onyemata had never seen a gridiron football game until he came to Winnipeg, but he became a standout player for the Bisons. He won the 2015 J. P. Metras Trophy as the top down lineman in CIS football,[1] was invited to play in the East–West Shrine Game, and became the top Canadian prospect in the 2016 draft.[2]

Professional career

Onyemata was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL draft as the 120th overall pick. He was the first player from the University of Manitoba ever selected for the NFL draft, and the twelfth NFL draft pick from the CIS (now U Sports). The Saints traded their fifth round picks for 2016 and 2017 to Washington in order to draft Onyemata.[3][4] As of the 2020 NFL Draft, he remains the most recent draft selection from CIS/U Sports. He was also selected by the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the fourth round of the 2016 CFL Draft.[5]

In 2018, Onyemata played in all 16 games with four starts, recording 35 tackles, 4.5 sacks, and a forced fumble.

Onyemata was suspended the first game of the 2019 season for violating the league's substances of abuse policy.[6] He was reinstated to the active roster on September 10, 2019.

On March 18, 2020, Onyemata signed a three-year, $27 million contract extension with the Saints.[7]

In Week 9 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday Night Football, Onyemata recorded his first career interception off a pass thrown by Tom Brady during the 38–3 win. [8]

References
  1. Kirk Penton, "Manitoba Bisons David Onyemata wins J.P. Metras trophy as top down lineman in CIS", Winnipeg Sun, November 26, 2015.
  2. "David Onyemata only Canadian with good shot at NFL draft", Toronto Sun, April 26, 2016.
  3. Larry Holder, "Saints trade up for mystery man Canadian DT David Onyemata", The Times-Picayune, April 30, 2016.
  4. "Bison defensive lineman David Onyemata makes history as first Manitoba Bisons football player selected in NFL Draft by New Orleans Saints in the 4th round (120th overall pick) in the 2016 NFL Draft", Manitoba Bisons, April 30, 2016.
  5. Dabe, Christopher (May 11, 2016). "CFL team selects Saints defensive lineman David Onyemata in draft". nola.com. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
  6. Bergman, Jeremy (June 28, 2019). "Saints DT David Onyemata suspended one game". NFL.com.
  7. Triplett, Mike (March 16, 2020). "Saints to re-sign DT David Onyemata on 3-year, $27M deal, source says". ESPN.com.
  8. "New Orleans Saints at Tampa Bay Buccaneers - November 8th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.