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Nigerian-Canadian American football player (born 1992) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
David Onyemata (born November 13, 1992) is a Nigerian professional football nose tackle for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Manitoba.
Onyemata in 2023 | |||||||||||||
| No. 90 – Atlanta Falcons | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Nose tackle | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born: | November 13, 1992 Lagos, Nigeria | ||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight: | 300 lb (136 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school: | Chrisland Schools (Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria) | ||||||||||||
| University: | Manitoba (2012–2015) | ||||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 2016 / round: 4 / pick: 120 | ||||||||||||
| CFL draft: | 2016 / round: 4 / pick: 35 | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Roster status: | Active | ||||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics as of 2023 | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
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 the University of Manitoba.
Onyemata had never seen a gridiron football game until he came to Winnipeg, but he became a standout player for the Manitoba 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]
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 3+1⁄4 in (1.91 m) |
300 lb (136 kg) |
33+1⁄4 in (0.84 m) |
10+3⁄8 in (0.26 m) | 5.06 s | 1.66 s | 2.89 s | 4.65 s | 7.25 s | 33.0 in (0.84 m) | 9 ft 11 in (3.02 m) | 33 reps | |
| All values from Pro Day[3][4] | ||||||||||||
Onyemata was selected by the New Orleans Saints in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL draft as the 120th overall pick.[5] 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.[6][7] He was also selected by the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the fourth round of the 2016 CFL Draft.[8]
In 2018, Onyemata played in all 16 games with four starts, recording 35 tackles, 4.5 sacks, and a forced fumble.[9]
Onyemata was suspended the first game of the 2019 season for violating the league's substances of abuse policy.[10] 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.[11]
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.[12]
On March 3, 2021, Onyemata agreed to convert part of his $7MM base salary into a signing bonus to free up cap space for New Orleans. On July 16, Onyemata was suspended six games by the NFL after testing positive for a banned substance.[13]
On March 16, 2023, Onyemata signed a three-year, $35 million contract with the Atlanta Falcons, reuniting him with his former Saints position coach, Ryan Nielsen, who was named the Falcons defensive coordinator.[14]
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