Last Night, Chargers Rookie CJ Okoye Got A Sack In The First Competitive Football Game Of His Entire Life

Last night, the Chargers shit all over the Rams in Max Duggan and Stetson Bennetts SoFi rematch. One of the Charger's 4 sacks came from UDFA Defensive Tackle, CJ Okoye. He was one of the 6 Nigerians selected for the International Player Pathway, and was originally discovered by Osi Umenyiora at an NFL Africa camp. Here is a quote from July 2022. 

(ESPN) Umenyiora told ESPN: "He didn't test particularly well in the drills [at The Uprise]. The problem is -- because they have never done those drills before and it's a different kind of training to execute them properly -- when you test them, the numbers won't be that impressive.

Part of the challenge for Umenyiora was selecting positions for players who had never played football before. In Okoye's case, he made a call based on his height, weight, and statistics in combine testing

Okoye originally played basketball but was convinced to make the switch by Osi and other NFL vets at the camp. He went to the NFL combine in London and trained in the offseason ahead of moving to Florida to learn more. That's where he found out that he was just the big fish in a small pond. 

(ESPN) "I thought I was the best but seeing the best people in each country come together, I was like, the last. I had to work my way to the top, so I was the underdog."

"I don't know the game, I don't understand the game, I don't know what it means, I don't know what it takes. I knew part of what it took to get here, but I didn't know all of what it took to get here. You need people who know the game, but after the London combine, I knew what I wanted. I knew that I had to get it."

So after all that, he still ends up on an NFL field and STILL ends up with a big ole sack. Here's the play (at the end of this vid). 

On this play, he beats Zach Thomas who is a second year tackle who was All-CIF San Diego Section first team offense in high school, a 5-year player at SDSU that was second-team all-Mountain West his senior year (2021). Compare that level of experience to Okoye, who is still learning what the sport really is. It's god damn crazy and it rocks that the whole team felt that moment and celebrated with him too. Dudes rock.