TAMPA, Fla. — In February 2020, the soccer program at Georgia State held an open tryout for potential walk-ons, and about 40 college students confirmed as much as run by means of drills. However just one made an assistant hurry into head coach Shawn Elliott’s workplace.
“He stated, ‘I do not know if this man can play, however he is huge,'” Elliott recalled. “I stated, ‘The place is he?’ and he pointed him out on the sphere. I stated, ‘Inform that dude he does not should undergo tryouts. We will take him, regardless. He is bought a roster spot.'”
That was step one for Ben Chukwuma, who moved to Georgia from his native Nigeria when he was 17, loving soccer and basketball however understanding nothing in any respect about American soccer. The previous 5 years have been a sluggish however persistent journey, however the end result, amazingly, is identical: He has a roster spot within the NFL.
After the NFL Draft concluded on Saturday, Chukwuma bought a name from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and unattainable because it appears, the undrafted free agent who bought essentially the most assured cash from any NFL workforce this yr — $300,000 — had by no means performed in a soccer recreation at any stage till two years in the past.
“My potentiality is what makes the NFL groups excited,” he stated Sunday. “They see with my little expertise what am I capable of do.”
At that Georgia State exercise, Elliott made some extent to introduce himself to Chukwuma, who was towering at 6-foot-6 and weighed about 240 kilos then. He had listed himself as a defensive finish at a good friend’s suggestion, however Elliott, a longtime offensive line coach, knew his future was there.
“Very lean, athletic-looking, robust. I may inform this was going to be a complete new ballgame for him,” Elliott stated. “I advised him he regarded like an NFL sort out proper now, and we had been going to show him all the pieces we may, assist develop him and see if we may get him to the NFL.”
Whereas most NFL rookies have performed near 100 soccer video games between highschool and faculty, Chukwuma has solely performed in 23, complete. He has a profile on LinkedIn, touting his diploma in laptop info programs and cybersecurity, and this time final yr, he was interning with the Fulton County authorities, engaged on cyberattack response plans. So he is equal components IT and OT, an absolute firewall of an NFL prospect.
“He is only a large piece of clay which you could make nonetheless you need,” stated former NFL coach Hue Jackson, now Georgia State’s offensive coordinator. “Anyone can actually pour the best issues into him. His development over the following a number of months — he’ll be round NFL guys and so they’ll take him below their wings and let him be what he will be. He is athletic, he is lengthy, he is powerful and he loves soccer, and he’ll work arduous at it.”
Chukwuma had the scale and athleticism to play soccer, however needed to study the game from a basic stage. This wasn’t about stance or hand placement, however how large the sphere is, what number of gamers are on the sphere at a time, actually all the pieces.
“Individuals will use the time period quite a bit that he is uncooked. Ben was so uncooked, it was unbelievable,” Elliott stated. “I might attempt to talk with him about defensive fronts and strategies, he would take a look at you and simply say that he did not know what you had been speaking about. In case you had given him a primary check on soccer, how large the sphere was, the place do you kick off from, what’s an additional level, he would have smiled and stated, ‘I don’t know.’ It was from the bottom up so far as educating him the sport.”
So earlier than they bought to footwork, blocking assignments, methods to keep away from penalties, it was simply primary mission statements. Elliott remembers a blocking drill when he simply advised him: “Do me a favor: Do not let this man transfer.” Chukwuma’s default expression in apply was a really critical look, however teammates knew they had been in hassle when he immediately cracked an enormous smile, as a result of it was in recognition of choosing up a brand new ability like a kickstep or one other piece of approach.
His path from walk-on to even getting on the enjoying area at Georgia State wasn’t straightforward. His first season’s progress was primarily derailed by COVID, and whilst he discovered the game and grew — 280 kilos by his third season — he hadn’t performed a snap. The largest factor he’d completed was win the workforce’s hot-dog consuming contest — with 9 — in the summertime of 2022.
At one level, his father, who has Parkinson’s, wanted again surgical procedure, and since Ben was his major caretaker, he needed to transfer residence to care for him, going to Elliott one spring and telling him he’d have to go away the workforce. A couple of month later, his father was wholesome sufficient that Chukwuma may return, although Elliott usually didn’t enable gamers again after they left. He requested the leaders on his workforce, and so they agreed they wished him again, so he was.
Chukwuma bought into his first faculty video games in 2023, however he did not get to start out till an damage pressed him into responsibility within the remaining recreation of the common season. He performed properly sufficient that Georgia State moved him to left sort out for its bowl recreation, and the workforce rushed for 386 yards in a 45-32 win over Utah State in Boise, Idaho. Elliott resigned and took a job as an assistant at South Carolina, however below new coach Dell McGee, Chukwuma, now 310 kilos, began 11 video games this previous season.
“He is new to soccer, however you undoubtedly see the scale, the size, the quickness, and the upside that he’ll probably present within the NFL in due time,” stated McGee, who got here to Georgia State from the College of Georgia, the place he coached with present Bucs receivers coach Bryan McClendon and knew Todd Bowles as a result of his son, Todd, was a Bulldogs security. “Tampa Bay did a very good job of doing their analysis on Ben and evaluating him. You are going to get somebody who’s going to work arduous and be an excellent pillar locally. His ceiling in regard to offensive sort out could be very excessive.”
Chukwuma’s username on Twitter is “odogwu,” a phrase within the Igbo language of his native Nigeria that interprets to “robust man” or “warrior.” He helped himself within the draft course of with a robust recreation final October towards Marshall, the place edge rusher Mike Inexperienced led the nation with 17 sacks and ended up a second-round choose of the Ravens on Friday. Inexperienced had sacks in all however three video games final season, however certainly one of them got here towards Georgia State and Chukwuma, who stepped as much as meet an enormous problem.
“When the sport began, my primary purpose was to attempt to be extra bodily than him,” Chukwuma stated. “I attempted to be so bodily that it disrupted his recreation and bought in his head. As soon as I had that recreation, I simply tried to construct from that.”
Tampa Bay despatched scout Tony Hardie to Georgia State’s professional day, and Chukwuma participated within the Falcons’ native professional day, so different groups additionally had their eyes on him. The Bucs went out of their means to ensure they bought him. He acquired a $55,000 signing bonus — late seventh-round picks get round $80,000 — and so they took the additional step of guaranteeing him $245,000 in wage, which within the least quantities to shut to a full season on the apply squad.
“I knew this man had the expertise. He simply wants the years of expertise,” Elliott stated. “He is simply going to proceed to develop and get higher, and it is nice to see him now enjoying at such a excessive stage and seeing him having fun with the sport like I knew he would. He is nonetheless so new to this recreation that the sky is the restrict.”
Greg Auman is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports activities. He beforehand spent a decade masking the Buccaneers for the Tampa Bay Instances and The Athletic. You’ll be able to comply with him on Twitter at @gregauman.
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