Super Bowl Champ Osi Umenyiora on Africa as the Next Hotbed of NFL Talent

Osi Umenyiora calls his work with NFL Africa the culmination of his life's work, and when you hear what the program is producing, the phrase does not feel like an exaggeration.

As the leader of NFL Africa, Umenyiora explained that the idea grew out of a couple of realities. There are more players of African descent in the league than ever, first-generation Africans and players born on the continent who deserve acknowledgement. And there is his own story. Umenyiora got to play in the NFL largely because his parents could send him to the United States, what he framed as sheer luck. Plenty of people back home have far more athletic ability than he ever did, he said, and simply no pathway. NFL Africa is built to open that pipeline.

The results are startling. Rich brought up the player who proves the point: a draftee of the Philadelphia Eagles named Ugo Amadi, who according to Umenyiora had never played a single down of organized football. On NFL Network's draft coverage, Daniel Jeremiah gave Amadi a player comp of Myles Garrett. Umenyiora's own reaction was disbelief, and then agreement. It is the truth.

How is that possible? Umenyiora pointed to himself. He started playing football late, and plenty of people do. At certain positions, if an athlete has the prerequisite tools and you train them and feed them information, they can excel quickly. Amadi is an anomaly physically, but Umenyiora insisted there are many like him across Africa, and especially in Nigeria, who just do not yet know how to play. Develop them, he asked, and what does the NFL become?

This is not theoretical. Umenyiora ticked off players already on NFL fields who came through the program, including CJ Okoye taking meaningful snaps for the Baltimore Ravens and Chukwuebuka Godrick playing tackle for the Kansas City Chiefs. The discovery system runs through a scouting operation he calls Uprise, which combs the continent for the best athletes, funnels them to the NFL Africa camp, and then sends the selected players to Florida to train. Amadi, who will need to learn the basics down to what a down is, is headed there next.

Then Rich went digging for the competitive pettiness he remembered from their first conversation. Was Umenyiora, just a little, upset the Eagles got Amadi? "Yes, I'm very upset," he admitted, laughing. This is a man who once sacked Donovan McNabb six times in a single day.

But he gave Philadelphia its due. The Eagles also drafted Jordan Mailata out of the same program and developed him into an All-Pro and a Super Bowl champion. If anyone understands the project, Umenyiora said, it is them.

Rich could not resist one more jab, recalling the time he introduced Troy alum DeMarcus Ware as the greatest NFL player in the school's history, only to hear from Umenyiora, a fellow Troy man who went to two Super Bowls with the Giants, and who refused to concede the title even to a Hall of Famer.