British-Nigerian offensive lineman Daniel Akinkunmi planned on multiple visits to his top college choices before committing to anyone, but after he set foot at the Oklahoma Sooners, no further trips were needed.
London-born Akinkunmi, who can play in all five positions across the offensive line and had over 35 college offers, told ESPN that Clemson and Baylor were his next choices. However, there was never a doubt in his mind that the Sooners were the right fit for him after his September visit.
He told ESPN: “I really felt like when I went to Oklahoma, it was a place for me. The fans are amazing… I had fans coming up to me, being like ‘Oh my god, you’re the guy from the UK. You’re an offensive lineman. Have a great time on your visit.’
“Then you go on to the coaching staff – Coach [Bill] Bedenbaugh is an amazing offensive line coach. He’s developed some of the best talent in the league [including the Jacksonville Jaguars‘ Anton Harrison, a 2023 first round draft pick at offensive tackle]. To have him coach me and develop me as a player is amazing.
“I know I’m going to work hard. I know I’m going to do everything I can to become a better player, so to also have a great coach who has developed high talent is amazing.
“Watching that Arkansas State game was also amazing, to see how much Coach [Brent] Venables has changed the program in such a small amount of time – right now, they’re 6-0. Who is to say they can’t go 12-0 or 13-0 and even win the Natty (national championship)?”
Akinkunmi was a basketball player initially, but realised that he was physically more suited to a different sport. Although he is English-born and his country is better known for rugby league and rugby union than American football, he is from a family that is Nigerian on both sides.
Akinkunmi tried rugby, but failed to fall in love with it during a brief stint playing in high school, feeling that he “never liked rugby’s culture”. Rather, Akinkunmi saw a place for himself in American football, a sport which has a place for all shapes and sizes and is a hotbed of Nigerian talent.
Given that the NFL Academy opened in the UK in 2019, two years before Akinkunmi found himself at a crossroads, his timing for the switch from basketball was perfect.
“After I realised that I wasn’t going to make it in basketball, the NFL Academy opened up, which was a very big thing for the UK, so a lot of people were talking about it. A lot of people were excited about opportunities,” Akinkunmi explained.
“With American football, you don’t have to change yourself that much. I feel like it’s a sport where it’s all body types. No matter whether you’re small, tall, big or skinny, it doesn’t matter… If you’re athletic, you can play the sport, and I feel like that’s something I really fell in love with.
“I gave it a shot and I made sure I gave it my all.”
Even one of Akinkunmi’s most highly-rated NFL Academy peers, Nigeria’s Emmanuel Okoye, has not yet broken into the team since committing to Tennessee ahead of this season. However, Akinkunmi boldly declared that he would be ready to jump straight into the action after enrolling on campus at Oklahoma for January 2024.
“From talking to the coaching staff, they think that I’m going to be playing straight away. They have a lot of guys leaving, so I’m going to have a very high opportunity of me starting my first year – and I’m ready. I’ve been preparing three years for this… from day one,” he said.
“I knew I was going to be something special and I kept on working on my craft. Even though I’m number one in Europe, that doesn’t mean [anything]. I want to be number one in the world. That’s always been my mindset. I don’t want to be like someone else. I want to be Daniel Akinkunmi, and I think that’s something that already separates me from others.
Osi Umenyiora, a two-time Super Bowl winner with the New York Giants, who like Akinkunmi was born in England but is from a Nigerian family, tipped the 6-foot-4, 305-pound lineman for success in a recent interview with ESPN.
“Daniel, obviously, has gotten all the interest. He’s an offensive lineman – really good football player… I think he’s going to do great things,” Umenyiora said last month.
Akinkunmi has praise in high places, as well as the tag of being Europe’s top-rated prospect, hanging over him, but denied feeling any pressure as a result.
“I feel like for me personally, I don’t feel any pressure. I love the sport. When you love the sport, you just play the sport and any good thing that happens, happens,” he said, describing himself as ‘absolutely obsessed’ with American football.
Apart from his passion for the game, Akinkunmi believes that the mental strength instilled in him by his Nigerian family will be telling as he embarks on his next adventure.
“Both sides of my family are Nigerian. I feel like the family they’ve instilled in me was amazing. The mentality they’ve instilled in me was to be a warrior, to be a fighter to keep on fighting. Even when it’s hard, you keep on going,” he said.
“I take that mentality every single time I’m on the field. Any time I have a play, I take it as if it’s my last.
“You never know what will happen in this world. You could have a play and I could be running around and, god forbid, hurt myself. But when you take every single play as if it’s your last – when you protect yourself every single play like it’s your last play, you become a great player.
“I give everything. I’m not coming off the field unless I physically cannot move or cannot walk… From my African background, I feel like that’s something we all have. We are warriors and we’re fighters and we won’t stop until we are great.”
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