Going from Ohio State College to the NFL is nothing out of the atypical, however for former Buckeyes observe athlete Reward Olatoke — whose preliminary introduction to soccer got here via membership soccer in faculty — being signed to the Los Angeles Chargers by way of the NFL Worldwide Participant Pathway Program (IPPP) was the stuff of wildest desires.
Olatoke was born in Lagos, Nigeria, however spent most of his childhood in Scotland, transferring on the age of 5. He immersed himself in rugby and sprinting, incomes a scholarship at Canada’s Trinity Western then transferring to Ohio State in 2021, spending two seasons on the Buckeyes observe group — albeit a torn achilles tendon ruined one.
Olatoke took half in membership soccer at Ohio State, initially struggling even to place his tools on however displaying promise in his second recreation as he caught a 65-yard landing move in opposition to Michigan State. He by no means regarded again from there, but it surely was an extended highway to the highest. In any case, this was membership soccer — distant from the intense lights of the Buckeyes’ NCAA group.
“I by no means performed NCAA soccer, however the distinction is: I feel NCAA soccer is quasi-pro soccer, only for faculty athletes,” Olatoke stated in a press convention on Tuesday. “There’s the coaching. Mainly, the NCAA has cash; that is it. The NCAA has billions of {dollars} yearly that funnels into it to make a present, to make a manufacturing.
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“The membership soccer is simply guys who come collectively to play soccer and revel in a Saturday morning. That is actually it. It may be 15, 20 folks in a crowd. There might be 50. Who is aware of? Mainly, the distinction is: the NCAA has cash, and with cash comes expertise, notoriety, eyeballs, and all that stuff. Individuals who play membership — it is for the love of the sport. That is the distinction.”
Olatoke was an enormous basketball fan, and his journey might have gone otherwise had he grown taller than 6-foot-2. Nevertheless, with peak not on his facet, he opted for soccer over hoops. By his personal admission, his fast rise in soccer via the NFL IPPP at IMG Academy concerned a big quantity of luck.
“I am not going to disclaim that I obtained fortunate to be on this state of affairs,” he stated. “So many alternative dominoes needed to fall my manner. I feel the statistic is one out of each 300,000 or 400,000 highschool children within the U.S. make it to the league. I wasn’t even in highschool [in the country], so I can not deny that I obtained fortunate; however in order for you it unhealthy sufficient, I feel you may all the time make issues fall your manner. You may create your personal luck primarily.”
In line with Ohio State’s School of Public Well being, the possibilities of a high-school participant going skilled are 0.023% primarily based on information from 2016.
Lucky as he was, Olatoke needed to overcome disappointment on his highway via the IPPP. He labored out for Philadelphia Eagles, however was unsuccessful in his efforts to persuade them to signal him. The Chargers, nonetheless, wanted little in the way in which of persuasion as soon as they noticed his electrical tempo and willingness to work and be taught.
“After the IPP and stuff, there have been a few groups that reached out,” he stated. “One in every of them, clearly, was the Eagles. I went to their rookie minicamp, however that did not work out. A number of weeks later, the Chargers reached out to me and stated, ‘Hey, we’d be eager about bringing you out to our minicamp’.” Earlier than the Chargers reached out, he was starting to concern that American soccer was not for him in any case.
“At first, I wasn’t certain what was occurring, as a result of they solely despatched me a one-way ticket. I requested them on the second-to-last day, ‘Hey, am I going again house’. No one might give me a straight reply.
“On the final day — which was a Thursday — one of many employees stated, ‘Hey, you’ve got obtained a gathering with the GM’. I walked in and noticed the GM. There have been a few different folks there and so they principally stated: ‘We such as you. We expect we will take an opportunity on you, so when you’re up for it and also you’re keen to work, we will signal you.’
“There after which, inside an hour-and-a-half or so, they provided me a contract, and I am a Charger.”
The Chargers went 5-12 final season, however have two of the IPPP’s greatest merchandise — each born in Nigeria — in CJ Okoye and Olatoke.
Olatoke and his good friend, Louis Rees-Zammit, a former Wales rugby star, are doubtless so as to add electrifying tempo to the league. Whether or not they’ll have the wherewithal to outsmart skilled D-line gamers on the very high of the sport stays to be seen.