Adewale Ogunleye

Adewale Ogunleye (/ˌɑːdeɪˈwɑːleɪ oʊɡuːnˈleɪjeɪ/; born August 9, 1977) is a former American football defensive end who played eleven seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He was signed by the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent in 2000 and also played for the Chicago Bears and Houston Texans. He played college football at Indiana.

Adewale Ogunleye
Ogunleye with the Bears in 2007
No. 90, 93, 99
Position:Defensive end
Personal information
Born: (1977-08-09) August 9, 1977
Brooklyn, New York
Height:6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Weight:260 lb (118 kg)
Career information
High school:Tottenville
(Staten Island, New York)
College:Indiana
Undrafted:2000
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Total tackles:389
Sacks:67.0
Forced fumbles:17
Fumble recoveries:14
Interceptions:1
Player stats at NFL.com

Early years

Ogunleye is of Nigerian background. His grandfather was the reigning Oba of the city-state of Emure in Ekiti State, thus making him an Omoba of the Yoruba people.[1] Ogun in his surname means "The god of iron." His father is a social worker employed by the City of New York.

Ogunleye played high school football at Tottenville High School in his hometown of Staten Island, New York City, New York. He was a classmate of Major League baseball All Star starting pitcher Jason Marquis and a teammate of three-time Super Bowl winning offensive guard Joe Andruzzi.[2]

College career

Ogunleye played college football at Indiana from 1996 to 1999. During his college career, Ogunleye set school records for sacks (34.5) and tackles for loss (64). Additionally, he accumulated 167 tackles, eight forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries. Ogunleye earned All-Big Ten honors in each of his final three seasons. He graduated with a degree in English.[3]

In November 2014, Ogunleye was inducted into the Indiana Athletic Hall of Fame.[4]

In May 2014, and after finishing his professional career in the NFL, Adewale went on to obtain a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from George Washington University in Washington D.C.

Professional career

Despite being projected as a first- or second-round NFL draft pick following his junior season in 1998, Ogunleye chose to return to Indiana for his senior season.[5][6] During the 1999 season, he suffered a major knee injury, which ended his college career, and a staph infection, which caused him to lose 50 pounds.[7] He was not selected in the 2000 NFL Draft.

Miami Dolphins

Following the 2000 Draft, Ogunleye signed with the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent.[8] He spent the first year of his NFL career on injured reserve. In 2001, Ogunleye had recovered well enough to lead the team during the preseason in sacks and that earned him a spot on the Dolphins’ 53-man roster. By the end of his fourth season with the Miami Dolphins, Ogunleye had been voted starter in the 2004 NFL Pro Bowl. He led the AFC with 15 sacks in the 2003-2004 NFL season. He was given the Dan Marino Most Valuable Player of the year award, by the Miami Dolphins, that same season.

Chicago Bears

He was traded by the Dolphins to the Bears for wide receiver Marty Booker and a 3rd round pick in the 2005 NFL draft after holding out during the month of August before the 2004 NFL season. Ogunleye quickly signed a record-breaking 6-year contract with the Bears. During the next six seasons Ogunleye became a mainstay on the Bears top-ranked defense. During the 2005 NFL season, Ogunleye spearheaded the Bear's defensive line by recording ten sacks. Ogunleye was named team captain and helped the Bears reach Super Bowl XLI in Miami during the 2006 season.

Ogunleye, along with Tommie Harris, Alex Brown and Mark Anderson during training camp in 2008

In 2008, Ogunleye was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Week for the week one after recording a safety and making a key fourth down stop against the Indianapolis Colts.[9]

On December 20, 2009 in a game against the Baltimore Ravens, Ogunleye fractured his left fibula. He was placed on season-ending injured reserve on December 26.

Houston Texans

On September 14, 2010 Ogunleye signed a one-year tender with the Houston Texans after his contract with the Chicago Bears had expired. At the end of the 2011 season, Ogunleye would end his professional playing career. He finished with 11 NFL seasons under his belt. He finished with career totals of 389 Tackles, 67.5 Sacks, 17 forced fumbles, and 14 fumble recoveries, 2 safeties and 1 Interception.[10][11]

NFL statistics
YearTeamGPCOMBTOTALASTSACKFFFRFR YDSINTIR YDSAVG IRLNGTDPD
2001MIA73120.5000000000
2002MIA164432129.5320000003
2003MIA1662431915.0210000005
2004CHI12372895.0310000002
2005CHI154036410.0110000005
2006CHI144328156.5130000004
2007CHI16585359.0630000003
2008CHI166248145.0000100004
2009CHI143825136.513-2000000
2010HOU42110.0000000000
Career1303892959467.0171401000026

[12]

Key

  • GP: games played
  • COMB: combined tackles
  • TOTAL: total tackles
  • AST: assisted tackles
  • SACK: sacks
  • FF: forced fumbles
  • FR: fumble recoveries
  • FR YDS: fumble return yards
  • INT: interceptions
  • IR YDS: interception return yards
  • AVG IR: average interception return
  • LNG: longest interception return
  • TD: interceptions returned for touchdown
  • PD: passes defensed

References
  1. "Trip to Nigeria an emotional one for Ogunleye - Chicago Bears". Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved September 21, 2006.
  2. Bauer, Ted, "Fun Facts: Dodgers vs. Cubs," ESPN, accessed 7/20/09
  3. "Adewale Ogunleye", IU Hoosiers Hall of Fame
  4. "Indiana Announces Hall of Fame Class", 14news
  5. Bagnato, Andrew, "College Life Keeping Would-be Nfl Players On Campus", Chicago Tribune
  6. Marot, Michael, "College dilemma: Stay in school or go pro?", Sentinel and Enterprise
  7. Matz, Eddie, "Miami's Pro Bowl Sack Artist Finally Has Respect. Now He Wants Lots of Cash", ESPN
  8. Pasquarelli, Len, "Star DE basically gets $15M to sign", ESPN
  9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 13, 2008. Retrieved September 11, 2008.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved November 3, 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. "Adewale Ogunleye Stats". ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
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