Akbar Gbaja-Biamila

Gbajabiamila went undrafted in the 2003 NFL Draft and later signed with the Oakland Raiders as a free agent. He made the team out of training camp and played in 13 of the team's 16 regular season games, while being inactive for three. He recorded seven tackles (four solo) on the season, with his first and only sack of the season coming against Daunte Culpepper, then with the Minnesota Vikings.

In 2004, Gbaja-Biamila split time between defensive end and linebacker, occasionally filling in for players such as Travian Smith and Tyler Brayton. He appeared in 14 games for the Raiders during the regular season and was inactive for two games. He accumulated a career-high 14 tackles (11 solo) and added a sack on the year. That sack came against Brad Johnson and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, while he recorded a season-high three tackles in games against the Denver Broncos and Jacksonville Jaguars. Gbajabiamila also recovered a blocked punt against the Carolina Panthers which led to a Raiders touchdown.

Battling injuries during the 2005 training camp, Gbajabiamila was released by the Raiders on September 3. He had a workout with the Green Bay Packers two days later, but he was not signed and spent the season out of football. In 2008 re-signed with the Raiders and was released to retire as a Raider.

Gbajabiamila returned to the NFL in 2006 after being signed by the San Diego Chargers on January 12. The fit was a good one for him, who as slightly undersized yet quick defensive end was a perfect fit for the 3-4 defense employed by then-defensive coordinator Wade Phillips and the Chargers.

On February 6, 2007, it was announced that Gbajabiamila had been signed to a future contract worth $7.4 million with the Miami Dolphins. The move reunited him with new Dolphins head coach Cam Cameron, who was offensive coordinator in San Diego the season before when Gbaja-Biamila was a member of the Chargers. On September 11, 2007, he was released by the Dolphins. He spent the season out of football.

In 2005, Gbajabiamila was selected as one of the NFL’s first athletes into their Broadcast Boot Camp, held in Mount Laurel, N.J., and designed to give 20 players a short and rigorous look into the skills needed to embark on a broadcast or journalism career after their playing careers. He also took advantage of some time between playing stints to volunteer at KSWB, the NBC affiliate in San Diego, and ended up as the co-host for “Football Night in San Diego,” while he awaited his next chance back in the pros. He hosted the show for two and a half seasons (2006–2008) before getting one last shot in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins

Akbar’s full name is Akbar Oluwakemi-Idowu Gbajabiamila. Akbar is Arabic and means "greatest." His middle and last names are of the Yoruba language. The middle names, Oluwakemi means "God blessed me" and Idowu means "born after twins." (One of his twin older brothers is Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila who was also a pro football player.) Their last name, Gbaja-Biamila means "big man come save me." This name comes from his paternal great-great-grandfather who was 7 ft (2.1 m) tall and was the village moderator in his Nigerian village.

He is of Nigerian ancestry. Both of his parents were Muslim, until his mother converted to Christianity. While he was raised under a Sunni Muslim household, he converted to Christianity while in college.[2] In 2000, his father, Mustapha, was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. In 2002, his mother, Bolatito, died in a car crash. While a member of the Chargers in 2006, Akbar routinely drove back-and-forth from San Diego to Los Angeles to spend time with his father. Akbar has four children.