In life, we do not all get equal rewards for hard work. Same thing happens in American football.
All positions are critical on a football team. All 53 players on the team work hard. But players on offense who carry the ball and those on defense who stop the ball carriers receive name recognition faster than their colleagues. That, plus their skill and hustle, has caused some Helmet Africans ©, Africans who play professional football, to be more well-known.
Ndamukong Suh, a Camerounian, of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is probably one of the most prominent helmet Africans ©. His fierceness has caused NFL fans to love or hate him for 12 years, like college football fans did in his college years at Nebraska.
Other popular names are those of Albert Okuegbunam of the Denver Broncos, Olamide Zaccheaus of the Atlanta Falcons, David Njoku of the Cleveland Browns, and Christopher Uzomah of the Cincinnati Bengals. They have appeared in television highlights for plays they made.
Oluokun even won Defensive Player of the Week honors of the National Football Conference (NFC) in December. (NFL football has two conferences – American Football Conference or AFC and National Football Conference or NFC).
These players who appear frequently on TV deserve all the accolades they have been receiving. They have exhibited talent and dedication. But their level of visibility is rare among African players.
Looking at names on team rosters in 2021, we counted more than 50 players who have at least one parent who is African. All are from West Africa. Ghana has two; Cameroun two; and Benin Republic and Ivory Coast each have one. One from Togo is half Togolese and half Canadian. The rest, more than 40, have Nigerian heritage.
Although these Africans constitute near four (4 percent) of all active players in the league, they are not yet familiar names mostly because they play positions that TV cameras rarely follow. More than 30 of them play on a line — offensive line or defensive line. Individual credit is hard to come by on lines due to the fact that play by linemen is often done as a group.
But even among linemen, there is disparity between the degrees to which individuals get recognition. Defensive linemen, among who is Suh, get noticed for tackles, interceptions and sacks. Offensive linemen have less opportunity for personal glory because their main job of blocking opponents is somewhat technical and subtle.
The player who most fans know on each team is the Quarter Back (QB). The QB attracts the most press (with praise and abuse) because he handles the ball most. There are no African QBs, but that is not due to any deficiency on the part of African players..
Black QBs are among the most exciting players in the NFL today. But there were few Blacks in the position until as recently as five years ago. It is, therefore, not realistic to expect Africans, who are relatively new to the sport, to be holding this most glamorous of any position in any American sport.
The QB helps a team to advance the ball when he hands it to a Running Back (RB) or throws it to either a Tight End (TE) or Wide Receiver (WR). Njoku is a tight end (TE). Agholor and Zaccheaus are WRs. Five Africans played RB on five teams this season. But they did not appear often on the field, partly because they play in special situations only or are relatively new.
Other positions that attract tv cameras are Corner Back (CB) and Safety, collectively referred to as Defensive Backs (DBs). Their primary job is to stop WRs and TEs from catching the ball. They, especially the Safetys, are usually the last line of defense against the offense. The TV camera that follows WRs and RBs also features the plays of DBs. Eight Africans played CB and two others were Safetys. Most had successful seasons. They produced tackles, interceptions and sacks.
Oluokun, as a linebacker, plays a position between the defensive line and the DBs. Twelve Africans played linebacker this year. But none received the same prominence as Oluokun.
But those players who are not yet famous are also making significant contributions. Joe Tyron-Shoyinka, who is a linebacker with the Tampa Buccaneers, is not yet a household name in the league. But his play to stop Charlotte from scoring near the end of a game helped his team secure its 14th win this season.
Chris Banjo, a Safety for Denver, is a relatively unknown player, but threw a spectacular pass on a trick play by his team; his position as Safety does not require him to throw the ball. Michael Ojemudia, a CB with Denver, did not have many tackles this season but he broke up two critical passes by the opponent in just the last game of the year.
With time, many more Africans will become household names. They may garner fame with longevity or as more of them move to positions where good play is easier to see.
