Thirty two teams started the NFL season this year, but only four are standing today. These four teams carry more than 200 players. Ten Africans will be among the 200 and they are play makers worthy of attention. And at least a few are guaranteed to play in the Super Bowl on February 13 this year.
The NFL has two conferences, the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). Each conference has its championship game today and the winner of each game will play in the Super Bowl in two weeks. The two teams in the AFC game have the most Africans.
The Cincinnatti Bengals of the AFC are the most unlikely team in these semi-finals, having never won in a post season game for more than two decades. This season, they have survived two challenging post season games, with a young quarter back. That success has been made possible in part by the play of Hakeem Adeniji, Chidobe Awuzie, Larry Ogunjobi and C.J. Uzomah.
The Kansas City Chiefs, the AFC opponent of the Bengals, has three African players – Derrick Nnadi, Alex Okafor, and (Prince) Tega Wanogho.
The winner of the AFC tournament will face either the San Francisco Forty Niners (49ers) or the Los Angeles Rams. The Rams carry one Nigerian Ogbonnia Okoronkwo. Their opponents, the 49ers have Charles Omenihu and Samson Ebukem
The Bengals players are among the most well-known Helmet Africans ©, Africans in professional football. This is in part due to their stand out play and also due to the fact that they play positions that attract TV attention.
Awuzie plays Corner Back, a position that requires speed. His main responsibility is to prevent offensive players from catching the ball or to stop the ball catchers from scoring. This year, he scored 64 tackles in the 14 games he played, all as a starter. That is the most of any African in the post season. He wears a no 22 jersey and can often be seen in the backfield where the opposing QB will throw the ball to.
Uzomah, a Tight End, has been a ball catching matching for the Bengals. He wears a number 87 jersey and can be seen running across the middle to catch the ball. He played in all 17 games this year and caught more than 75 percent of the passes thrown at him. He will spend a portion of his time on his other function, to protect the QB and ball carriers.
Ogunjobi is one of the leading defensive players for the Bengals, but will not be in this game because he got injured during a post season game, right after he had recovered a fumble.
Hakeem Adeniji, jersey number 77, is probably one of the few players fans may not notice much. As an offensive guard, his job requires team play to protect the QB and ball carriers. The play is sometimes so technical that even the positioning of his hand in a block (a protection effort) can mean the difference between being successful and being called out on a penalty. He is a significant presence on the offense and has played every minute of more than half the games this year
Nnadi of the Chiefs recorded 38 tackles and 4 sacks in 17 games this year. Nnadi wears jersey no 91. Okafor, also of the Chiefs ,is a good tackler and recorded 23 in the season. Okafor’s no is 97. Wanogho has not seen much playing time. His jersey number is 70.
Ebukam, jersey no 50, of the 49ers has the most sacks (4.5) of any African in the post season. He is on the defensive line and will be facing the team he played for the previous 4 years.
Omenihu is relatively new to the 49ers. He recorded six tackles while on the team and 11 on the Houston Texans, where he spent part of 2021. He wears no 92 jersey.
Okoronkwo , the only African on the Rams, has forced two fumbles and created two sacks this year. He wears no 5. He is a linebacker, one of the faster runners in the defense.
These championships guarantee that a few Africans will be playing in the Super Bowl.
