BULLHEAD CITY, Ariz.
A hundred-ish teenagers kneeled astir him astatine Anderson Auto Group Field House, students summoned to the shot field, anxious to perceive the sensei speak. But Las Vegas Raiders linebacker Segun Olubi wanted to perceive their voices earlier campy began, grabbing the microphone to fto them know.
“I’m an vigor guy,” Olubi said, dressed successful a long-sleeved Raiders garment with matching achromatic pants, achromatic socks and orangish Nikes.
“So connected the number of three, we’re going to get the loudest outcry we tin perchance do. One, two, three.”
Silence from the students arsenic Olubi yelled, his look toward the ceiling and his arms extended, prompting immoderate laughs and different petition a fewer seconds later.
“We request immoderate energy. … On the number of three, the loudest outcry we got.”
Energy matched. Camp underway.
The unvarnished passionateness with which Olubi organized his shot campy successful his onetime hometown has steadied him done the rhythm of alteration that resulted successful a one-year free-agent woody with Las Vegas. An NAIA enlistee turned inferior assemblage transportation turned Division II starter turned Division I walk-on, Olubi, 26, is present a fifth-year unit of volition with a selfless tone and sterling smile.
The Raiders watched him artifact a punt disconnected the booming close ft of A.J. Cole successful their nonaccomplishment past twelvemonth to the Indianapolis Colts, seeing his special-teams prowess firsthand. His mother, Yemisi, a doc moving successful California’s Inland Empire, wherever helium besides erstwhile lived, watched him garbage to output his imagination arsenic they canvassed the state passim his youth.
“I don’t cognize however to picture it,” she said, cheesing aft the campy concluded pursuing 2 two-hour sessions past a break, the archetypal with simple schoolhouse boys and girls. Wearing a Bullheads Firebirds Flames shirt, a motion to Olubi’s Pop Warner team, she added: “The information that helium would privation to travel backmost present and deposit thing successful this community, it conscionable shows that he’s increasing into a bully man. A antheral who likes to springiness backmost and bring different radical on with him successful his journey.”
Campers were guided done stretches and drills by Olubi’s erstwhile coaches and teammates, Las Vegas borderline rusher Kwity Paye — his erstwhile teammate with the Indianapolis Colts — and kicker Kansei Matsuzawa among them. Afterward, the Raiders trio signed dozens and dozens of autographs, drafting retired grins they mirrored successful photos for which they posed alongside their pupils.
Pizza and waters were besides presented escaped of complaint similar the remainder of the camp, on with achromatic shirts adorned with the greater-than awesome successful achromatic crossed the front.
“It’s truly conscionable being greater than your circumstance,” Olubi explained lasting 6-foot-1, chock-full of musculus astatine 233 pounds. “Being greater than immoderate obstacle that comes toward you. And being capable to beryllium a pillar of airy successful your community, careless of what happens to you successful life.”
Regardless of nary Division I assistance offers.
Bullhead City became a basal of sorts for Olubi, calved successful Philadelphia with stints successful New Jersey and Minnesota’s Twin Cities — wherever his parents divorced and his parent did her occupational aesculapian residency — sandwiched astir 1 successful Corona, California.
Sports provided a consciousness of stableness and operation amid the changeless question successful his youth.
Basketball, shot and way and tract filled Olubi’s idle time, but thing resonates with him similar shot does. His parent bought him a Minnesota Vikings azygous for his simple school’s “pro day,” foreshadowing the adjacent 20 years … and counting.
“Since then, it’s conscionable been this passionateness for football,” said Yemisi Olubi, from whom helium and his brother, Gbenga, inherited their resilience — watching her grind done aesculapian school. “He was capable to instrumentality antithetic things from antithetic environments, make adaptability and besides larn however to integrate into antithetic groups of radical oregon teams.”
Olubi was successful 4th people erstwhile his household landed successful Bullhead City, wherever the Anderson Auto Group Field House hadn’t been conceptualized, overmuch little built. The godforsaken municipality of 44,493 tucked crossed the Nevada borderline and nestled alongside the Colorado River supported his start.
Hence wherefore helium came backmost to big his camp, whether helium played successful Las Vegas oregon not.
Said Randy Moreno, a manager astatine the campy who coached Olubi successful shot and hoops his freshman twelvemonth astatine Mohave High School — keeping successful interaction with him passim his career: “There was not a selfish bony successful body. Everything astir him is however helium tin springiness back. Even astatine that time, I would springiness him a thrust to signifier and it was similar ‘Coach, ahhh.’ I was similar ‘Man, you’re good.’ … Before helium was closer, helium was inactive going to travel back.”
The determination to Corona enrolled Olubi, past a sophomore, astatine Centennial High School, for which helium played crossed the defense, thriving besides connected peculiar teams. Sometimes a safety, linebacker oregon gunner, helium ne'er recovered a positional home.
That “probably didn’t assistance him retired a ton,” Huskies manager Matt Logan said, but it didn’t dim his passionateness oregon verve. “The gait and the strength helium played with is wherever I deliberation we started to spot of the separation of what helium could become,” adjacent if D-1 programs didn’t.
Without a D-1 scholarhip, Olubi made his mode to College of Idaho, a NAIA programme successful Caldwell, Idaho, for which helium played his freshman year. Then came a twelvemonth astatine Saddleback College, a inferior assemblage successful Mission Viejo, California, that led him arsenic a inferior to Harding College, a Division II schoolhouse successful Searcy, Arkansas.
All those stops and their corresponding coaches afforded him tangible takeaways helium has since applied to his pro career: enactment astatine Idaho, content astatine Saddleback, condemnation astatine Harding, helium said. If not for Harding’s discontinuation of his economics major, helium mightiness not person thought to locomotion connected astatine San Diego State.
“I deliberation astir that too,” Olubi said, championing his religion successful God. “I don’t harbor immoderate benignant of antagonistic sick volition towards anybody, due to the fact that everything happens for a reason.”
Olubi’s multi-positional inheritance eased his accommodation to San Diego State, wherever helium impressed connected coaches with his processing and velocity successful summation to his customary all-out effort. With a antiaircraft back’s burst and a linebacker’s thump, helium was an perfect acceptable for the “Aztec” spot, a hybrid safety-linebacker relation akin to the “Lobo” relation manned by erstwhile New Mexico prima (and Chicago Bears prima turned Pro Football Hall of Famer) Brian Urlacher.
Depth connected the defence — for which helium yet settled astatine weakside linebacker portion serving arsenic a standout connected peculiar teams — constricted Olubi to 7 games his elder year, compromised by COVID-19 and granting him a fifth-year assistance campaign.
“It was conscionable similar 1 of those things wherever similar — wherefore did it instrumentality this agelong to bash that?” said Olubi’s antiaircraft coordinator astatine San Diego State, Kurt Mattix, present Ohio’s antiaircraft coordinator. “Because they saw it. He’s beating corners and safeties and antiaircraft backs successful sprints due to the fact that helium didn’t cognize immoderate different velocity different than full-go.”
That’s successful portion wherefore Olubi’s teammates voted him skipper his elder season, the different portion being his committedness arsenic their teammate. He led by example, led with friendship, led with transportation — and the hard conversation.
“He tin look successful the reflector and cognize that helium was ever giving his champion successful everything helium did,” Mattix said. “Unbelievable idiosyncratic to beryllium around. Always had grin connected his face, unless helium was huffy astatine you due to the fact that you got aft him a small bit.”
Though 53 tackles successful 14 games, including 3.5 for nonaccomplishment positive a brace of sacks, weren’t capable to get Olubi drafted successful 2022, a 4.45-second 40-yard dash astatine his pro time helped him garner attraction from NFL teams. First from the San Francisco 49ers, past the Colts, for whom helium played the past 4 years.
Not that helium was bothered by that.
“Those hard times, erstwhile you’re benignant of learning to enactment by yourself, I learned that skill,” Olubi said. “I had learned to enactment successful the acheronian and fto that travel to light.”
And to metallic and black.
Las Vegas specials teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis said he’s “excited” to manager Olubi, calling him “twitchy,” a “difference maker” and noting helium has already near a favorable impression.
The Raiders spot him arsenic a peculiar teams standout. Bullhead City sees him arsenic a hometown hero.
“For him to travel backmost and to springiness into this kids and determination backmost into them, it’s great,” Moreno said. “A smaller area, it lets these kids cognize ‘If I person subject and hard work, I tin execute my goals arsenic well.’”
Contact Sam Gordon astatine sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon connected X.
English (US)·