Colts Dayo Odeyingbo breaks out in front of 13 family members who've never seen him play

FRANKFURT, Germany — A breakout day has been coming for Colts defensive lineman Dayo Odeyingbo.

Even if a lot of people didn’t see it on the horizon.

Even if it felt like it was always beyond the reach of Odeyingbo’s incredible wingspan, one of the reasons Colts general manager Chris Ballard coveted the Vanderbilt product so deeply in the NFL Draft a couple of years ago.

Odeyingbo could see it coming this time.

Willed it to happen. When the Colts landed in Germany this week, they were finally within reach of a handful of players' families, loved ones who live in Europe and rarely have a chance to see their kin play in the NFL.

Odeyingbo had 13 family members at Deutsche Bank Park for Sunday’s 10-6 win over the Patriots.

None of them have ever seen him play.

“Even leading up, since I knew they were coming, I’ve been kind of manifesting it, preparing, getting my mind right to be able to go here and put on a big performance for them,” Odeyingbo said. “It all came to life.”

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Odeyingbo set the tone for the Colts defense in Sunday's 10-6 win over New England.

Overwhelming up front, Odeyingbo sacked Mac Jones in the Indianapolis red zone to hold the Patriots to a field goal on New England’s opening drive, sacked him again to end a promising New England drive to start the second quarter, walked back onto the field to start the next series and sacked Jones again.

A spectacular performance, the kind Ballard hinted at Odeyingbo having when the Colts used a second-round pick on the Vanderbilt product in the 2021 draft, even though he was recovering from a torn Achilles tendon at the time.

Odeyingbo’s career understandably got off to a slow start because of that Achilles tendon, and by the time he was fully ready to make his mark, the 2022 season had gone off the rails. Odeyingbo took a big step in the final month and a half of 2022, but few noticed.

He’s largely followed it up this season, making three sacks in the first nine games and ranking third on the team in pressures.

“For me, it's the constant work he puts into his craft each and every week,” Colts defensive tackle DeForest Buckner said. “He gets close, and just to continue to stay patient and not press or stress about getting sacks and just continuing to work each and every day, not complaining, then taking advantage of those one-on-one opportunities.”

But it was always going to take a game like this to make people outside the Colts building take notice. Odeyingbo now leads a streaky Indianapolis pass rush with six sacks, firmly establishing himself as a player on the rise, and he has 9.5 sacks over his last 14 games, the kind of numbers that would make him a star over a single season.

Odeyingbo wasn’t thinking about any of that after Sunday’s breakout performance.

“This is the most family I've had at a game, probably, in my whole life,” Odeyingbo said. “I think I had, like, 13 family members here, so I'm just happy to be able to go out there and be able to give them a show.”

Odeyingbo’s parents, Gary and Betty, and his brother, Dare, have seen him play in the United States several times.

But his uncle, Ayo Odeyingbo, lives in London. Another uncle, Segun Odeyingbo, lived in Germany for a long time. All of their kids live overseas.

“A lot of them are watching their first football game at any level,” Odeyingbo said.

Before this week, Odeyingbo had only met his uncles once before.

His parents were born in Nigeria and ended up emigrating to the United States. When Gary, Odeyingbo’s father, was young, he was separated from Ayo in foster care. According to Odeyingbo, they didn’t see each other for 40 years.

“They didn’t reunite until I was a junior in high school,” Odeyingbo said. “That was the first time I saw them and his kids, my younger cousins. This was the second time.”

The same goes for Segun, who lived in Germany, and still has a son going to boarding school in Germany.

Odeyingbo saw them for the second time Saturday, when the Colts players had a brief break from game preparation to enjoy Germany.

None really know football. A few try to watch his games in their home countries, but the time difference makes it challenging.

The Colts’ trip to Germany was a golden opportunity.

““They’re just excited,” Odeyingbo said. “They’re just happy to see me out there, and they cheer whenever they see my name called.”

Odeyingbo’s name kept getting called on Sunday, over and over again.

“I would be calling up my family every week,” Buckner said. “Make sure they’re at the game. I’d pay for it, you know what I mean? Front and center.”

Aside from the jokes, Buckner knows how much a game like that meant to Odeyingbo.

Not only because it showed everybody what they’ve been missing on Odeyingbo, but because he got to do it in front of people he loves, people who rarely get this opportunity.

“I kind of felt like it was a little personal,” Odeyingbo said. “It meant a little bit more today.”

And he made it count.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Colts vs. Patriots: Dayo Odeyingbo breaks out in front of family