How one of the youngest Eagles Moro Ojomo plans to adjust to the NFL
How one of the youngest Eagles plans to adjust to life in the NFL originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The crazy thing is that Moro Ojomo began college when he was 16.
The crazier thing is that it wasn’t a big deal.
Ojomo lived in Lagos, Nigeria, until he was 8, when his family moved to California. He was already on track to graduate from high school at 16.
“I started kindergarten when I was 3,” Ojomo said. “I was in a British school (in Nigeria), and from my understanding you start school kind of younger and you go one or two years in a college preparatory program so I just kind of stayed (on the same course) when I moved to America to stay at the same age with the same grade.
“It was normal. I went through the ages with everybody else and my family raised me to be in that situation and I had a great time.”
Ojomo, the Eagles’ rookie seventh-round pick, played five years at Texas, but he’s still only 21 and the third-youngest player on the Eagles’ roster — only Kelee Ringo and Eli Ricks are younger.
He may only be 21 and he may be a long shot — every seventh-round pick is — but Ojomo is an intriguing 6-foot-3, 285-pound combo lineman with enough potential that he’ll be worth a long look this summer.
“I think getting drafted by such an organization that has such a rich history, I don’t think I could have come to a better spot,” he said. “Funny enough, when I was a young child I remember really loving Reggie White and I totally forgot about Jerome Brown but I saw it out there (in the NovaCare Complex hallway) and I think I watched a documentary (about him). Brian Dawkins is another guy I was really fond of, Randall Cunningham.
“The Eagles in hindsight, I always thought they were a really cool organization, a really cool team.”
Of course, Brown died 14 years before Ojomo was born and White retired six years before he was born.
But thanks to YouTube and NFL Network highlights, those all-time Eagles defensive linemen made quite an impression on young Ojomo.
Now he wants to make his mark with the same organization that White and Brown starred for three decades ago.
“I want to come in and contribute,” Ojomo said. “I want to come in and learn. This is a great organization with a great D-line with just great people, great culture. Everything. I just want to come in here and contribute as much as I possibly can and ultimately learn and keep increasing that. I don’t ever want to be stagnant.
“I’m ready to go and compete, ready to work, ready to take it to another level. … Whatever the coaches want me to do, I can pick it up and do it at a high level.”
Time will tell whether Ojomo has what it takes to work his way into a crowded defensive line rotation, to make the 53-man roster or even stick on the practice squad.
But, man, you have to love his attitude.
“I’m just always excited to go to work,” he said. “I kind of live life with a competitive edge. I want to compete. You’ve got one life to live so why not compete? Why not shoot for the moon, aim for the stars?
“I love competition. There’s a saying, ‘High tide raises all ships,’ you know what I mean? Let’s go. I want to compete.”
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