 Okoye with the San Francisco 49ers in 2015 | |
| No. 78, 98 | |
|---|---|
| Position: | Defensive tackle |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | (1991-10-06)6 October 1991 (age 33) Croydon, London, England |
| Height: | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) |
| Weight: | 310 lb (141 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school: | London (UK) Whitgift |
| Undrafted: | 2013 |
| Career history | |
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |
Stats atPro Football Reference  | |
 Okoye in 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationality | British | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1991-10-06)6 October 1991 (age 33) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 138 kg (304 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Track and field | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event | Discus throw | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personalbest | 68.24 m | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Lawrence Okoye (born 6 October 1991) is a Britishtrack and field athlete and formerAmerican footballdefensive tackle. He is theBritish record holder in thediscus event. Okoye became the first ever British athlete to win a medal in Discus at a European Championships during Munich 2022. He has also playedrugby union.[1]
Born inCroydon in South London toNigerian parents,[2] Okoye was educated at St Mary's Roman Catholic Junior School, avoluntary aided Roman Catholic state primary school in Croydon, followed byWhitgift School, anindependent school for boys, also in Croydon.
Okoye is an honorary member of theSt Peter's College JCR, and has an offer fromthe University of Oxford to study law which he is keen to take up in the future.[3]
He played rugby union as a winger[4] forWhitgift School playing in the Daily Mail Schools Rugby Under 18 final at Twickenham in 2010, and was also a member of the academy teams of bothLondon Irish andLondon Wasps.
Okoye was arrested on 6 February 2019 as part of a reverse prostitution sting inShelby County, Alabama, four days before the kickoff of the Birmingham Iron's inaugural season.[5] The charges were later dropped.[6]
Okoye began training full-time in the discus in September 2010 after a promising career as a juniorrugby union player.[7] In his first international outing he came sixth inthe discus throw at the2010 World Junior Championships in Athletics. He won agold medal at the2011 European Athletics U23 Championships in July 2011 at the age of 19.
Later on that season, Okoye threw a new British record of 67.63m at the McCain Jumps & Throws Fest.[8] He then bettered that mark with another British record of 68.24m at the Hallesche Werfertage meeting in May 2012.[9]
In the2012 Summer Olympics, Okoye competed in thediscus, reaching the final with a throw of 65.28m. In the final, he finished in twelfth place with a throw of 61.03m. After the competition, he expressed disappointment with his placing in the final.[10]
After leaving American football, Okoye competed in the 2019Anniversary Games. This was his first competition since 2012.[6] His best result of 2019 was 60.80 m at the Olympic Stadium on 21 July 2019. In 2020, his season best was 65.15 m in Magdeburg and in 2021, 65.56 m in Winchester before he won the discus event at2021 European Athletics Team Championships. In 2022 he won the Silver medal in the Birmingham Commonwealth Games and Bronze in theEuropean Championships in Munich.
| Height | Weight | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 304 lb (138 kg) | 4.78 s | 1.67 s | 2.75 s | 4.65 s | 6.69 s | 36 in (0.91 m) | 10 ft 7 in (3.23 m) | 30 reps | |||
| All values from Central Florida Pro Day.[11] | ||||||||||||
In March 2013, Okoye announced his intentions to play in theNational Football League, despite having never played American football at school or university; he stated that five NFL teams expressed interest in him, and planned to sign after the2013 NFL draft.[12] At the NFL Super Regional Combine, Okoye ran the40-yard dash in 4.78 seconds, while scoring 36 inches on the vertical jump and 10 feet, 7 inches on the broad jump.[13][14] Okoye was signed on 27 April by theSan Francisco 49ers.[15]
On 27 August 2013, Okoye was placed onInjured Reserve after sustaining an injury in the pre-season.
On 31 August 2014, the 49ers announced that Okoye was added to the practice squad.[16]
On 31 August 2015, Okoye was waived in order for the 49ers to make the 53-man roster.
On 7 September 2015,Arizona Cardinals signed Okoye to their practice squad.[17]
On 21 October 2015, the Cardinals released Okoye from their practice squad.[18] Head coachBruce Arians said that a leading reason for Okoye's release was because Okoye parked his car in Arians' parking spot at team facilities.[19]
On 13 November 2015,New York Jets signed Okoye to their practice squad.[20]
Okoye signed a reserve/future contract on 11 January 2016.[21]
The Jets released Okoye on 1 June 2016.[22]
Cowboys signed Okoye on 8 June 2016,[23] but he was released on 3 September 2016 during final roster cuts.[24]
On 23 November 2016, Okoye was signed to the Bears' practice squad.[25]
On 12 January 2017, Okoye signed a reserve/future contract with the Dolphins.[26] He was waived on 2 September 2017.[27]
On 18 September 2017, Okoye signed to the practice squad ofMontreal Alouettes of theCanadian Football League. He was put on the active roster and played his first CFL game[28] on 29 September against the Calgary Stampeders, recording one tackle.[29] He was released on 8 October 2017[30] and re-signed by the Alouettes on 19 May 2018.[31]
On 12 October 2018, Okoye signed for theBirmingham Iron of theAlliance of American Football ahead of the inaugural season of the League in 2019.[32][33] He made the 52-man roster on 30 January 2019.[34] He was placed on injured reserve on 20 February 2019. The league ceased operations in April 2019.[35]
Oct 8 2017: MTL REM UNS INT Lawrence OKOYE (DL)
