Rocky’s World: Kehinde Oginni Hassan’s long road to Kansas City

Kansas Metropolis Chiefs undrafted free agent Kehinde Oginni Hassan — or “Kenny DnexT.O.” as he refers to himself in his exercise movies — had goals of being the following Terrell Owens.

Relying on the place you look on the Web, Oginni is listed as a large receiver, tight finish or defensive finish.

Although the Chiefs initially introduced his signing as a decent finish, they’ve since listed him as a defensive finish. The unique itemizing could have been an error. The Chiefs have assigned him jersey quantity 67, which is reserved for offensive and defensive linemen. Additional proof of this may be present in NFL Nework’s “Undiscovered” collection about Oginni and his fellow Worldwide Pathway gamers. Within the second episode (which aired on April 25), they listed him as a defensive lineman.

The delivery of Kenny DnexT.O.

Oginni was born in Abakaliki, Nigeria — 6,611 miles from Kansas Metropolis.

However the highway that led Oginni to Arrowhead Stadium was for much longer. It’s a narrative that spans three continents and is stuffed with pleasure — and ache.

Up till 2014, Oginni was a basketball participant who had by no means stepped on a soccer discipline. However when a buddy noticed how bodily he was on the court docket, he recommended that he strive his hand at soccer. Standing 6 toes 7, Oginni initially thought he was too lanky to play soccer.

Issues modified when he was 15. Oginni acquired an invite to attend a sports activities camp that was sponsored by the Ejike Ugboaja Basis. It was an eight-hour bus journey from Oginni’s dwelling to Nigeria’s capital metropolis of Abuja, however the publicity to the sport — and the prospect to be seen by American coaches — was a chance he couldn’t cross up.

“I believed, ‘wow, that’s an excellent alternative for me to go there and study extra concerning the recreation’,” Kehinde explains.

Whereas on the camp, Oginni was satisfied by the teaching employees to strive his hand at soccer.

It was love at first snap.

His dimension and size made him a mismatch at broad receiver. He knew immediately that soccer was his future.

“I’m not simply enjoying this recreation.” Oginni as soon as mentioned in certainly one of his YouTube movies, “I’m made for this… God made me to play soccer.”

The camp concluded on June 10, 2014. Oginni and his teammates boarded their bus and waved goodbye to their coaches. However on the journey dwelling, tragedy struck. The bus was concerned in an car accident during which three of Oginni’s teammates had been killed — and which left him with extreme accidents.

He spent the following two months within the hospital. The occasion had a profound impact on him. Whereas some would use it as a motive to stop, Oginni used it as a catalyst and motivation.

“And I mentioned to my God, thanks for saving me. Thanks for saving my dream. I do know you’re holding me for a goal. And I promised myself by no means to surrender. [I am] not giving up on the dream, [because] of the incident of June tenth, it’s the one factor I can do to maintain the souls of my misplaced teammates completely satisfied. I suppose I’ll make them completely satisfied for the remainder of my life as a result of I ain’t giving up.”

Oginni spent his free time operating routes, figuring out and coaching together with his native soccer group on the Ahmadu Bello College in Zaria, Nigeria.

Organized in 2009, the A.B.U. Titans had been coached by their founder: former Nigerian rugby participant Amadi Chukwuemeka. There had by no means been an American soccer group in Nigeria — or for that matter, wherever in West Africa. With none opponents to play, the group quietly practiced on the college campus for seven years, ready for the day they might get to play their first recreation.

“Instantly, I introduced some youngsters collectively and began grooming them,” mentioned Chukwuemeka. “We had been doing all these actions silently. For the previous seven years, we’ve got been educating the children we chosen the rudiments of the sport.”

Oginni’s first recreation: Kenny DnexT.O. goes off

In 2014 — proper across the time Oginni was discovering the sport — one other Nigerian soccer group was being born in Lagos, greater than 500 miles away. Within the Lagos Marines — underneath the management of German head coach Dominic Muller — the Titans had lastly discovered their match. However because of the distance between the 2 groups — and the time it took to get the Marines off the bottom — the 2 groups wouldn’t meet till March fifth, 2016.

The ABU Titans received the inaugural recreation 26-14. Oginni had six receptions for 106 yards and two touchdowns.

WARNING: The music within the video accommodates express lyrics.

From then to now

Within the years that adopted, Oginni continued his coaching with the ABU Titans, commonly posting exercise movies on YouTube.

On this Titans photograph — taken a couple of months after the victory over the Marines — Oginni is on the far left.

One of many primary causes Oginni posted his exercises on-line was that he hoped to draw the eye of a faculty program in the USA.

His plan labored. He attracted the eye of a number of stateside faculty applications. However because of the irregularity of the game in Nigeria — and the excessive price related to getting a visa — his functions to play in America had been denied on a number of events.

For lots of gamers, this might have been sufficient for them to surrender. However not Oginni — as a result of until you forgot…

“I’m not simply enjoying this recreation. I’m made for this… God made me to play soccer.”

Undeterred, Oginni continued to work out with the ABU Titans and publish movies of himself making one-handed catches.

After which final yr — after seven years of grinding in relative obscurity — alternative got here knocking at Oginni’s door. Former New York Giants defensive finish Osi Umenyiora (who can be of Nigerian descent) arrived in Abuja, saying that he was placing on a camp and holding tryouts for the NFL’s Worldwide Participant Pathway program.

“Instituted in 2017, this system goals to offer elite worldwide athletes the chance to compete on the NFL degree, enhance their abilities, and finally earn a spot on an NFL roster. “

Out of all the members, Umenyiora would solely be choosing three gamers to maneuver on to the following section: coaching in London within the hope that they may showcase their expertise to NFL scouts and earn a spot on a roster.

On the ultimate day of the camp, Umenyiora known as Oginni in to inform him the excellent news: he could be shifting on to London.

For six months, Oginni and his IPP counterparts educated and studied, getting ready for his or her probability to impress NFL scouts.

Then in March, Oginni obtained his shot. He and his fellow IPP members traveled to Arizona State College to participate of their Professional Day.

The Chiefs favored what they noticed, signing Oginni as an undrafted free agent shortly after the draft.

What’s subsequent for Oginni?

Primarily based on his measurables alone, Oginni is an intriguing prospect.

Standing 6-feet-7, he ran a 4.8 second 40-yard-dash on the Professional Day — sooner than each Tyreke Smith and Kingsley Engabare ran on the NFL Mix.

Even with these positives, Oginni is the longest of longshots to make Kansas Metropolis’s 53-man roster. The very first thing he has going towards him is that he has by no means performed defensive finish earlier than. As a receiving prospect, he was uncooked — however as an edge rusher, he’ll have to be constructed from the bottom up. And at 225 kilos, he’s additionally too skinny to play edge. He’ll must placed on not less than 40 if he desires to play within the NFL.

At greatest, I believe the Chiefs will attempt to develop him by stashing him on their apply squad this yr.

However Umenyiora chosen Oginni for a motive. And keep in mind: there’s a connection between Umenyiora and Kansas Metropolis defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, who was his defensive coordinator when he performed for the Giants. Maybe Umenyiora gave Spagnuolo a heads up on Oginni’s potential and instructed the Chiefs to signal him.

One factor is for sure: I wouldn’t rely Oginni out.

He has crossed the globe in pursuit of his dream — and to meet the promise he made to his misplaced teammates.

To cite the person himself… he was made for this.