Amobi Okoye is STILL 19
May 4, 2007 Amobi Okoye is 19, Athletes who don't stab people, DeMeco Ryans, Fluff, Super Mario
One of my favorite bits of NFL (or any sport, for that matter) writing is the human interest puff piece. Not because I need to be reminded that the people on my television are, in fact, actual human beings, mind you. Rather, I like them because they are full of completely useless nuggets of knowledge that you can later drop in casual sports conversation, thus making you seem like an extremely knowledgeable fan. (I realize that this appearance of knowledge may apply only within my group of NFL-obsessed friends. Whatever. I’ll take what I can get.)
I think we can all agree that pieces don’t get much puffier than this one about Manchild. There’s nothing really new in this article, but it neatly sums up every Amobi-Okoye-related tidbit we heard last weekend. (It also reminds us, in case we recently suffered tremendous brain damage and have forgotten everything (in which case, I doubt we could still read) that Mario Williams and DeMeco Ryans do, in fact, play defense for the Houston Texans. Good to know.) Anyway, to recap some of the article’s highlights:
- Manchild was walking a 7 months old and was pushing a chair across the room for fun by 1. (Oh, those wacky Nigerians… is there ANYTHING they won’t do for fun?!)
- Manchild started high school at 12, was an all-state football player as a 14-year-old senior, enrolled at Louisville at 16, and earned a Psych degree in 3 1/2 years.
- Manchild is 19. Still. That, apparently, has not changed since the draft.
- Manchild once smoked weed, though he regrets it. He does not regret being honest about it, though. He may or may not regret other things.
- Manchild will be an upgrade on the interior of the Texans defensive line. (This is good to know, because I would be upset if we had intentionally drafted a downgrade.)
The article says something else about Manchild’s dad having lived in Houston and his mom not being surprised that Manchild was the youngest player ever drafted. Consider yourself learned in the history of Manchild.
To answer your other question: Yes, I used this entire post as an excuse to beat the new nickname into your brain and hope it sticks. Manchild.
