Anthony Abayoni Alabi (; born February 16, 1981) is an American

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

and former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tendency to cause acts of violence by the ...

. He was selected by the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

in the fifth round of the

2005 NFL draft The 2005 NFL draft, the 70th in league history, took place on April 23 and 24, 2005 NFL season, 2005. The draft was held at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City and was televised for the 26th consecutive year, with coverage on E ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

at TCU. Alabi was also a member of the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

and

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

. Since 2010, Alabi has been acting. His most recent role is in the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

series ''Family Reunion''.

Early life

Alabi attended Antonian College Preparatory High School in San Antonio, where he was a four-year

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

, and also lettered in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

and

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

(

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

and discus). He earned all-district and all-state honors in football and led the team in sacks (13) and

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position) A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent ...

(82) as a senior. He was a two-time state champion in track. Alabi was inducted in the 2013–14 Antonian Athletics Hall of Fame class.

College career

Alabi attended the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...

for a short time in 1999 before heading to Texas Christian University (TCU), where he was a four-year letterman, starting his final three seasons and making 35 career starts in college. He was a

defensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line (D ...

before moving to the offensive line during his

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically ...

season in 2000. He started all 12 games at left tackle as a sophomore, as TCU led the

Conference USA Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. CUSA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas. Mem ...

by averaging 203.2 yards rushing per outing. As a junior, he was part of a line that paved the way for an offense that averaged more than 200 net rushing yards and 200 net passing yards per game – one of only six Division I schools to accomplish that feat. In his senior season, the offense averaged 32.9 points per game. He earned first-team All-Conference USA accolades each of his final two years, during which time he opened a combined 23 games.

Professional career

Miami Dolphins

Alabi was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the fifth round (162nd overall) of the 2005 NFL draft by former

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

Nick Saban Nicholas Lou Saban Jr. ( ; born October 31, 1951) is an American sportscaster and former Professional gridiron football, professional and college football coach. He serves as an analyst for ESPN's ''College GameDay (football TV program), Colleg ...

. The pick used to select him was acquired from the

in the deal that sent

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

Patrick Surtain to the Chiefs. On July 22, the Dolphins signed Alabi to a four-year contract that included a signing bonus of $158,000. Alabi was tried at left tackle during

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events ...

, and shortly after returning to practice from an ankle injury he was shifted to right tackle. He played in a reserve role during the team's five preseason games, and was inactive for all 16 regular season contests. He nursed an elbow injury during November which caused him to miss practice time. Alabi saw his first regular season action in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, playing in six games during the year. He made his NFL debut in a reserve role on October 1 at the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

. He also saw extensive action on December 17 at the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

following injury to Damion McIntosh. On February 11, Alabi was one of nine players let go by the Dolphins.

Kansas City Chiefs

On February 13, just two days after being waived by the Dolphins, Alabi was claimed by the Kansas City Chiefs. Alabi was released by the Chiefs on August 30, 2008.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

After spending the 2008 regular season out of football, Alabi was signed to a reserve/future contract by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on January 6, 2009. Alabi was released by the Buccaneers on September 5, 2009.

Acting career

Alabi retired from the NFL in 2009 to pursue a career in acting. He is a series lead in ''

Family Reunion A family reunion is an occasion when many members of an extended family congregate. Sometimes reunions are held regularly, for example on the same date of every year. A typical family reunion will assemble for a meal, some recreation and discuss ...

'', a

original series also starring

Loretta Devine Loretta Devine (born August 21, 1949) is an American actress. She is known for numerous roles across stage and screen. Her most high profile roles include Lorrell Robinson in the original Broadway production of ''Dreamgirls'' (1981), Gloria Mat ...

, Tia Mowry, and Richard Roundtree, which released in July 2019. He also has recurring roles in '' Raven's Home'' and '' Bosch'' as well as guest star roles in '' Malibu Rescue'', '' Shameless'', and '' Insecure''. He also played Guldan in the

Hearthstone ''Hearthstone'' is a 2014 Online game, online digital collectible card game, digital collectible card video game produced by Blizzard Entertainment, released under the free-to-play model. Originally subtitled ''Heroes of Warcraft'', ''Hearthsto ...

"Mulligans" web series by

Blizzard Entertainment Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and Video game publisher, publisher based in Irvine, California, and a subsidiary of Activision Blizzard. Originally founded in 1991, the company is best known for producing the h ...

Filmography

Television

Video games

Personal life

Alabi's father is from

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

and his mother is from

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

. He is a first cousin of Houston Texans defensive end N. D. Kalu. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in criminal justice with a minor in business at Texas Christian and later, while in the NFL, a Master of Liberal Arts with a criminology focus. Alabi is married to Caroline, a Pilates instructor. They have two children.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alabi, Anthony Players of American football from San Antonio American football offensive tackles Navy Midshipmen football players TCU Horned Frogs football players Miami Dolphins players Kansas City Chiefs players 1981 births Living people American players of American football of Nigerian descent American actors of Puerto Rican descent Tampa Bay Buccaneers players