Carl Isioma Ihenacho (born May 28, 1988) is a former

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

. He played college football at

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

Early life

Carl Ihenacho was born in

Carson, California Carson is a city in the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay and the Los Angeles Harbor Region, Harbor regions of Los Angeles County, California, located south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately away from Los Angeles International ...

and is of Nigerian descent. Although Ihenacho's mother did not allow Carl or his younger brother

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

to play

Pop Warner Glenn Scobey Warner (April 5, 1871 – September 7, 1954), most commonly known as Pop Warner, was an American college football coach at various institutions who is responsible for several key aspects of the modern game. Included among his inn ...

football, Duke Ihenacho joined the football team at Junipero Serra High School at

Gardena, California Gardena is a city located in the South Bay region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 61,027 at the 2020 census, up from 58,829 at the 2010 census. Until 2014, the U.S. census cited the City of Gardena as the ...

in senior year. At Serra, Carl Ihenacho played the defensive end and tight end positions. Ihenacho was also a second-team all-league pick and his team's Rookie of the Year in 2005.

College career

Ihenacho played at

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

and started 31 games. He was a two-time second-team All-

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the Western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, Texas, Utah and Washington (state), Washington. Due to ...

honoree during his four seasons at San Jose State. He ranks number five on the university’s career list for tackles for loss (33.5) and is tied for fifth in quarterback sacks with 17. In December 2009, he graduated one semester early with a bachelor's degree in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

. Carl Ihenacho played at San Jose State with his younger brother

Duke Ihenacho Duke Uba Ihenacho (born June 16, 1989) is a former American football Safety (gridiron football position), safety. He played college football at San Jose State Spartans football, San Jose State. He signed with the Denver Broncos as an undrafted fr ...

from the 2007 to 2009 seasons. In 2008,

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

ranked Carl and Duke Ihenacho as one of the top ten brother combinations in college football for being among the top defensive players in FBS football.

Professional career

On January 26, 2011, Ihenacho signed a reserve/future contract with the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

. Ihenacho participated in training camp with the Chargers until being waived on September 3, 2011. On December 7, 2011, Ihenacho signed with the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

practice squad. Ihenacho debuted professionally in Week 1 of the 2012 season (September 10), a ''

Monday Night Football ''Monday Night Football'' (often abbreviated as ''MNF'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that air on Monday nights. It originally ran on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from 1970 NFL season, 1970 t ...

'' game and 22-14 home loss to the

. In Week 2 (September 16), a 35-13 loss to 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 ...

, Ihenacho recorded his first tackle as a professional. On September 25, 2012, the Raiders waived Ihenacho, but re-signed him to the practice squad two days later. On October 2, 2012, the Raiders cut Ihenacho. Ihenacho retired from football to become a personal trainer after being released.

References

External links

Oakland Raiders bio

San Jose State Spartans bio

NFL combine results
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ihenacho, Carl 1988 births Living people Nigerian players of American football American football linebackers American players of American football of Nigerian descent Oakland Raiders players Players of American football from Carson, California San Jose State Spartans football players American exercise instructors Junípero Serra High School (Gardena, California) alumni San Diego Chargers players