Chetachi Ozougwu (born January 4, 1988) is an American 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 ...

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 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 ...

Rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

and was selected with the final pick of the seventh round of the

2011 NFL draft The 2011 NFL draft was the 76th installment of the annual National Football League draft, NFL draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Rad ...

by 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 was also a member of the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

and

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

Early life

Ozougwu graduated from

Alief Taylor High School Alief Taylor High School is a public high school in the Alief Independent School District. It is located in an unincorporated area in the Alief community of Harris County, near Houston, Texas, United States. Opened in 2001, Alief Taylor is th ...

. Ozougwu was selected to the All-District 18-5A and All Greater Houston teams, All-Academic District and Texas top 100 list. Ozougwu finished his senior year with 117 tackles, 19 tackles for a loss and 5 sacks. Ozougwu was selected to the 2007 Texas vs Louisiana All-Star game. Also lettered in track and basketball.

College career

He played

while amassing 197 total tackles and 11 sacks. In 2007, he earned Freshman All-American honors from The Sporting News and C-USA Honors. He received numerous athletic and academic awards during his time at Rice University. He was named to the ESPN Academic All-District VI Football Team in 2010, after posting a 3.41 GPA while majoring in Economics. He was one of 30 student-athletes in the country selected for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. He was named to the Arthur Ashe Sports Scholar Award 2nd Team and the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team in 2010. He was also named to the Commissioners Honor Roll each year at Rice. As a senior at Rice University, he received the Outstanding Senior Award presented by the Rice Student Association for service, leadership, and academic achievement.

Professional career

Houston Texans

He was selected with the last pick in the seventh round of the

by the

, making him Mr. Irrelevant. On August 15, 2011, he made his first appearance in an NFL preseason game against the

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

on ''

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 ...

''.

Chicago Bears

On April 11, 2012, Ozougwu signed with the Bears. During his preseason debut against the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

, Ozougwu sacked former Bear

Caleb Hanie Caleb Jeffrey Hanie (born September 11, 1985) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback. He played college football at Colorado State Rams football, Colorado State and was signed by the Chicago Bears as an undraf ...

, though the Broncos would go on to win 31–3. Ozougwu had an impressive preseason by leading the Bears in sacks during the 2012 preseason with three making the 53 man roster. On April 15, 2014, Ozougwu was waived. He appeared in nine games over the past two seasons, recording 9 tackles, one sack, one tackle-for-loss, one forced fumble and five special teams tackles. Ozougwu registered 6 tackles, 1 sack and 1 forced fumble during the 2013 season.

New Orleans Saints

On May 18, 2014, Ozougwu signed a contract with the

. On July 23, 2014, the Saints placed Ozougwu on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury. In March 2015, the Saints decided to part ways with Ozougwu after he failed his season ending physical with an undisclosed injury.

References

External links

Rice Owls bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ozougwu, Cheta 1988 births Living people Players of American football from Houston American people of Igbo descent Igbo sportspeople American players of American football of Nigerian descent American football defensive ends American football linebackers Rice Owls football players Houston Texans players 21st-century American sportsmen Chicago Bears players New Orleans Saints players