Christopher Kelechi Paul (born November 19, 1998) is an American professional football guard for the Washington Commanders of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). 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 ...

for the Tulsa Golden Hurricane and was drafted by the Commanders in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL draft. Paul is the grandson of the former Nigerian president Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi and the older brother of NFL offensive tackle Patrick Paul. He has released R&B music under the stage name The Seventh.

Early life

Paul was ranked as a twostar recruit by

247Sports 247Sports is an American network of websites that focus mainly on college recruiting, athletic recruitment in college football and college basketball, basketball. It is owned and operated by Paramount Global, Paramount. The website hosts a large ...

coming out of high school. He enrolled at The University of Tulsa in 2017 and played for the Tulsa Golden Hurricane football team, graduating with a bachelor's degree in computer information systems in May 2021. Paul played in the 2022 Senior Bowl for the American team.

Professional career

Paul was selected by the Washington Commanders in the seventh round (230th overall) of the 2022 NFL draft and signed his four-year rookie contract on May 6, 2022. He made his first career start in the final game of his rookie season. In the 2023 offseason, Paul lost out to Saahdiq Charles for the starting left guard position. After Charles was placed on injured reserve, Paul took over as starter in Week 8.

Personal life

Paul's grandfather is Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, who served as the President of Nigeria in 1966 before being assassinated. His younger brother Patrick was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the second round of 2024 NFL draft. Paul has released R&B music under the stage name The Seventh.

References

External links

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Washington Commanders profile

Tulsa Golden Hurricane profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paul, Chris 1998 births 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen African-American male singer-songwriters American football offensive guards American football offensive tackles American rhythm and blues singers American players of American football of Nigerian descent Living people Musicians from Houston Players of American football from Houston Singer-songwriters from Texas Tulsa Golden Hurricane football players Washington Commanders players