David Onyemata (born November 13, 1992) is a Nigerian professional

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 ...

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for the

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of the

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(NFL). He played

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for the

Manitoba Bisons The Manitoba Bisons are the athletic teams that represent the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The football team plays at Princess Auto Stadium, the soccer team plays at the outdoor soccer field on campus, track and field te ...

Early life

Onyemata is a native of

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

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, ...

, where he attended the

Chrisland Schools Chrisland Schools is a conglomerate of schools that has provided education for nursery, primary and secondary school students in Nigeria, with its schools spread across Lagos and Abuja. History The first Chrisland School was founded on 3 Octob ...

but he graduated from Rainbow College. He immigrated, on his own, to

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in 2011 to attend college the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Founded in 1877, it is the first university of Western Canada. Both by total student enrolment and campus area, the University of ...

University career

Onyemata had never seen a

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game until he came to Winnipeg, but he became a standout player for the

. He won the 2015 J. P. Metras Trophy as the top down lineman in

CIS football U Sports football is the highest level of amateur play of Canadian football and operates under the auspices of U Sports, Canada's governing body for university sports. Twenty-seven teams from Canadian universities are divided into four athlet ...

, was invited to play in the

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, and became the top Canadian prospect in the 2016 draft.

Professional career

New Orleans Saints

Onyemata was selected by the

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in the fourth round of the

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as the 120th overall pick. He was the first player from the University of Manitoba ever selected for the

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, and the twelfth NFL draft pick from the CIS (now U Sports). The Saints traded their fifth round picks for 2016 and

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in order to draft Onyemata. He was also selected by the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 19 ...

in the fourth round of the 2016 CFL Draft. In 2018, Onyemata played in all 16 games with four starts, recording 35 tackles, 4.5 sacks, and a forced fumble. Onyemata was suspended the first game of the 2019 season for violating the league's substances of abuse policy. He was reinstated to the active roster on September 10, 2019. On March 18, 2020, Onyemata signed a three-year, $27 million contract extension with the Saints. In Week 9 against the

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 ...

on '' Sunday Night Football'', Onyemata recorded his first career interception off a pass thrown by

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during the 38–3 win. On March 3, 2021, Onyemata agreed to convert part of his $7 million base salary into a signing bonus to free up cap space for New Orleans. On July 16, Onyemata was suspended six games by the NFL after testing positive for a banned substance.

Atlanta Falcons

On March 16, 2023, Onyemata signed a three-year, $35 million contract with the

, reuniting him with his former Saints position coach, Ryan Nielsen, who was named the Falcons

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

References

External links

Atlanta Falcons bio

Manitoba Bisons bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Onyemata, David 1992 births Living people American football defensive tackles Atlanta Falcons players Canadian football defensive linemen Manitoba Bisons football players New Orleans Saints players Nigerian players of American football Nigerian players of Canadian football Players of American football from Lagos