Freedom Akinmoladun (born February 11, 1996) is an

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

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is p ...

for the

St. Louis BattleHawks The St. Louis BattleHawks are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. The team was founded by Vince McMahon’s Alpha Entertainment and is an owned-and-operated member of the new XFL owned by Dwayne Johnson’s Alpha ...

of the United Football League (UFL). He was signed by the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2019 following his college football career with the

Nebraska Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference, and the Cornhuskers compete in NCAA Divisi ...

Professional career

New York Giants

Akinmoladun signed with the

as an

following the

2019 NFL draft The 2019 NFL Draft was the 84th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2019 NFL season. The draft was held on April 25–27 in Nashville, Tennessee. The first round was held on April ...

on May 14, 2019. He was waived during final roster cuts on August 31, 2019, and signed to the team's practice squad the next day. He was released on November 12, 2019.

Cincinnati Bengals

Akinmoladun signed to the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The club's home ...

' practice squad on November 19, 2019. He was promoted to the active roster on December 14, 2019. He appeared in two games for the Bengals in the 2019 season, Weeks 16 and 17. Akinmoladun was waived during final roster cuts on September 5, 2020, and signed to the team's practice squad the next day. He was elevated to the team's active roster on September 17 for the team's week 2 game against the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

and reverted to the practice squad the next day. He was elevated again to the team's active roster on October 3 for the week 4 game against the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team pla ...

, and reverted to the practice squad after the game. He was placed on the practice squad/

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

list by the team on November 18, 2020, and restored to the practice squad on December 2. He signed a reserve/future contract on January 4, 2021. He was waived on August 22, 2021.

Tennessee Titans

On August 24, 2021, Akinmoladun was claimed off waivers by the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

. He was waived on August 29, 2021.

New York Jets

On December 21, 2021, Akinmoladun was signed to the New York Jets practice squad. He appeared in one game, which was Week 16 against the Jaguars, for the Jets in the 2021 season.

Philadelphia Stars

Akinmoladun was selected with the sixth pick of the second round of the

2022 USFL draft The 2022 USFL Draft, also known as the 2022 USFL Player Selection Meeting, was the player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams for the 2022 USFL season. The draft was held on February 22–23, 2022, with results released throug ...

by the Philadelphia Stars.

St. Louis BattleHawks

The

selected Akinmoladun in the first round of the

2023 XFL Supplemental Draft The 2023 XFL Draft, is the player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams of the 2020 reboot of the XFL (2020), XFL, and the second draft in that league's history following the 2020 XFL Draft, 2020 draft. The draft was held on N ...

on January 1, 2023. He re-signed with the team on January 31, 2024.

Personal life

Freedom's older brother, Olu'Kayode Akinmoladun, played college football at

Nebraska–Kearney The University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK) is a campus of the public University of Nebraska system and located in Kearney, Nebraska. It was founded in 1905 as the Nebraska State Normal School at Kearney. History In March 1903 the Nebraska Stat ...

before going on to play professionally for various indoor football teams, including the

Green Bay Blizzard Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combin ...

, Texas Revolution, and

Omaha Beef The Omaha Beef is an indoor football team and a charter member of the Champions Indoor Football (CIF) league. Based in Omaha, Nebraska, the Beef play their home games at Liberty First Credit Union Arena in nearby Ralston. History First 13 seas ...

; additionally, Freedom's younger brother, Justice Akinmoladun, was playing college football at

Washburn Washburn (alternatively Wasseburne, Wasseborne, Wasshebourne, Wassheborne, Washbourne, Washburne, Washborne, Washborn, Wasborn, Washbon) is a toponymic surname, probably of Old English origin, with likely Anglo-Norman and Norman-French influenc ...

as of 2022.

References

External links

Nebraska Cornhuskers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Akinmoladun, Freedom 1996 births Living people People from Grandview, Missouri Players of American football from Jackson County, Missouri Sportspeople from the Kansas City metropolitan area American football defensive tackles Nebraska Cornhuskers football players New York Giants players Cincinnati Bengals players Tennessee Titans players New York Jets players Philadelphia Stars (2022) players St. Louis Battlehawks players