Ikemefuna Chinedum "IK" Enemkpali (born July 3, 1991) is a former

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 ...

. He was drafted by the New York Jets in the sixth round of the

2014 NFL Draft The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New Y ...

. He played college football at

Louisiana Tech Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activi ...

. Enemkpali is most known due to his altercation with quarterback

Geno Smith Eugene Cyril "Geno" Smith III (born October 10, 1990) is an American football quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at West Virginia, leading the Mountaineers to multiple bowl gam ...

, when he punched Smith in the jaw over a $1,200 plane ticket dispute, $600 of which was to be reimbursed. The punch broke Smith's jaw and led to the release of Enemkpali.

Early years

Enemkpali was born in Pflugerville,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, on July 3, 1991, to

Igbo Igbo may refer to: * Igbo people, an ethnic group of Nigeria * Igbo language, their language * anything related to Igboland, a cultural region in Nigeria See also * Ibo (disambiguation) * Igbo mythology * Igbo music * Igbo art * * Igbo-Ukwu, a t ...

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

immigrants. He attended

Pflugerville High School Pflugerville High School is a public high school located in Pflugerville, Texas. In 2017, the school was a Top-10 Finalist in Reader's Digest ''Nicest Places in America'' contest. Athletics List of sports * Baseball * Basketball, Boys * Baske ...

in Texas, where he played for the Panthers football team. Enemkpali was selected to the All-District 25-5A first-team and all-Central Texas third-team by the American Statesman. He had 64 tackles and 14 sacks in his senior season in high school.

College career

Enemkpali attended

Louisiana Tech University Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activ ...

from 2009 to 2013. He was selected to the 2012 First-team All-WAC and All-Louisiana First-team in his junior season. He was named as the 2012 Fred Dean Defensive Player of the Year in junior season. He was selected 2013 First-team All-Conference USA and All-Louisiana First-team following his senior season. He was selected as the 2013 Willie Roaf Lineman of the Year in his senior season.

Professional career

New York Jets

Enemkpali was selected by the New York Jets in the sixth round (210th overall) of the

. In his rookie season, he appeared in 6 games, making 3 tackles and defending 2 passes. On August 11, 2015, Enemkpali got into an altercation with quarterback

in the locker room, regarding $600 Smith allegedly owed Enemkpali. Enemkpali punched Smith in his face, strong enough to break his jaw. The Jets released Enemkpali shortly thereafter.

Buffalo Bills

On August 12, 2015, one day after being

waived A waiver is the voluntary relinquishment or surrender of some known right or privilege. Regulatory agencies of state departments or the federal government may issue waivers to exempt companies from certain regulations. For example, a United S ...

by the Jets, Enemkpali was claimed by the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division ...

, who had hired

Rex Ryan Rex Ashley Ryan (born December 13, 1962) is an American former football coach and analyst. Ryan was formerly the head coach of the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL), and also held various coaching positions ...

(the Jets' head coach in 2014) as their head coach that year. He was released by the Bills on September 4, 2015, but signed to the practice squad a few days later. On September 10, nearly a month after attacking Smith, the NFL suspended Enemkpali for four games. On September 11, 2015, the Bills promoted Enemkpali to their 53-man roster; he was placed on the reserve/suspended list on the following day. He played 11 games in 2015 with 13 tackles. On August 12, 2016, Enemkpali got into an altercation with offensive lineman and teammate

Cyrus Kouandjio Cyrus Berenice Kouandjio ( ) (born July 21, 1993) is a Cameroonian former professional American football offensive tackle. He was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He played college football at Alabama. H ...

during training camp. One day later, Enemkpali suffered a knee injury during the first preseason game against the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 20 ...

, which was eventually revealed to be a torn ACL, and it prematurely ended his 2016 season. He was granted free agency following the season.

Oakland Raiders

On August 4, 2017, the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Ra ...

signed Enemkpali. The team waived him on September 2, 2017.

Personal life

Enemkpali's sister, Nneka, played

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

for the

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and a ...

from 2011 until 2015. The

Seattle Storm The Seattle Storm are an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The Storm competes in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was founded by Ginger Ackerl ...

selected her with the twenty-sixth overall pick in the

2015 WNBA draft The 2015 WNBA draft was the league's draft for the 2015 WNBA season. The Seattle Storm picked first. This year's draft was unusual in that two players with remaining college eligibility declared for the draft— Jewell Loyd of Notre Dame, who ...

2011 arrest

When Enemkpali was 19, he threw a punch at a security guard and was tasered by a deputy. Enemkpali was later charged with simple battery, put on 13 months of probation, and ordered to undergo 32 hours of community service along with anger management counseling.Michael O'Keef
"Before punching Geno Smith, ex-Jets LB IK Enemkpali attacked a police officer in 2011"
nydailynews.com. August 12, 2015. Retrieved September 11, 2015.

References

External links

Buffalo Bills bio

Rotoworld bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Enemkpali, Ikemefuna 1991 births Living people African-American players of American football American football defensive ends American people of Igbo descent American sportspeople of Nigerian descent Buffalo Bills players Igbo sportspeople Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football players New York Jets players Oakland Raiders players People from Pflugerville, Texas Players of American football from Texas 21st-century African-American sportspeople