Israel Ifeanyi (born November 21, 1970) is a Nigerian former 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 ...

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 formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

who played for the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

and

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

. He was selected in the second round of the

1996 NFL draft The 1996 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The NFL draft, draft was held April 20–21, 1996 NFL seas ...

. He had a career-ending knee injury during training camp, cutting his career short as it was on the rise. Subsequently, he went on to coach high school football for 10 years, and was the head coach for eight years at Desert Christian High School in

Lancaster, California Lancaster is a charter city in northern Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, in the Antelope Valley of the western Mojave Desert in Southern California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the popul ...

, where he started the program and made the playoffs during several seasons. During his collegiate career at USC he wore the famous #55 and was a collegiate All-American and defensive captain of the 1996 Champion Rose Bowl Game.

References

1970 births Living people American football defensive ends Nigerian players of American football USC Trojans football players San Francisco 49ers players Players of American football from Lagos 20th-century American sportsmen {{defensive-lineman-1970s-stub