Joseph Ossai (born 12 April 2000) 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 ...

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 ...

for the

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of the

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(NFL). He played

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for the Texas Longhorns, where he was a consensus

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. He was selected by the Bengals in the third round of the 2021 NFL draft.

Early life

Ossai was born in Ketu Ijaniki,

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, ...

, and lived there until his family moved to

Conroe, Texas Conroe is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Texas, Montgomery County, Texas, United States, about north of Houston. It is a principal city in the metropolitan area. As of 2024, the population was 114,581. Since 2007, t ...

when he was 10. He attended Oak Ridge High School, where he played basketball and football and was a two-time all-district and academic all-district honoree. As a senior, he recorded 58 tackles, eight sacks, 15 tackles for loss and three forced fumbles and was named first-team All-District 12-6A, and first-team All-Greater Houston by the ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. ...

''. Ossai was rated a four-star recruit and committed to play

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

over offers from

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

, Notre Dame and

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College career

In three seasons with the Longhorns, Ossai played in 36 games and made 24 starts, earning consensus All-America honors in 2020 with first-team recognition from the

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, Football Writers Association of America and Walter Camp Football Foundation and second-team honors from the American Football Coaches Association and ''

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''. He was a finalist for the Lott IMPACT Trophy and a semifinalist for the

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in 2020 and earned earned honorable mention as the

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Defensive Player of the Year and Defensive Lineman of the Year. He chose to forego the 2020 Alamo Bowl and his senior season to go pro. As a true freshman, Ossai played in all 14 of the Longhorns' games with two starts and made 20 total tackles with one a sack and a forced fumble. He led the team with 62 tackles in his sophomore season while also recording five sacks, two interceptions, one pass broken up, one forced fumble and also blocked a kick. In the postseason, he was the 2019 Alamo Bowl Defensive MVP. In the following spring, he made the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll. Ossai was named to the Bronko Nagurski Trophy,

and Lott IMPACT Trophy watchlists entering his junior season. That year, he had 55 tackles, 15.5 tackles for loss, and 5 sacks on his way to being named first team All Big-12 and an All-American. On 14 December 2020, Ossai announced his decision to enter the 2021 NFL draft, choosing to forgo Texas' 2020 Bowl game and his senior season.

Professional career

Ossai was selected by the

in the third round (69th overall) of the 2021 NFL draft. He signed his four-year rookie contract on 2 June 2021. Ossai suffered a meniscus injury in the second preseason game. He was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

on 31 August 2021, ending his season. In 2022, Ossai was named the backup right defensive end, behind Trey Hendrickson on the depth chart. He made his NFL debut in the Bengals' 2022 regular season opener against the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

. In Week 18 against the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

, he recovered a fumble for a touchdown in the 27–16 victory. He appeared in 16 regular season games and recorded 3.5 sacks, 17 total tackles, one pass defended, and two fumble recoveries. In the

AFC Championship Game The AFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the American Football Conference (AFC) and one of the two semifinal NFL playoffs, playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional American football lea ...

against the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

, Ossai committed an unnecessary roughness penalty with eight seconds left in regulation on quarterback Patrick Mahomes resulting in a 15-yard penalty and much closer field goal attempt (45-yards) which kicker Harrison Butker converted to advance to the

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

. In 2023, Ossai returned to his role as a substitute defensive end for the season, once again behind Hendrickson on the right side. He recorded his first sack of the season in Week 13 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 of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

. In 2024, Ossai remained healthy and played in all 17 games, recording his first 3 career starts filling in for the injured Sam Hubbard and playing a career-high number of snaps. He recorded one deflected pass, his first 2 career forced fumbles, career-highs in sacks (5), tackles (26), tackles for loss (4) and QB hits (15). On March 14, 2025, Ossai re-signed with the Bengals on a one-year contract.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

References

External links

Cincinnati Bengals bio

Texas Longhorns bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ossai, Joseph 2000 births Living people All-American college football players American football defensive ends American football outside linebackers Cincinnati Bengals players Nigerian players of American football Sportspeople from Conroe, Texas Players of American football from Montgomery County, Texas Players of American football from Lagos Texas Longhorns football players Nigerian emigrants to the United States