Chibuikem Kenneth Okoro (born October 18, 1989) is a former

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 ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University (WFU) is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The R ...

and attended

James B. Dudley High School James Benson Dudley High School is a four-year public high school located in Guilford County in the city of Greensboro, North Carolina. Dudley High School was founded in 1929 as the first black high school in Guilford County, in a school system ...

Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; ) is a city in Guilford County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 299,035; it was estimated to be 307,381 in 2024. It is the List of municipalitie ...

. He was a member of the

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 ...

San Jose SaberCats The San Jose SaberCats were a professional arena football team based in San Jose, California. The SaberCats had been members of the Arena Football League (AFL) since 1995 (the year in which the team was founded); and until 2015, they belonged to ...

and

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

. His name Chibuikem means "God is my power" in

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 ...

Early life

Okoro's parents are both

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, ...

n immigrants. He played

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

for the

Panthers. He was the Greensboro News and Record All-Area Player of the Year as a senior and a member of the NCPreps.com 3A All-State team. Okoro was an honor roll student all four years of high school.

College career

Okoro played for the

Wake Forest Demon Deacons The Wake Forest Demon Deacons are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Wake Forest University, located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. They compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Assoc ...

from 2009 to 2012. He was

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

in 2008. He started 37 games for the Demon Deacons, recording seven interceptions.

Professional career

Okoro was signed by the

on April 27, 2013 after going undrafted in the

2013 NFL draft The 2013 NFL draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in ...

. He was waived-injured by the Chargers on July 30, 2013. Okoro spent the

2014 Arena Football League season The 2014 Arena Football League season was the 27th season in the history of the league. The regular season began on March 14, 2014 and ended on July 26, 2014. League business Teams The city of Anaheim, California was awarded an expansion team ...

with the

. He recorded 60 tackles and an interception in 11 games with the SaberCats. He was placed on Other League Exempt on December 2, 2014. Okoro was signed to the

' practice squad on November 26, 2014. He was promoted to the active roster on December 6. He made his NFL debut on December 7, 2014 against the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1995 through the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, California, where the team had played ...

. On May 4, 2015, he was waived by the Redskins. On May 6, 2015, the SaberCats activated Okoro from Other League Exempt. The Sabercats won ArenaBowl XXVIII against the

Jacksonville Sharks The Jacksonville Sharks are a professional indoor football team based in Jacksonville, Florida, that competes in the Indoor Football League (IFL). The team plays its home games at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. They were members of the Are ...

on August 29, 2015. He became a free agent after the 2015 season.

References

External links

Wake Forest Demon Deacons bioStats Crew profileNFL Draft ScoutSan Jose SaberCats bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Okoro, Kenny Living people 1989 births Players of American football from Greensboro, North Carolina American football defensive backs Nigerian players of American football American players of American football of Nigerian descent Wake Forest Demon Deacons football players San Jose SaberCats players Washington Redskins players