Olayiwola Kehinde "Kenny" Onatolu (born October 8, 1982) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

who played in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) and

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL). He was signed by the

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at Commonwealth Stadium. The E ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

in 2007. 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 ...

at Nebraska-Omaha. Onatolu also played for the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

and

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

Early life

Onatolu was born in Chicago, but spent 3 years as a child in his parents' home country of Nigeria.

College career

Kenny earned Division II All-America honors as a junior and senior by Collegesportsreport.com, and recorded 324 career total tackles in his collegiate career, 5th in school history. He was named All-North Central Conference after each of his 4 seasons (2nd team his sophomore year), and captured team's Outstanding LB award in 2005 and Defensive MVP award in 2006. Kenny was also a member of the Super 6 comedy team.

Professional career

Edmonton Eskimos

After going undrafted in 2007, Onatolu attended an

minicamp after his twin brother Taiwo had a similar experience. He was invited to training camp and eventually made the team. During his rookie season in the

CFL The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division and five in the West Division. The CFL is the highest pr ...

, Onatolu recorded eight tackles and a sack. The following season in 2008, he recorded 59 tackles, three sacks and two fumble recoveries.

Minnesota Vikings

Onatolu was signed to a future contract by the

on December 31, 2008. He made the team as a backup linebacker and was one of the leaders on special teams for the Vikings.

Carolina Panthers

Onatolu was signed to a three-year contract by the

on March 16, 2012. After playing in just four games in the 2012 season, Onatolu was released by the Panthers on April 16, 2013.

Personal life

Onatolu earned a bachelor's degree in communications at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, and aspires to have a career in broadcasting. He has an

identical twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two ...

brother named

Taiwo Taiwo (variant forms: Taiye, Taye, Taiyewo) is a name of Yoruba origin meaning "the first twin to taste the world" or the one who comes before Kehinde. Although Taiwo is the firstborn twin, in Yoruba belief Taiwo is considered the younger twin, ...

, who was his teammate at Nebraska-Omaha.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Onatolu, Kenny 1982 births Living people Players of American football from Chicago Players of Canadian football from Chicago American football linebackers Canadian football linebackers Nebraska–Omaha Mavericks football players Edmonton Elks players Minnesota Vikings players Carolina Panthers players American sportspeople of Nigerian descent American people of Yoruba descent Yoruba sportspeople Identical twins American twins People from Papillion, Nebraska Players of American football from Nebraska Nigerian players of American football Nigerian players of Canadian football