Oghenerukevwe "Ruke" Orhorhoro ( born October 13, 2001) is a Nigerian-American 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 ...

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...

for the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

of 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). He was born in

Lagos, Nigeria 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 ...

, and moved to

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

when he was nine, later playing

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 Clemson.

Early life

Orhorhoro was born in

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 moved to

in the

when he was nine. He attended River Rouge High School in

River Rouge, Michigan River Rouge (, ) is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 7,224 at the 2020 census. The city is named after the River Rouge, which flows along the city's northern border and into the Detroit River. The cit ...

, where he played basketball and football starting his junior year in 2017. Orhorhoro committed to

Clemson University Clemson University () is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university near Clemson, South Carolina, United States. - The blue-shaded pattern denotes university property. This shows Clemson University is ''out ...

to play college football.

College career

As a true freshman at Clemson in 2019, Ororhoro played in nine games and had five tackles and a half-sack. In 2020, he played in four games and took a medical redshirt. He started nine of 13 games in 2021, recording 36 tackles and 2.5 sacks. Orhorhoro returned to Clemson in 2022 and 2023.

Professional career

Orhorhoro was selected in the second round with the 35th overall pick in the

2024 NFL draft The 2024 NFL draft was the 89th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft was held at Campus Martius Park and Hart Plaza in Detroit on April 25–27, 2024. The draft had an attendanc ...

by the

NFL career statistics

Regular season

References

External links

Atlanta Falcons bioClemson Tigers bio
2001 births Living people Nigerian players of American football Players of American football from Lagos Players of American football from Michigan American football defensive tackles Clemson Tigers football players Atlanta Falcons players Nigerian emigrants to the United States {{Defensive-lineman-stub