Uzooma Okeke (born September 3, 1970) is a former

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 ...

tackle for the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: ''Les Alouettes de Montréal'') are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compe ...

. He won a

Grey Cup The Grey Cup () is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested between the winners ...

with Montreal in

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

. Okeke is currently the Football Operations Assistant/Scout for the Montreal Alouettes.

College career

Uzooma Okeke was a two-year starter at

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tendency to cause acts of violence by the ...

Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...

(SMU), playing both offense and defense. He was on the team that brought football back to SMU following their penalty. Under the tutelage of

Forrest Gregg Alvis Forrest Gregg (October 18, 1933 – April 12, 2019) was an American professional football player and coach. A Pro Football Hall of Fame offensive tackle for 16 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), he was a part of six NFL champ ...

, he blossomed both on the football field and in persevering to obtain his college degree. He graduated from SMU with a degree in Public Relations.

CFL career

recruited him to play for the Shreveport Pirates in 1994 and 1995, and that began his

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 ...

career. He moved to the

Ottawa Rough Riders The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded on September 19, 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup cham ...

in 1996, but in 1997 started his very successful (10 year) career with the

. He was a durable mainstay of their offensive line, being named an All-Star six times, and in 1998 won the Leo Dandurand Trophy as best lineman in the East, and in 1999 won the CFL's Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman Award. He retired as a player prior to the 2007 season and joined the Alouettes as a scout. He was inducted into the

Canadian Football Hall of Fame The Canadian Football Hall of Fame (CFHOF) is a not-for-profit corporation, located in Hamilton, Ontario, that celebrates achievements in Canadian football. It is maintained by the Canadian Football League (CFL). It includes displays about the CFL, ...

in 2014.

References

1970 births Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees Canadian football offensive linemen Garland High School alumni Living people Montreal Alouettes players Ottawa Rough Riders players Players of American football from Beaumont, Texas Shreveport Pirates players SMU Mustangs football players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen Players of Canadian football from Texas {{Canadianfootball-offensive-lineman-stub