Superman minus the cape
Mild-mannered Ogbah assumes different persona when on the field
The mild-mannered personality, quiet voice and black-rimmed glasses of Oklahoma State junior defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah follow the tradition of Clark Kent.
Ogbah takes on an entirely different persona on the football field, where he drills quarterbacks into the ground as a relentless pass rusher. His coaches, friends and NFL scouts say the Fort Bend Bush graduate can change at the flip of a switch, much like Superman slipping into a phone booth to don his cape.
“I thrive on competition, and when I’m on the field I’m like a different person,” Ogbah said in a telephone interview. “I’m acting like Clark Kent off the field and Superman on the field. And, yes, I love those movies.”
Quarterbacks beware
Projected as a first-round draft pick as one of the top prospects from the Houston area, Ogbah punishes quarterbacks through an uncanny ability to finish off plays with a blend of speed and power. The Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and All-American routinely bulldozes offensive tackles, muscling them aside to invade quarterbacks’ personal space. He led the Big 12 with 13 sacks and 17½ tackles for losses last season. He declared early for the NFL draft.
The 6-4, 273-pounder is extremely athletic, running the 40-yard dash in 4.63 seconds at the NFL scouting combine, where he benchpressed 225 pounds 20 times and had a 35½-inch vertical leap.
As quiet and polite as Ogbah tends to be away from football, he has a dominant, ebullient demeanor on the field.
“Emmanuel is one of those guys you get the classic character off the field, because he does everything right,” said Bush coach Allen Aldridge, a former Denver Broncos and Detroit Lions linebacker and University of Houston standout from Missouri City. “On the field, he’s a beast. His parents did a great job with him and his other siblings.”
Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Ogbah moved to the Houston area when he was 9. His middle name is Ikechukwu, which means “God’s power.”
In Nigeria, his father Richard was an assistant bank manager, and his mother Regina owned a shop. He grew up playing soccer in Africa.
Raised to follow rules
Ogbah, who has an older brother and three younger sisters, was raised in a strict household and is mindful of never doing anything to embarrass his family.
“I just avoid problems,” Ogbah said. “I keep myself out of things like that. Right now, my family would get hurt if I did something wrong, not just me. I was raised the right way.
“My parents raised me to be a respectful and humble young man. It’s wonderful because I have a lot of family support. Growing up with siblings, you learn a lot from each other.”
The family relocated to Texas because of their worries about the Nigerian economy and their safety in the country, which dealt with an Ebola outbreak in recent years along with a mass kidnapping of students engineered by a terrorist organization.
“I just want to go back there and give back,” Ogbah said.
Ogbah began playing football in the seventh grade. Initially, his parents were concerned that football would detract from his focus on academics or that he would get hurt.
“My mom didn’t like football at first,” Ogbah said. “She thought it was too violent.
“She realized she couldn’t stop me from doing what I love, and football has helped me a lot with my education and my success in my college career.
“I was always bigger. It wasn’t always pretty, but I was athletic. I started out playing soccer on the street. When I was young, I always involved myself in some kind of sport.”
At Bush High School, Ogbah was the district’s Most Valuable Player and a finalist for Greater Houston Defensive Player of the Year who chose Oklahoma State over Arizona, Texas Tech, Houston and several other schools. As a senior, Ogbah recorded 57 tackles with six sacks and two forced fumbles.
“Emmanuel has developed a lot since he first got to us as a tall, lanky kid,” Aldridge said. “He was a kid who worked very hard every single day. I’ve had a couple NFL teams call me and ask about him. He’s dedicated, hard-working and talented.
“I’ll never forget his junior year when he made a big play against Madison. They were trying to run a screen. He caught the ball and ran it in for a touchdown. That’s when he started turning the corner for us.”
Ogbah has visited the Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals, Chicago Bears and Tennessee Titans. He had private workouts for the Baltimore Ravens, Carolina Panthers, Dallas Cowboys, Arizona Cardinals and Detroit Lions.
“I’m excited, it’s a dream come true,” Ogbah said. “A lot of hard work has gone into this. It’s cool to talk to all of these coaches and general managers. I’m enjoying the process.”
Ogbah attended the Texans’ local prospect workout and would be overjoyed to play for his hometown team.
“It would be very awesome,” Ogbah said. “It would be great to be close to my family. I didn’t work out for the Texans, but I met all their coaches. It was a cool experience.”
Mobility a big plus
Some NFL teams project Ogbah as a 3-4 outside linebacker, but most consider him a prototypical 4-3 defensive end.
“You want to let him play in space because of his mobility,” said draft analyst Russ Lande, a former Rams and Browns scout. “He’s a pretty long, linear kid and a tremendous athlete. A lot of his success is based on athleticism and initial quickness. He’s learning how to use his hands more, but relies on his speed. The thing about him that’s so enticing is how good he can be if he can develop more passrushing moves and play with some leverage.
“He has the physical talent to be in a rare category. He’s a remarkably gifted kid, and you hope he can dominate. When he went against the best guys like Ole Miss’ Laremy Tunsil, they usually shut him down, but as he refines his game, he has an extremely bright future.”
Ogbah had 11 sacks and 17 tackles for losses as a sophomore and was named Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year.
He sacked Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston, who played for Florida State, twice that season.
“The team that gets me, they know for sure that they’ll get a productive player,” Ogbah said. “They can look at my résumé and see that each year I got better. Some look at me as a talented player who has a lot of growth left in me. I’m very coachable.
“I should have multiple improvements. I’ve been getting better at improving my pass-rushing technique. It would be great to have an NFL coach who can help me out.”