Praise Olatoke came through the IPP alongside Louis Rees-Zammit, with the speedy wide receiver from Scotland signing with the Los Angeles Chargers to team up with quarterback Justin Herbert
The Los Angeles Chargers are enjoying a positive atmosphere ahead of the 2024 NFL season thanks to the hire of Jim Harbaugh. Justin Herbert is adjusting to the National Championship-winning coach’s system seamlessly, and Praise Olatoke hopes to provide serious speed to the Chargers offense.
A former Ohio State track star, Olatoke – who spent his childhood in Scotland after he was born in Lagos, Nigeria – has dreamed of playing American football since the age of 15. He immersed himself in rugby and sprinting, earning a scholarship at Canada’s Trinity Western before going to college in 2021, where he spent two torn Achilles-affected seasons on the Buckeyes track team.
His dream of playing in the NFL is tantalisingly close after signing with the Chargers via the International Player Pathway program utilised by former Wales rugby winger Louis Rees-Zammit. The IPP aims to help premier athletes earn a spot on one of the 32 rosters and increase the number of international players in the NFL via an intense 10-week training programme.
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But before the IPP, Olatoke wanted more gridiron experience. Rather than the NCAA path prospects usually tread, Olatoke took part in club football at Ohio State which is a far cry from the standard college football experience.
“Basically, the NCAA has money; that’s it. The NCAA has billions of dollars every year that funnels into it to make a show, to make a production,” Olatoke told reporters, including Mirror Sport. “The club football is just guys who come together to play football and enjoy a Saturday morning. That’s really it. It might be 15, 20 people in a crowd. There could be 50. Who knows?
“Basically, the difference is: the NCAA has money, and with money comes talent, notoriety, eyeballs, and all that stuff. People who play club – it’s for the love of the game. That’s the difference.”
According to Ohio State’s College of Public Health from a 2016 study, the chances of a high-school player going professional are 0.023 percent. Olatoke admitted his rapid rise in football, IPP graduation at IMG Academy, and signing with the Chargers involved plenty of luck to defy the odds.
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“I’m not going to deny that I got lucky to be in this situation,” Olatoke admitted. “So many different dominoes had to fall my way. I think the statistic is one out of every 300,000 or 400,000 high school kids in the U.S. make it to the league. I wasn’t even in high school [in the country], so I can’t deny that I got lucky; but if you want it bad enough, I think you can always make things fall your way. You can create your own luck essentially.”
Olatoke has certainly created his own luck, simply outsprinting the odds with his 4.36-40-yard dash pace. The 24-year-old, who admitted speed is his greatest weapon as he transitions into the NFL, is now desperate to prove his worth for the Chargers after being passed over by the Philadelphia Eagles.
“For my position, you can get a range of sizes, I’m slightly on the bigger end so my physicality, speed, and attitude when I play will excite people,” Olatoke added. “The Chargers saw I was willing to do anything and that I’m hungry and want it badly. Whatever you need me to do, I’ll do it. I just want to be around.”
Olatoke wants to do Scotland proud, at the end of the day. Especially after the nation’s Euro 2024 struggles.
“We just saw how they did at the Euros and it wasn’t the best so I’m hoping I can bring a little bit of Scottish pride back this season. We’ll see. It is pretty cool.”
The Chargers went 5-12 last season, but confidence is sky-high with Harbaugh at the helm. Los Angeles is happy to think outside the box too, with two of the IPP’s most exciting prospects in Olatoke and CJ Okoye. Who’s got it better than them?