Praise Olatoke had never played a snap of football when he joined Ohio State’s club football team in 2022. Two years later, Olatoke has a chance to play in the NFL.
Olatoke became interested in football as a high schooler after seeing highlights of the sport on the now-defunct social media platform Vine. Growing up in Scotland, however, Olatoke was unable to find any avenue to play the sport.
So Olatoke instead used his speed as a sprinter, which brought him to Ohio State as a member of the track and field team. After completing his track career at OSU, though, Olatoke knew he wanted to give football a shot.
Olatoke got that opportunity after meeting members of Ohio State’s club football team, who encouraged him to join the squad. Although Olatoke was only with the club football team for a few months before graduating from Ohio State, that was enough for Olatoke to fall in love with the sport.
“It was some of the best time of my life,” Olatoke said. “It was such a good experience. And it was really, I think, having that, it was a step. Not too big a step, but having that step really helped. Because it showed me and gave me the confidence that I can do this.”
Now, Olatoke is one of 15 players in the NFL’s International Pathway Program for the 2024 season. Established in 2017, the IPP provides an opportunity for elite international athletes with a variety of sporting backgrounds to compete at the NFL level, improve their skills and work toward earning a spot on an NFL roster. Five alumni of the program have gone on to make NFL regular-season rosters, including Philadelphia Eagles left tackle Jordan Mailata and Washington Commanders defensive end Efe Obada.
Olatoke and the rest of this year’s IPP participants have been training at IMG Academy since January and will participate in a showcase for NFL scouts on Wednesday. After that, NFL teams will have the opportunity to add one of them to their practice squads in a 17th spot that is specifically designated for international players.
“It's honestly surreal,” Olatoke told Eleven Warriors of the opportunity to be part of the IPP. “Not very many people get this opportunity, and a lot of people want this opportunity, and I think that it’s such a blessing and it's amazing that I was one of (15) in the whole world outside of the U.S. and North America to be selected. So it's crazy.”
Olatoke’s physical attributes went a long way toward landing him a spot in the IPP, as the 6-foot-2, 205-pound wide receiver has run the 40-yard dash in as fast as 4.36 seconds. But Olatoke, who was born in Nigeria but moved to Scotland when he was 5 years old, believes his competitive drive is what will enable him to take the next step of earning a spot on an NFL roster.
“I've sort of established to myself that this is what I want to do. So I'm not going to let this opportunity go by me because of ignorance or attitude or character,” Olatoke said. “I know physically, I can do it. I’m tall enough, fast enough, I’ve got the right makeup. So just marrying those two together gives me confidence that I can do what I say I want to do.”
Ohio State club football coach James Grega Jr. isn’t surprised to see Olatoke getting an NFL opportunity. While Olatoke only caught seven passes in his season with the club football team, those seven receptions went for 231 yards and four touchdowns, and Grega and his assistants saw NFL potential in Olatoke because of his physical ability and his coachability.
“We always told him, and I know a lot of his teammates had kind of communicated like, ‘Hey man, if you get the reps, and you figure out the X's and O's part and verbiage and learning the more intimate details of the game, you have NFL-capable qualities in terms of speed, in terms of size,’” Grega told Eleven Warriors. “All of (the physical ability) is there, it's just a matter of honing in on the game itself. And that's what I told the IPP, and it's been really cool to see him take all those steps and put his head down and keep working and get to this point.”
Grega believes Olatoke would have been a dominant playmaker in the NCFA if he had more time to develop before his season with the team.
“Unfortunately, he joined like three weeks before our season started, and having never played American football, he struggled to learn the verbiage and timing and spacing and things,” Grega said. “But I remember he started picking it up slowly but surely as the year went on, and as we started playing better competition throughout the year, he started getting better. … Had we gotten him in the spring and had like nine or 10 spring practices with him, I think he could have been the best receiver in the league.”
Although Olatoke didn’t put up huge numbers for the club football team, his experience playing and practicing with the Buckeyes showed him he was capable of playing football at a high level.
“There was one rep during training … The ball was thrown, it was like way in front of me, and I dove and I caught it. And that was probably one of the best feelings I ever had … that moment right there, I will never forget. It was sort of the hinge moment where it clicked, that ‘Hey, I can do something in this sport.’”
While Olatoke hasn’t yet played in another football game since Ohio State’s 2022 club football season, he says his knowledge of the sport has increased substantially since he joined the IPP.
“When I was at Ohio State, I didn't know X from Z, I didn't know the offense or defense. I just didn't,” Olatoke said. “So sort of learning the game and actually studying and understanding what's going on or why it happens and all that stuff has helped me a lot and has been some of the biggest things I’ve learned.”
Praise Olatoke has been training at IMG Academy since January as a member of the NFL’s International Pathway Program. (Photo: NFL UK)
Olatoke isn’t the first alumnus of Ohio State’s club football program to get a look from the NFL, but he is the first to do so without going on to play for Ohio State’s varsity football team. Chris Booker and Elijaah Goins were both invited to NFL camps after earning walk-on opportunities with the varsity Buckeyes, though neither of them ended up making an NFL roster.
Given his lack of football experience, Olatoke could be seen as a long shot to make an NFL roster. But earning a spot in the IPP is a validation of Olatoke’s pro potential, and he has a strong belief in his ability to overcome the odds.
“I think honestly, I sort of have like a level of irrational optimism,” Olatoke said. “I genuinely think I can do anything. Whether it's play football, whether it's become a scientist or be a swimmer, I just feel like I can do anything. So obviously football was something I wanted to do, and I thought, ‘Why not?’ I've also always been athletic. And it was sort of just things that married up that wanted me to become a football player.
“There's nothing in my life that I've said I wanted to do that I’ve not done. Whether it's move to America, whether it's compete for the United Kingdom, whether it's anything – when there's something I want, I sort of have the will to go get it. So putting me in a locker room, giving me a shot would be one of the best decisions they ever made, because they'd get the most out of me. And I think I have sort of favor in that I achieve what I believe and I believe that can do it, so I'll achieve it.”
“I've sort of established to myself that this is what I want to do. So I'm not going to let this opportunity go by me.”– Praise Olatoke on pursuing his NFL dream
His former Ohio State coaches and teammates will be among his biggest supporters as he chases his NFL dream.
“Praise was the ultimate teammate. Everybody on that team loved Praise, because even though he struggled at times, again learning the playbook and he wasn't our leading receiver by any stretch, he was the ultimate teammate,” Grega said. “He just exuded positivity. And he was always fun to be around. So yeah, it's been really exciting to see him go through this process. And everybody from our program is super excited for him.”
Olatoke said he’s “always wanted to live a very interesting life,” which has motivated him to chase his dreams even when they might seem far-fetched. He wants to have lots of stories to tell his children and grandchildren one day, and playing in the NFL would certainly be an exciting one to tell.
“It'd be a dream come true,” Olatoke says of making an NFL roster. “For years now, I've been imagining myself throwing on a helmet and catching touchdowns and making plays and all that stuff. So it would be like my imagination coming into fruition. And just another sort of interesting arc in my life.”
