NC Panther Player's Long Journey to Sucess

North Carolina -- Four years ago, Panthers' DE Efe Obada has come a long way in just four years!

NC Panthers -- Born in Nigeria, Obada was trafficked to the UK via the Netherlands at age 10, along with his 11-year-old sister. “This lady just left us out on the streets,” Obada told NFL UK. “It was scary and we were lonely.” 

With help, he was able to contact his mother in Amsterdam, the kids would stay with a family in Stockwell.  

“It was a stressful environment and her children took precedence over us and we were like domestic slaves. We spent a lot of our time cleaning – it was not a good situation to be in.”

“We were then hoping that my mum would come to London and take control but she never did,” Obada told NFL UK. “We lived with this lady for about five years. The house was chaotic – the lady had five other children living there and then me and my sister.

“It was a stressful environment and her children took precedence over us and we were like domestic slaves. We spent a lot of our time cleaning – it was not a good situation to be in.”

When Obada was 15, he and his sister were placed into social services,  “home-hopping and living with strangers,” he told NFL UK.

At the age of 22, he played part-time on the London Warriors team.(a British American Football Association National Leagues team) He worked mornings as a security guard. Obada made the Dallas Cowboys, then the Chiefs and Falcons. 

According to Yahoo! Sports

Then he caught a break. In 2017 the NFL started the International Player Pathway program, allowing the four teams in the NFC South an extra practice squad spot for a player from Europe. The Panthers used that spot on Obada.

After spending 2017 as an extra man on the practice squad, Obada came back to the Panthers in 2018 looking to win a roster spot.

Obada makes most of his opportunity
It’s rare for any player to make it to the NFL without playing in college. It seems impossible to make it to the NFL with Obada’s path.

“He had to become a different type of student of the game because of the lack of background in football,” defensive coordinator Eric Washington told Panthers.com. “He’s been a sponge. He’s always asking for extra stuff, whether in the classroom or out here at practice.”

Obada had a sack in the Panthers’ second preseason game, and showed the coaches enough to make the team. In addition to every other obstacle he overcame, Obada is the first player from the International Player Pathway program to make it on a 53-man roster.