Okoye taking advanced course
At 19, Louisville DT will be youngest player ever drafted by an NFL team
April 19, 2007
BY
MIKE MULLIGAN

Louisville defensive tackle Amobi Okoye may stand 6-2 and weigh nearly 300 pounds, but he’s what passes for a child prodigy in the NFL. At the tender age of 19, with a degree in psychology in hand, he’ll be the youngest player ever drafted.

”I never really felt younger than everybody else,” said the native of Nigeria, who started attending school in that country at 2½ because his mother was a principal and couldn’t find anyone she trusted to babysit. ”I’ve always felt I was in the right grade, the right place. It’s always how I have carried myself.”

…There are no Mozarts in the NFL. Heck, Mozart was only 5-4. Any expert in infant prodigies will tell you they’re most often found in disciplines that rely on pattern recognition such as music and chess. Athlete prodigies have been found in individual sports such as tennis and gymnastics and at a bit older age in soccer and even basketball.

Here is the full story.

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