David Ojabo: Scottish linebacker on joining Baltimore Ravens, playing with Lamar Jackson and his NFL Draft experience | NFL News

Baltimore Ravens linebacker David Ojabo

Little about David Ojabo’s route into the NFL has been conventional or straight forward, and yet here he finds himself in perhaps the perfect landing spot with the Baltimore Ravens. 

The linebacker’s fate loomed as one of the most compelling storylines heading into this year’s Draft, not only for his Scottish roots but for the uncertainty over how cruelly an Achilles injury might impact the stock of a first-round talent.

Ojabo, who had suffered his setback during his Michigan Pro Day, eventually slipped beyond the top 32 picks before being selected by the Ravens at 45th overall.

In doing so he teamed up with head coach John Harbaugh, brother to Ojabo’s Michigan head coach Jim, along with his former Michigan defensive coordinator Mike MacDonald. As far as he is concerned, it was always meant to be.

“I’ve been saying, destiny child, it’s all god’s plan, I know everything that happens in my life is not by mistake, landing here at the Ravens, meeting Coach Mac at Michigan, even committing to Michigan and meeting coach Harbaugh wasn’t an accident, we see it come full circle,” Ojabo told Sky Sports.

The reunions continued upon his arrival in Baltimore as he joined up with 2021 first-round linebacker Odafe Oweh, with whom he attended Blair Academy High School in New Jersey after moving to the United States from Aberdeen as a teenager.

“That’s my dawg, we started playing football together, we went to the same high school, we have a very strong connection, I know it’s going to be something special, it’s a pleasure and a blessing to work with him,” he added.

While those from the outside looking in sympathised with the harshest of setbacks, Ojabo has refused to dwell on something he knows is not in his control.

He is set to miss the start of the 2022 campaign, though the Ravens are optimistic he will be available to play some part later in the season.

“It wasn’t tough at all, I got surgery three days later, that’s life, crying isn’t going to heal the Achilles or get me walking again,” he said.

“It wasn’t hard at all, you just have to accept it and onto the next. I’m onto physio and now I’m walking again, it wasn’t hard but everybody is different, for me it wasn’t hard, I’m just trying to get it fixed as quick as possible.

“It’s a blessing to be in the NFL, the fact you’re even getting talked about to go to the league you can’t start looking at the minute deals of where you’re supposed to go. Look where I’m at now. I’m not really focused on that [not being picked in the first round].”

David Ojabo in action at the Scouting Combine, where he ran a 4.55 40-yard dash as well as a 4.45 20-yard shuttle

Awaiting him beyond recovery is a prominent role within a high-powered Ravens defense expected to be among the league’s most potent in 2022, with Ojabo accompanied by the added introduction of safety Kyle Hamilton and interior lineman Travis Jones.

What’s more, playing in Baltimore means the bonus of not having to play against a certain Lamar Jackson.

“It’s crazy, I’ve seen the highlights obviously, I’m happy he’s on our side!” laughs Ojabo. “I’ve heard many good things about him and how friendly he is, I really look forward to speaking to him.”

Ojabo admits he had never watched let alone encountered football prior to relocating to America at the age of 15, at which time he left Aberdeen with the intention of playing basketball or soccer.

Recalling his first memory of the sport, he said: “I think I was just walking alongside the roads of our boarding school and I looked at the grass field and saw the football people training, just seeing all the violence and contact, I was like ‘man that’s a crazy sport’. That was really the first time I’d seen it live in the flesh, and it was interesting to say the least.”

Ojabo officially began playing at the age of 17, and in the space of five years would evolve into one of the nation’s most exciting prospects.

At the same time, he has asserted himself as a willing ambassador for the league’s international growth, proudly representing both Scotland and his birthplace Nigeria.

“That [Scotland] is home, that’s where I grew up, all my friends, all my good memories are there, just looking back that’s when you really appreciate your upbringing and know it’s ‘do that’ moments that got you to this point,” he said. “A lot of it I can give credit to being in Scotland and being around my people and the way I was brought up and raised.

“It is just night and day from America if I’m being honest. The people, my people, having family around, that’s one of my biggest things [that he misses]. I’m here for business and my job now but Scotland is always going to be home.

“It’s a blessing to be put in this position to fly the flags and be a big representation of football in these countries because they’re the ones that raised me, they taught me and brought me up to be who I am today.”

Ojabo’s first two years at Michigan were spent continuing to learn the game as he redshirted 2019 and served as a reserve in 2020, noting how he would dive into the tape of Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Frank Clark and take nuggets of his “unorthodox, twitchy” approach.

The result was a breakout 2021 in which he produced 11 sacks and five forced fumbles as one of college football’s most dynamic game-wreckers across from Aidan Hutchinson.

His pathway considered, the sudden emergence has been staggering.

“It’s crazy, it’s really in every sense of the word a dream come true, it’s stuff like this you work for, for that one moment,” he said. “It’s been a whirlwind but at the end of the day it’s destiny, nothing worth having comes easy so you see me now at the highest level and it wasn’t easy, from the start of my journey to a month out from the Draft with the injury.”

“It just shows that hard work does pay off and sacrifice, at the end of the day I moved away from my family when I was 15, I’m 22 now and I’ve probably only seen them about a handful of times, but at the expense of being a professional now.

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London-born Jack Crawford has announced his retirement from the NFL and speaks to Sky Sports following his decision. Crawford featured in 10 seasons in the league and helped grow the sport overseas

Draft night’s ability to tug at every emotion was epitomised by Ojabo as he transitioned from ordering his family to lower the volume while on the phone to coach MacDonald, to fighting back the tears as reality began to sink in. Such has been the globe-trotting and sacrifice, the mere presence of relatives topped it all off.

“You’re sitting there waiting and waiting to hear the phone buzz, just waiting, you know it’s out of your control, you know you’re not going to call nobody or text anybody to give you a chance so you know when your phone buzzes it’s that time.” he said. “As soon as it buzzed I kind of realised that I’m surrounded by all my family and friends, it was really like a dream, like a movie.

“It was my parents’ 25th anniversary that same week and I took them out to dinner and we hadn’t sat together as a family to eat dinner for maybe a year, so just having that moment with them and with the whole full circle moment. Now I’m about to go into real adulthood and about to have a job, I think I’m going to cherish that moment forever.”

Now the celebrations are over, it is back to business and a test of patience in wait of his debut.

When asked which quarterback he is looking forward to sacking the most upon his return, Ojabo simply replied: “All of them!”