Amobi Okoye is ready to attempt a comeback after his NFL career was derailed by a rare, life-threatening disease three years ago.
Okoye, the 10th overall pick by the Texans in the 2007 draft, played four years in Houston and two years for the Bears. He missed the 2013 season after suffering from an autoimmune disease called anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis. Okoye was put in a medically-induced coma for three months that left him temporarily unable to speak. He was medically cleared to play in 2014, but spent the season on the Cowboys’ non-football illness list before being cut.
Now the defensive tackle wants to play again, according to the Houston Chronicle, and calls himself a “walking miracle.”
Okoye, who was drafted out of Louisville at age 19, had 5.5 sacks in his rookie season and 16 in his career. He’ll turn 29 on June 10 and is back to his playing weight of 300 pounds after losing 80 pounds when he was sick. He hasn’t played in a game since 2012, so it will be a long road back to the NFL.
But if Okoye can graduate from college at 19, it would be unwise to doubt him in any other endeavor.
