Defensive lineman Amobi Okoye—selected 10th overall in the 2007 NFL Draft by the Houston Texans—is set to sign with the Ottawa Redblacks, per CFL sources.
Ottawa added the NFL veteran to the team’s exclusive negotiation list on April 25. The deal is imminent as final contract talks wrap up.
Okoye recorded 16.0 sacks and 177 combined tackles over six seasons with Houston and the Chicago Bears, but the last time he played in a pro football game was back in 2012. He missed the 2013 season with a medical issue, which was later diagnosed as anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis. Three months were spent in a medically induced coma to stabilize seizures.
Okoye lost around 80 lb. through the ordeal. But he’s back up to the 300-pound range and told the Houston Chronicle’s Aaron Wilson that he’s ready to play football again.
At 19 years old, Okoye was the youngest player ever to be drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft. And with his first start for the Texans, he became the youngest player to appear in an NFL game since 1967.
Most recently, the now-28-year-old spent the 2015 season on the Dallas Cowboys‘ non-football illness list.
http://www.sportsnet.ca/football/cfl...awa-redblacks/