One of Emmanuel Ogbah’s best moves was signing with the Miami Dolphins
When Emmanuel Ogbah got a call from his agent early in the 2020 offseason that the Dolphins wanted to sign him, he jumped at the opportunity to join a team led by a defensive-minded coach in Brian Flores.
And it didn’t hurt that Ogbah was already based in South Florida, training at Bommarito Performance Systems in Aventura during the offseason as he normally does.
“They wanted me from the jump,” Ogbah said recently after a training camp practice. “I just wanted to come out here and show my talents. And plus, I come here every year for the past six years, so I feel like this is my home now. So, it was pretty easy to make that decision.”
Since then, Ogbah, who signed a two-year deal worth $15 million, has settled well in Miami, recording a career-high nine sacks last season on a defense that had the most takeaways in the NFL.
Ogbah, 27, was born in Lagos, Nigeria, but moved with his family to Houston when he was 9 as his father sought to evade the corruption within the country. One of the first things Ogbah noticed in the United States: traffic lights, which can be sparse in parts of the African country.
“When you come from a different country that’s not as modern, up-to-date as this one, it’s just a blessing,” Ogbah said.
Years later, in the seventh grade, he took on something else that was foreign to him: American football.
“[Soccer] was my [first] love growing up,” Ogbah said. “I was a soccer player. ... To be honest, I saw my friends playing [football] and I said, ‘Let me give it a shot,’ and I ended up loving the game, so I just kept on with it.”
Ogbah started playing fullback, tight end and even backup quarterback before he transitioned to defense in high school, where he was a standout edge rusher at George Bush High School and then committed to Oklahoma State.
After four years in Stillwater, which included him being named Co-Defensive Big 12 Player of the Year for the 2015 season, Ogbah entered the NFL Draft and the Cleveland Browns selected him with the No. 32 overall pick.
He spent his first three seasons in Cleveland — he endured the team’s 0-16 season in 2017 — and accumulated 12.5 sacks before he was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs before the 2019 season. He was having his best season to date for the eventual Super Bowl champions until a torn pectoral ended his season after 10 games. As Kansas City came back from a 10-point deficit to beat the San Francisco 49ers, Ogbah watched from the stands of Hard Rock Stadium, his future home.
In his first season in Miami, Ogbah not only led the Dolphins in sacks but also his 59 pressures were second-most among defensive linemen, according to Sports Info Solutions.
“Last year was hard for us,” Ogbah said, “because we couldn’t congregate as players. But this year is different. Mostly everyone is vaccinated so everybody comes together. It’s a family. That’s what the Chiefs had. The Chiefs had a family. And I feel like we’re developing a family here and that’s a great sign.
“Coach [Flores] is a good coach. He puts his players in the best position to make plays and that’s one of the reasons I came out here to play for him. Every time I get on the field, I do my very best because I feel like those guys put me in a position to make plays, so I’ve got to execute the game plan.”
Defensive line coach Austin Clark said Ogbah’s get-off from the snap has been a point of emphasis entering the 2021 season.
“Obviously, he’s got a great pass-rush arsenal,” Clark said. “You can tell he spent a lot of time in the offseason developing all that. ... Pass rushing in general, a lot of that is built off the get-off. When that ball moves, you want to be fast off the ball.”
Ogbah has mainly dodged questions about his future in Miami entering a contact year. But after a journey that has taken him from Nigeria to five different states, he’s receptive to the idea of staying put in South Florida.
“That’s always the plan. I’m tired of moving, like I always say,” Ogbah joked.