Olympic discus finalist Lawrence Okoye signed as an undrafted free agent with the San Francisco 49ers to become an offensive lineman on Wednesday. The 6-foot 6, 304-pound British athlete has never played football, but impressed scouts at the super regional combine at Cowboys Stadium in April.
Okoye ran a 4.78 40-yard dash and posted impressive results in the vertical jump (35 inches) and broad jump (10-foot-5). He holds the British record in discus (68.24 meters) and qualified for the finals in the event at the 2012 London Olympic Games but finished last.
Okoye believes his lack of NFL experience can be overcome by his ability to quickly pick up the discus throw. He told the San Jose Mercury News this week that he was "terrible" when he first began throwing at age 18, but his success there gives him confidence that he can work hard enough to have success in professional football. He previously played rugby as a teenager.
"I had to work really hard to become good at it. It's going to be the same path in this sport," he told the newspaper. "When I start out, I'm not going to be as good as everybody else. I'm going to look out of place, that's for sure. But with some work and with time and effort, I know I can catch up and hopefully become a dominant player in the league."
Okoye made pre-draft visits to the Chicago Bears, New Orleans Saints and 49ers. Niners coach Jim Harbaugh said he felt "inadequate" standing next to the much larger Okoye.
"An Adonis, a great physical specimen of a man. ... Our creator created a beautiful man," Harbaugh said of Okoye on Saturday, according to the Sacramento Bee.
Okoye credits fellow NFL rookies Ezekiel "Ziggy" Ansah of the Lions and Margus of the Bengals as his inspiration for making the jump to football. Both players were selected in the first two rounds of the NFL Draft, despite both players not having prior experience before their freshman seasons.
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