Praise Olatoke, the Los Angeles Chargers’ new Scottish wide receiver, has described his journey from Nigeria via Glasgow to the NFL as “crazy”.
The 24-year-old has joined the Chargers after he failed to earn a spot with the Philadelphia Eagles when he attended a rookie minicamp in May.
He will now compete to earn a place on the Chargers’ final 53-man active roster for 2024.
If he does not make it, Olatoke is likely to spend his first season on the Chargers’ practice squad.
Olatoke was born in Nigeria but moved to Scotland when he was just five years old and was a pupil at Cardonald Primary School in Glasgow before attending St Columba’s in Kilmacolm.
“It’s a crazy journey, honestly,” he said. “I was just talking to my mom yesterday about how far I’ve came from.
“From Kinning Park to Los Angeles is just nuts to think about the different directions and countries and cities taken to get here, so it feels great. It was a crazy story.
“I strive to live a life of adventure and this is something that sort of proves that. I’m just going for adventure. Yeah, I’m excited. I’m ready to see where this takes me.”
After earning a spot on this year’s international player pathway programme, Olatoke was offered the opportunity to train with the Eagles.
He says that, after the disappointment of missing out on a place in their squad, he was unsure if his dream of playing in the NFL would come true. Then the call came from LA.
“To be very, very candid, after I got back from Philadelphia, I didn’t know if the league was going to work out for me,” he said. “So I spent two, three weeks sort of decompressing from football, reflecting on what I want to do.
“I was starting to make moves, like my next adventure. I didn’t know where life was going next.
“But I don’t limit myself and what I think I can do. I want to go to Mars, so I’ll go to the Moon. Eventually, I think I’ll do it.”
Olatoke will return to Scotland next week then head back to the United States for the Chargers’ four-week summer training camp before the start of the NFL season in September.
There he and the Chargers’ 90-man off-season roster will compete for a spot on the Chargers’ 53-man active roster for the 2024 season.
This year, for the first time, all 32 NFL franchises will be given an additional place in their practice squads specifically for international players, including those who have come through the IPP programme.
Teams who have an international player in their practice squad will also be allowed to promote them to their active roster, up to three times during the season.
