Isaiah Ekejiuba
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| Oakland Raiders — No. 50 | |
| Linebacker | |
| Date of birth: October 5, 1981 | |
| Place of birth: Nigeria | |
| Height: 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | Weight: 240 lb (110 kg) |
| National Football League debut | |
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| 2005 for the Oakland Raiders | |
| Career history | |
| College: Virginia | |
| Undrafted in 2005 | |
Teams:
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| Current status: Active | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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| Stats at NFL.com | |
Isaiah Afamefuna Ekejiuba [Eck-ah-ju-buh] (born October 5, 1981 in Nigeria) is an American football linebacker for the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League. He was originally signed by the Arizona Cardinals as an undrafted free agent in 2005. He played college football at Virginia.
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[edit] Early years
Ekejiuba was born in Nigeria and lived throughout parts of Africa, China and London while his mother worked for the United Nations, before moving to upstate New York where his mother taught at Colgate University.[1]
In high school, Isaiah never played football, but did excel in soccer, basketball and track.
[edit] College career
In 2002, Isaiah joined the Virginia Cavaliers in the NCAA.[2]
Isaiah was on the Virginia Cavaliers's roster in the 2003 season and played as a wide receiver, but did not play in whole season.
Prior to the 2003 season, he switched his position to linebacker. Leading the special teams, Isaiah was awarded a scholarship prior to the start of the season. He played on the punt, punt return, kickoff and kickoff return units.
[edit] Statistics
| Year | G | Plys | S | A | Tot. | Avg. | TFL | QBS | FR | FC | PBU | Int | QBH | BlK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 13 | 76 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2004 | 12 | 121 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 0.7 | 1-1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 25 | 197 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 0.6 | 1-1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
[edit] Professional career
[edit] Arizona Cardinals
After going undrafted in the 2005 NFL Draft, Ekejiuba signed with the Arizona Cardinals. He spent training camp with the team but was release before the regular season.
[edit] Oakland Raiders
On September 6, 2005, Ekejiuba was signed to the practice squad of the Oakland Raiders. He spent the first seven weeks of the season there before being promoted to the active roster on October 28.
A restricted free agent in the 2008 offseason, Ekejiuba was tendered a one-year contract by the Raiders. He was re-signed on April 14.
[edit] Career statistics
| Year | Team | Tackles | Sacks | Safety | FF | FR | Int | Yds | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Oak | 7.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2006 | Oak | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 12.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
[edit] Personal
Ekejiuba was the son of the late Felicia Ekejiuba. Isaiah has two brothers, Ben Umzurike and Sam Ekejiuba, and two sisters, Ada Umzurike and Felicia Ekejiuba. At the University of Virginia, he majored in Electrical Engineering.
