David Ojabo reveals when he realized he might be good at football

David Ojabo is still relatively new to the sport of football. He never put on shoulder pads until he was a junior in high school, but teams were keeping an eye on him before that. Before attending Blair Academy in New Jersey, Ojabo camped at both Maryland and Rutgers.

The Aberdeen, Scotland native was already a physical freak when he arrived in the United States, but his first foray into football was not ideal. He was pushed around by guys much smaller than him. That did not sit right, but every hit made him better.

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“I won’t lie, when I first started in high school I was getting smacked around by little dudes,” Ojabo said. “That didn’t sit right with me. The toughest thing was the contact aspect. Coming from basketball, if you bump someone it’s a foul. Soccer, if you bump someone too hard, it’s a foul. Football, if you’re not bumping someone, you’re not playing.

“My freshman year (at Michigan) I took a big jump when I started playing against future NFL linemen like (Jon) Runyan (Jr.), Cesar Ruiz. That just bettered me even more.”

When it clicked for Ojabo

Obviously, major strides have been made since the early days of his playing career. Ojabo had a huge breakout season for the Wolverines with 11 sacks playing opposite Aidan Hutchinson. His game is an ever-evolving work-in-progress, but Michigan’s win at Wisconsin in 2021 was a moment he felt he was coming into his own.

Ojabo recorded 7 total tackles and 2.5 sacks in an emotional 38-17 blowout win in Madison.

“I was like, ‘OK, I think I’m pretty good at this sport,’” Ojabo said. “Everything just kind of clicked together. I had a dominant performance and that’s when I burst on the scene. I had my confidence burst through the roof and I started believing in myself.”

Staying near Hutchinson helped Ojabo round into the form he did during his third season in Ann Arbor. Some of the habits he picked up on helped him stand alongside his teammate as a potential first-round pick.

“Coming into this season, he was a projected top-five pick, so I knew already, that’s a high-level guy,” Ojabo said. “It was the smart thing to do to get in his hip pocket. In my head, I thought, man, if I do what he did, I’ll be top five. I latched on and did everything did, workouts, film, even asked him about his eating, sleeping habits, all that.”

Representing Scotland

Ojabo is happy for what America has given him but was reflective on his time in Scotland and how it is different from his U.S. experience.

“I lived in Scotland from the age of seven until I was 15,” he said. “They are calm people and I miss that aspect of the country. For one there are no guns in Scotland, it is safe. I know my family is safe there. I’ve seen my sister walk into town with her headphones in and come back untouched. I wouldn’t let her do that anywhere here [in the USA].”

Most would not have imagined the raw Ojabo would be at the NFL Combine this time last year. Some may not have expected it halfway through this season. That has many front offices taking the crash course on what Ojabo brings and who he is.

“[The scouts] are just trying to get to know me,” he said. “I wasn’t really on the scene last year and they are just trying to figure out who David Ojabo is. I’m a Scottish guy, born in Nigeria, who is just trying to learn this sport and then be the best at it.”

He feels this opportunity was all part of the master plan for him and he hopes to represent himself and where he came from.

“It’s destiny,” Ojabo said. “I came over here with one goal, and that’s just to make it. I knew there was something out there for me and I was going to make it somehow. I’m sure they see [my potential] and I have got myself here. So I am sure they see something.

“I am just getting started. I’ve only played one year of true college football so I am just learning.”