By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Kansas City Chief Hall of Famer Christian Okoye will be in St. Joseph this weekend, appearing at a Legends of the Game event at the St. Jo Frontier Casino Sunday.
Okoye has written a book, highlighting his time with the Chiefs and in the NFL. Okoye says the book, The Nigerian Nightmare – My Journey Out of Africa to the Kansas City Chiefs and Beyond, fleshes out his story from his home country of Nigeria to success in a sport he knew nothing about.
Okoye came to America intending to train for the 1984 Olympics. When his home country of Nigeria refused to include him on their Olympic team after a divisive civil war, friends at Azusa Pacific University in the Los Angeles area encouraged him to take up football. Okoye knew soccer as well as track and field. He had never even seen a game of football. Still, with his Olympic dreams dashed, Okoye picked up football at Azusa.
Okoye had success. The Chiefs drafted him in the second round. He played for six seasons, leading the NFL in rushing in 1989. Okoye says he hopes young people will learn from his story.
“Sometimes you get thrown into a situation where you are not very familiar and you know that that situation can be good for you and those people around you; you never give up,” Okoye tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. “You don’t give up on it. You just work on it even though it’s not your thing, but that’s an opportunity to make some good.”
The book also delves into the darker side of football, primarily the injuries and the lack of health insurance for those who have retired from the NFL.
“Football is one of the sports that you will get an injury,” Okoye says. “If you play football and leave football, you come out with some type of injury that will last for a long time. We should have medical care, but it’s not there.”
Okoye and other NFL retirees have been petitioning the NFL to provide medical insurance upon retirement. Okoye says the NFL is the outlier with the NBA and Major League Baseball both providing medical insurance for its former players.
Okoye played six seasons for the Chiefs. He led the NFL in rushing in 1989 with 1,480 yards. The Chiefs named Okoye their MVP that season. Twice Okoye was selected for the Pro Bowl. He retired with 4,897 yards.
The Chiefs had some success during the years Okoye play, but nothing like now. Okoye never envisioned this current era.
“Every time the Chiefs have won the Super Bowl in the last few years – three Super Bowls now – I know that Lamar is up in Heaven, smiling and just being content with what his son, Clark, is doing.”
Okoye counts knowing the late Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt as one of the fondest memories of his playing days.
Okoye says he looks forward to appearing at the St. Jo Frontier Casino Sunday.
“Well, I love seeing Kansas City Chiefs fans,” Okoye says, inviting fans to come to the St. Jo Frontier Casino Sunday afternoon to hear stories, take a photo, and get an autograph.
Okoye will appear along with standout Chiefs defensive lineman Neil Smith at the event, which begins at 1:30pm.
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