WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.V. -- He's an intellectual, an Olympian, a national record holder and now he's a professional football player.
Lawrence Okoye, 24, already has accomplished a lot in his young life. And he's not done yet.
For now, he's working at his craft -- which, today, is football, of the American variety. He's a defensive end for the Arizona Cardinals, one of 10 members of their practice squad. They signed him in September, after he spent two years with the San Francisco 49ers.
Defensive coordinator James Bettcher paid particular attention to the up-and-comer last week in practice, and was impressed with his growth over the past month.
"You see a guy that's really learning how to use his hands and play at the line of scrimmage," Bettcher said. "Very, very explosive player. You see him hit the sled and the sled's rocking and shaking.
"Just the more he gets a chance to grow and develop, the more those guys get a chance to mold him and work with him, I think he's a guy that's going to have a really good chance for us down the road."
Football has been Okoye's most recent endeavor, but it wasn't his first.
Okoye, the son of Nigerian parents, grew up in England, where he played rugby as a child. Then, in 2010, he changed gears completely, deciding to focus on throwing the discus in the 2012 Olympics, which were held in his home city of London, as his goal. While he quickly became a force on the discus circuit, Okoye set the British national record of 68.24 meters.
He made the finals of the discus competition of those Olympics but finished in last place.
Okoye decided a year later to begin pursuing a career in the NFL. According to his his personal site, he participated in a regional combine as well as a super-regional combine before signing with San Francisco. He was released during cuts in August and found his way to the Cardinals' practice squad.
If the NFL doesn't pan out, then Okoye has a solid backup plan: studying law at the University of Oxford.
He was accepted to Oxford's law school in 2010 but has deferred his seat at the school until 2017.
