- Ikem Ekwonu is a professional football player.
- He is of Nigerian descent and studied at North Carolina State University.
- He was named a unanimous All-American and received the Jacobs Blocking Trophy as the Atlantic Coast Conference’s top blocker in 2021.
- His mother showed him a photo of Ickey when he was about 9 years old and had just started flag football.
- Ekwonu and his family will never forget the day he was selected in the 2022 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers.
Ikem Ekwonu is a professional football player. Ikem Ekwonu is an offensive tackle for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). Ekwonu was selected sixth overall by the Carolina Panthers in the 2022 NFL Draft.
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Ikem Ekwonu is the son of Nigerian immigrants
Ikem Ekwonu, full name Ikemefuna Patrick “Ickey” Ekwonu, grew up in North Carolina’s Matthews area and attended Providence Day School.
A former coach gave him the nickname “Ickey” because of his resemblance to running back Ickey Woods.
According to online sources, his parents’ names are Tagbo and Amaka Ekwonu.
Ikem’s father immigrated from Nigeria to Charlotte in the 1990s and now works as a family physician.
Ike’s mother, Amaka, became a high school running champion after immigrating to the United States in the 1980s and now runs T.J.’s family business.
Ekwonu’s parents were both Nigerian athletes.
Amaka used to be a track sprinter, and Tagbo used to play college basketball before going to medical school.
Ikem has an identical twin brother. Osita, Ikem’s twin brother, is a Notre Dame defensive lineman.
The twins are the youngest of Tagbo and Amaka Ekwonu’s four children.
Ikem’s older brother is a graphic designer and animator.
Ikem’s older sister is a University of Chicago medical student who aspires to be like her father.
In addition, his parents raised a modest family in Charlotte.
According to his mother, the boys participated in a variety of activities as children, but football was not one of them until they were about nine years old.
Although the ethnicity of his family is unknown, it is clear that the family is close and supportive of one another’s careers.
What his parents had to say after the Panthers drafted Ikem ‘Ickey?’
“I think people see him on the field and use the word nasty,” Ikem Ekwonu’s father, Tagbo, explained. He stated this due to the player’s “extremely violent demeanor.”
“But he’s just a teddy bear,” Tagbo added.
His mother showed him a photo of Ickey when he was about 9 years old and had just started flag football.
“He’s giggling as he goes around with the ball,” Amaka Ekwonu added. “That’s Ikem for you.”
Amaka had stated that she hadn’t observed the pre-draft process closely enough to predict where Ickey would end up.
She only wants him to be placed in an environment where he can “grow and flourish,” as his given name, Ikemefuna, means “my efforts will not be in vain.”
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Ikem Ekwonu and his family will never forget the day he was selected in the 2022 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers.
They, like many others, predicted that the Panthers would select a quarterback with the sixth pick and that he would be a New York Jet or a New York Giant.
Both teams, however, passed, leaving the Panthers with a pick-six on the clock. The night that followed was nothing like the Ekwonus had anticipated.
“I’m just going to do everything I can to be the best player and person I can be,” Ekwonu said after the Panthers drafted him.
“I’m from around here. Charlotte is my absolute favorite.”
TJ Ekwonu, Ekwonu’s father, said, “I was just really excited, and we were cheering and hugging each other, looking at phone calls and texts and stuff like that.”
