CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- There are countless stories about the struggles of players on their journey to the NFL, but few if any like the one of defensive end Efe Obada going from homeless in a foreign land to the 53-man roster of the Carolina Panthers.
But it is that path -- born in Nigeria and then trafficked from the Netherlands to the United Kingdom where Obada and his sister were abandoned and left homeless -- that helped the 26-year-old become the first player from the NFL's International Pathway program to make a final roster.