When Romeo Okwara moved with his family from Nigeria when he was 10, there were two staples of American life he was eager to try: McDonald’s and football.
The latter proved to be a more challenging pursuit.
While Big Macs and Quarter Pounders helped Okwara fill out, he needed more football polish after being cut from south Charlotte’s Community House Middle School team as an eighth-grader.
But a couple of growth spurts and eight years of football at Ardrey Kell and Notre Dame have put Okwara on the doorstep of the NFL. Okwara, a 6-5, 265-pound defensive end, is considered a middle- to late-round prospect in this month’s draft.