{"id":239265,"date":"2021-04-29T22:49:33","date_gmt":"2021-04-29T19:49:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/2021-nfl-draft-hopeful-azeez-ojulari-is-nigerian-royalty\/"},"modified":"2021-04-29T22:49:33","modified_gmt":"2021-04-29T19:49:33","slug":"2021-nfl-draft-hopeful-azeez-ojulari-is-nigerian-royalty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/2021-nfl-draft-hopeful-azeez-ojulari-is-nigerian-royalty\/","title":{"rendered":"#2021 NFL draft hopeful Azeez Ojulari is Nigerian royalty"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#2021 NFL draft hopeful Azeez Ojulari is Nigerian royalty<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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He\u2019s regal both on the field \u2014 and off.<\/p>\n

Azeez Ojulari is a highly touted linebacker out of the University of Georgia, expected to be a first-round draft pick this week. What makes him stand out? \u201cI\u2019m relentless, and an all-around player,\u201d the 20-year-old told The Post. \u201cI\u2019ll stop the run, rush the passer, create and force fumbles. I can play special teams. I can really do it all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Off the field, Ojulari \u2014 who hails from Marietta, Georgia \u2014 has even more unique bona fides: He is descended from Nigerian royalty. <\/p>\n

His maternal grandfather was a prince and a globetrotting artist whose paintings were exhibited around the world. Born Olaniyi Osuntoki in 1944, he changed his name to Prince Twins Seven-Seven because he was the sole survivor of his parents\u2019 seven sets of twins. In the late 1890s, Prince Twins Seven-Sevens\u2019 grandfather was the king of Ibadan, a city in southwestern Nigeria populated by the Yoruba, one of the country\u2019s main ethnic tribes. <\/p>\n

\n
\"Former
Former University of Georgia linebacker Azeez Ojulari is the grandson of a Nigerian prince and celebrated painter<\/figcaption>
Fernando Decillis<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Before he died of complications from a stroke in 2011, he was about to become the chief of his clan.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, it comes up a lot,\u201d said Ojulari of his royal roots. \u201c[My friends] are always like, \u2018Prince Azeez. Prince Azeez is in the house!\u2019 They\u2019re always joking,\u201d he said, adding he doesn\u2019t make a big deal of his impressive lineage. \u201cI\u2019m pretty laid back,\u201d he said with a laugh.<\/p>\n

Ojulari has never been to Nigeria, where his mother Bolalne and father Monsuru were born and raised before they met in Philadelphia and settled in Georgia. But he plans to make a trip<\/a> there, perhaps after he gets his footing in the NFL. <\/p>\n

\u201cI definitely want to go. It\u2019s a must. It\u2019s really big knowing what [my grandfather] meant to the country and everything he\u2019s done. And he did it in a first-class manner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prince Twins Seven-Seven was a traveling dancer and singer, who later became a skilled painter. His colorful works were inspired by Yoruban myths, and have been exhibited in museums including the Pompidou Center in Paris and National Museum of African Art at the Smithsonian. In 2005 he was named UNESCO\u2019s Artist for Peace. When he died, his obituary ran in the New York Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n

His grandfather briefly lived with the family when Ojulari was about 10. At the time, he made a prediction about his athletically gifted scion.<\/p>\n

\"Prince
Prince Twins Seven-Seven was a renowned Nigerian artist who was about to become chief of his clan before he died from a stroke in 2011,<\/figcaption>
Credit: Anthony Fisher<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI was running around the house one day and he told me to come here. And he told me I was going to be special one day. That he believes it, and he knows that it was going to happ<\/a>en.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, Ojulari said, \u201cI can\u2019t let him down. I know he\u2019s always looking down on me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ojulari doesn\u2019t think his grandfather necessarily saw pigskin as his path to greatness, but the sport has become an integral part of his household. His younger brother, BJ, is a standout defensive end at LSU.<\/p>\n

The New York Giants \u2014 who have the 11th pick this year \u2014 have reportedly been interested in the 6-foot-2 linebacker. If the Giants do chose him, Ojulari would not be the franchise\u2019s first Nigerian royal. Former Giants cornerback Prince Amukamara\u2019s grandfather was the king of the Awo-Omamma in Nigeria\u2019s Imo State. Retired defensive end Osi Umenyiora\u2019s father was king in the village of Ogbunike and during a trip there in 2008, he was named an honorary chief. <\/p>\n

\"Azeez
Azeez Ojulari, No. 13, of the Georgia Bulldogs celebrates after a sack against Vanderbilt in 2019. <\/figcaption>
Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As a kid, Ojulari said he rooted for the Atlanta Falcons, unaware of the G-Men\u2019s Nigerian connection. But he\u2019s \u201cantsy\u201d and \u201cexcited\u201d to see where he\u2019ll end up. \u201cYou don\u2019t really know unless you\u2019re Trevor Lawrence,\u201d he said of the former Clemson quarterback who is expected to be picked first by the Jacksonville Jaguars. <\/p>\n

Despite his royal background, Ojulari grew up a typical American kid. On draft night, as his family and high school friends gather at his Marietta home, they\u2019ll be feasting on grub from Southern chain Bojangles. Outside of football, he said he\u2019s passionate about another, less rough-and-tumble game<\/a>: chess.<\/p>\n

\u201cI grew up playing chess. I was a chess guy and in a club in elementary school. I still play a bit but not as much. It helps me [on the field] because you have to think through every move you make.\u201d <\/p>\n

He said he knows his extended Nigerian family will be supporting him from afar this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a lot of family in Nigeria. They always call my dad and mom and let them know \u2018We\u2019re watching him. We\u2019re following him. We see him on TV,\u2019 \u201d he said, adding that he wants to live up to his ancestors\u2019 rich and colorful history. <\/p>\n

\u201cI approach everything the right way, not wanting to let them down.\u201d\n <\/p><\/div>\n

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Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“#2021 NFL draft hopeful Azeez Ojulari is Nigerian royalty” He\u2019s regal both on the field \u2014 and off. Azeez Ojulari is a highly touted linebacker out of the University of Georgia, expected to be a first-round draft pick this week. What makes him stand out? \u201cI\u2019m relentless, and an all-around player,\u201d the 20-year-old told The…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":239266,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/azeez-ojulari-2-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[76358,103841,116,71000,78437,77412],"class_list":["post-239265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-nigeria","tag-4-29-21","tag-art","tag-new-york-giants","tag-nfl-draft","tag-nfl-draft-2021"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=239265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239265\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/239266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=239265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=239265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=239265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}