Chidi Ahanotu

Chidi Obioma Ahanotu (born October 11, 1970) is a former

Ahanotu was born in Modesto, California to Nigerian father and a mother from Alaska, and was the middle son of three boys.^[2] His father was on the Nigeria national soccer team and taught him and his 2 brothers how to play the sport when they were 5 years old.^[3] He also loved to cook.

Ahanotu grew up in

Ahanotu attended UC Berkeley and walked onto the football team. After his redshirt freshman year, Ahanotu began to play during his second season, following which he earned a full athletic scholarship and became the Golden Bears' starting left defensive end. He went on to be the starter for 3 more football seasons and earned 1st team All-Pac-10 honors as the best at his position in 1992. Ahanotu majored in Integrative Biology and originally intended to go to medical school to become a doctor before joining the NFL.

Professional career

The

Ahanotu is regarded quite highly in the history of Buccaneer defenders. He was named the team's "Franchise Player" in 1999,[7] and in 2019, he was ranked 18th on a USA Today-published list of the 100 best Buccaneers players.^[8]

While playing for the Bills in 2002, Ahanotu made the unusual decision to live in Toronto and commute two hours to Buffalo. He paid a driver $5,000 a month while fulfilling his desire to live outside the United States.^[9]

Post-playing career

Ahanotu retired from the NFL in 2005. After retiring, he became the founder of Magellan Entertainment Inc., a talent management firm whose clients included Usain Bolt, Lennox Lewis, Lil Wayne, and Venus and Serena Williams.^[10]

References