One of the great international development stories in recent years is the rise of Chukwuebuka “Chu” Godrick. Allocated to the Kansas City Chiefs in 2023 via the NFL’s International Player Pathway program, he stepped into one of the league’s most demanding environments despite having virtually no organized American football background before that year’s preseason.

For a player who switched from basketball to football, a common path among Nigerian IPP prospects, his fast rise has stood out.

What really makes Godrick’s story amazing, however, is just how close he came to walking away from professional sports altogether. Raised in Nigeria, he was at the tail end of a one-year ultimatum from his father to make sports work or head to medical school.

That turning point came when coaches

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