Page 14 - Florida Sentinel 1-28-22

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Tampa Native Preparing For NFL Draft Day
He has been invited to the prestigious NFLPA Bowl Game slated for January 29, 2022.
Tampa has always been an integral piece of Chris Oladokun’s football ca- reer. Though there have been many stepping stones for Chris to make it where he is today, and just finishing up his college career as the starting quarterback for the South Dakota State Jackrab- bits, Chris remembers where it all started and looks forward to returning to his roots to jump start the next leg of his career.
Chris and his family have always resided in Tampa, where he played high school football at Sickles High School, under Coach
Brian Turner. Chris was given First Team All-Confer- ence honors as a Senior and played for the Blue-Grey Football All-American Bowl.
Additionally, going into college, Chris was ranked a three-star recruit. He had of- fers from Nebraska, Temple, Iowa State, Bowling Green, Georgia Southern and more. When it came down to decision time, Chris chose to stay home in Tampa and bring his talents to the Uni- versity of South Florida.
As a quarterback at USF, Chris played in eight games over the course of 2017- 2018. He earned three starts with the team and started the Gasparilla Bowl vs. Marshall in December of 2018. After that game, Chris had a diffi- cult decision to
make. Knowing he had the skill set and ability to be a college team’s starting quar- terback, Chris decided to enter the transfer portal and for the first time in his ca- reer, move onto playing out- side of Tampa.
In 2019, Chris landed at Samford and became the team’s starting quarter- back. He was named the SoCon Offensive Player of the month in September and the Offensive player of the week three times.
After beginning his Sam- ford career on such a positive note, it was heartbreaking when COVID-19 hit and the 2020 Samford Season was cancelled. Chris had to nav- igate through the worldwide pandemic, as well as make decisions about his
CHRIS OLADOKUN ...Training, looking forward to Draft Day
future. Beginning his career in 2017, Chris was NFL Draft eligible in 2021. Look- ing ahead to the best out- come for the future, Chris decided to go back to school and college football for one final season in 2021, plan- ning to be the starting quar- terback at Samford.
Things again took a turn when Samford had a quar- terback battle, that landed Chris in the back-up posi- tion. Reevaluating his career path, Chris decided to once again enter the transfer por- tal and play for South Dakota State University. It could not have been a better decision!
To close out the season, Chris took his team to the Semifinals of the FCS Cham- pionship. He threw for 25 touchdowns and only had seven interceptions over the course of the season. His performance during the sea- son earned him an invite to the prestigious NFLPA Bowl Game slated for January 29, 2022.
For representation at the next level, Chris chose to go
with Tampa native, Chris Martin and OTG Sports Management, knowing he would have the utmost sup- port at the next level. Chris has already secured Trading Card Deals to continue to spread his name off the field, in Tampa and throughout the country.
Though there have been many stops along the way, Chris is ready and excited to be in his hometown of Tampa as he prepares for the most important career turn yet. He is training with quar- terback coach, John Kaleo for Draft Preparation and looks forward to hearing his name on Draft Day at the end of April. With so many big opportunities on the horizon, Chris never forgets where his career began!
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