Duke Ihenacho
 Duke Ihenacho in September 2012 with the Denver Broncos. |
|||||||||||
|
No. 33 Denver Broncos
|
|||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Safety | |||||||||||
|
Personal information
|
|||||||||||
| Date of birth: June 16, 1989 | |||||||||||
| Place of birth: Torrance, California | |||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
|
Career information
|
|||||||||||
| College: San Jose State | |||||||||||
| Undrafted in 2012 | |||||||||||
| Debuted in 2012 for the Denver Broncos | |||||||||||
|
Career history
|
|||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
| Roster status: Practice squad | |||||||||||
|
Career highlights and awards
|
|||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
|
Career NFL statistics as of 2012
|
|||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
Duke Uba Ihenacho (born June 26, 1989) is an American football safety currently on the practice squad of the National Football League team Denver Broncos. He played college football at San Jose State.
Early life
Born in Torrance, California, Ihenacho grew up in Carson, California and graduated from Junípero Serra High School at Gardena in 2007.[1] He is of Nigerian descent.[2] Although Ihenacho's mother did not allow Duke Ihenacho to play Pop Warner football, Duke Ihenacho joined the Serra High School football team in junior year after playing basketball and baseball most of his childhood.[3]
College career
At San Jose State University, Ihenacho played five seasons with the Spartans football team under coaches Dick Tomey (2007 to 2009) and Mike MacIntyre (2010 to 2011) and majored in business marketing. Ihenacho played on the team with his older brother Carl Ihenacho until 2009.[1]
Ihenacho entered the Spartans in 2007 as the youngest player on the team and ended the year with 32 tackles, the most for a San Jose State freshman since 2004. On September 29, Ihenacho made the only blocked punt in a win against UC Davis.[1] Following the blocked punt, quarterback Adam Tafralis made a 47-yard touchdown pass.[4] Ihenacho made a season-high seven tackles on October 12 against Hawaii and forced a fumble in that game as well.[1] San Jose State ended 2007 with a 5-7 record (4-4 in Western Athletic Conference games).[5]
In 2008, ESPN ranked Carl and Duke Ihenacho as one of the top ten brother combinations in college football for being among the top defensive players in FBS football.[6] By mid-October 2008, Duke led the FBS in interceptions.[3] In both the October 11 game against Utah State and October 18 game against New Mexico State, Ihenacho scored a 43-yard touchdown off an interception. Ihenacho's two interceptions in the Utah State game marked the only such time in the 2008 season. Ihenacho played as a linebacker in 2008 and was a first-team All-Western Athletic Conference (WAC) selection.[1] San Jose State finished 2008 one game up from 2007, 6-6 (but still 4-4 in WAC).[7]
However, San Jose State finished the 2009 season 2-10 (1-7 WAC). In 2009, Ihenacho made 89 tackles, the second-most in the team that year, and tied his individual game high of 12 on October 10 against Idaho and November 21 against Hawaii.[8] San Jose State football coach Dick Tomey retired after 2009, and Mike MacIntyre became the new head coach.[9] In MacIntyre's first season, the Spartans finished 1-11 (0-8 WAC).[10] Ihenacho played only in two games of 2010 before a season-ending injury.[11]
2011 was a better season for the San Jose State Spartans, who finished 5-7 (3-4 WAC).[12] Ihenacho made 73 tackles in 2011, the third-most in the team, and led the team in deflected passes with six. Ihenacho made his third career touchdown on October 1 with a 20-yard fumble return against Colorado State.[1] That was also the first fumble returned for a touchdown by a San Jose State player since 2004.[13] In four games, Ihenacho made 10 or more tackles, including a season high 11 each against Idaho and Utah State.[1]
On October 14, 2011, San Jose State rallied in its homecoming game to beat Hawaii 28-27. ESPN carried that game as part of College Football Friday Primetime. With San Jose State down 27-20 in the fourth quarter, Ihenacho recovered a blocked point after touchdown and took the ball to the end zone for a defensive two-point conversion. San Jose State won despite five turnovers.[14]Geico nominated Ihenacho's conversion as the company's Play of the Year.[15]
Ihenacho earned his third first-team All-WAC selection in 2011.[16]
Professional career
Pre-draft
Ihenacho was considered one of the top strong safeties and a projected 5th round pick in the 2012 NFL Draft.[17]
| Ht | Wt | Arm length | Hand size | 40-yd dash | 10-yd split | 20-yd split | 20-ss | 3-cone | Vert | Broad | BP | Wonderlic | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 0 in | 213 lb | 32¾ in | 9¼ in | 4.68 s | N/A s | N/A s | 4.22 s | 6.78 s | 35 in | 10 ft 2 in | 20 reps | N/A | |||||||
| All values from NFL Combine[18] | |||||||||||||||||||
Denver Broncos
Ihenacho signed with the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free agent following the 2012 NFL Draft.[19] Ihenacho played all four games of the 2012 preseason and made seven tackles during the preseason.[20]
The Broncos signed Ihenacho to the practice squad on September 1 and activated Ihenacho from the practice squad on September 29, 2012.[21][22] On October 11, 2012, The Broncos cut Duke Ihenacho. They later signed him back to the practice squad on October 13 and to the active roster again on November 1. Ihenacho made one assisted tackle in his second game of the season, November 4 (Week 9) in a win over the Cincinnati Bengals.[20] On November 13, 2012, he was waived by the Broncos.[23] Three days later, the Broncos re-signed Ihenacho to the practice squad.[24]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g "Duke Ihenacho". San Jose State Spartans. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
- ^ Curtis, Jake (October 24, 2008). "Nacho Brothers have appetite for defense". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
- ^ a b "Ihenacho brothers lead San Jose St. defense". AP. October 22, 2008. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
- ^ "San Jose St. 34, UC Davis 14". Associated Press. September 29, 2007. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
- ^ "San Jose State 2007 football schedule". ESPN. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
- ^ Feldman, Bruce (November 17, 2008). "Best brother acts of all time". ESPN. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
- ^ "San Jose State 2008 football schedule". ESPN. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
- ^ "San Jose State football schedule, 2009". ESPN. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
- ^ "MacIntyre formally introduced". Associated Press. December 17, 2009.
- ^ San Jose State 2010 football schedule
- ^ Wilner, John (September 20, 2010). "San Jose State football: Grading the Week". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
- ^ San Jose State 2011 football schedule
- ^ Howell, Brian (October 2, 2011). "San Jose State snaps 13-game road losing streak". San Jose Mercury News. Archived from the original on October 3, 2011.
- ^ "San Jose St. gets best of Hawaii in turnover-filled affair". Associated Press. October 14, 2011. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
- ^ San Jose State's Duke Ihenacho and his blocked extra point return
- ^ "Ihenacho, Johnson & Otten 1st Team All-WAC". San Jose State Spartans. December 5, 2011. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
- ^ http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players/1272768/duke-ihenacho
- ^ http://www.nfl.com/draft/2012/profiles/duke-ihenacho?id=2532868
- ^ Denver Post http://blogs.denverpost.com/broncos/2012/04/28/broncos-agree-sign-10-undrafted-rookies/13246/
|url=missing title (help). - ^ a b "Duke Ihenacho game log, 2012". NFL. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
- ^ Associated Press (September 1, 2012). "Broncos Bring Back RB Johnson To Practice Squad". CBS Denver. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
- ^ Klis, Mike (September 30, 2012). "Broncos safety Quinton Carter goes on season-ending injured reserve Read more: Broncos safety Quinton Carter goes on season-ending injured reserve". Denver Post. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
- ^ Denver Post (November 13, 2012). "Broncos waive Duke Ihenacho; roster spot opens for D.J. Williams". Denver Post. Retrieved November 14, 2012.
- ^ http://www.denverbroncos.com/team/transactions.html
