He can throw the discus. He can study law. But can he play football?
If not, Lawrence Okoye will at least look good trying to do it.
Okoye, a 21-year old man from Great Britain, has never played "American football," as he so chummily puts it. But he's a San Francisco 49er just the same, after head coach Jim Harbaugh was wowed by his athletic ability... and something else, according to SFist.
Okoye is 6-foot-6 and over 300 pounds -- and competed for Britain in the London Olympics last summer after training for only 20 months.
He wowed scouts with a 4.78 40-yard dash -- a very quick time indeed for a 300-pound man -- and was signed by the 49ers for a shot at making the team in training camp, according to the UK Guardian. That was enough for Harbaugh -- but wait, there was more.
He's got some incredible physical gifts, Harbaugh gushed. "Our creator created a beautiful man," Harbaugh informed reporters over the weekend.
Sports
“He’s just an Adonis,” Harbaugh said, making a reference to the Greek god of beauty and desire. “Just a great physical specimen of a man. I can think of some other adjectives."
Okoye is considered a longshot to make the 49ers' 53-man regular season roster, but did grow up playing rugby before turning to the discus in just enough time to place 12th in the world.
And if football doesn't work out, he has a backup plan: He's deferred plans to study law at Oxford University, SFist reported.
