LOS ANGELES – The stage is set for Super Bowl 56 the Los Angeles Rams will host the Cincinnati Bengals in Sunday’s matchup inside SoFi stadium.
Several players have Texas ties, including Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, commonly referred to as Obo.
The Rams’ linebacker attended Alief Taylor High School.
“I tell people all the time, it’s not where you started, it’s where you finish,” said Manjah Fernandez, Alief Taylor High School defensive end coach. “A rich amount of talent came here.”
Brian Randle is the head football coach and athletic coordinator at Randle High School. He held that position at Alief Taylor High School previously, where he coached Obo.
“I can try to pronounce it, but it won’t end well, so we are just going to call him Obo,” Randle explained. “Obo rolls with the punches, he was fine with it, as opposing us butchering it. He is just a great kid, an extremely unselfish kid. He has a motor. Motor, motor, motor. He had extremely long arms. Obo has a lot of God-given ability like his arms are extremely long, he is extremely physical. And like I was saying earlier, he has a motor. When he was with us, I don’t think he was supposed to make those plays, he was that kind of kid.”
“He is just an amazing athlete. He listened, and to me that’s the biggest thing. If you’re a young athlete and you take one thing away these guys you see in the pros, I guarantee, they paid attention and took the time to not only listen, put into practice what you’re being coached. Awesome teammate, great competitor, anything he did, he wanted to be the best at.”
Obo graduated Alief Taylor in 2013. He went to Oklahoma. Was drafted in 2018 and remained in Los Angeles since.
Both coaches have a message for Obo.
“We are proud of him and just best of luck and don’t jump offsides, watch the ball,” Randle said.
“My message for him today is to go live life, keep doing exactly what you’re doing and make today better than yesterday and if you live by that, then you will be victorious when you’re supposed to.” said Fernandez.