Defensive tackle Babatunde Oshinowo was signed by the Panthers in late January and knows from experience that being on an NFL roster can be fleeting.
“Until I know for a fact I'm going to be here, I don't want to put (down) roots,” said Oshinowo, who calls himself “a man of small means.”
Though the roster lists him as having one year of NFL experience, he's actually in his fourth season trying to find a home in the league.
Cleveland picked him in the sixth round of the 2006 draft and signed him to a four-year contract. He appeared in one game for the Browns as a rookie and was later released. He has also had stopovers with Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington.
His career totals: two games played, two tackles.
That makes him a classic pro football journeyman.
Hence, his rented air mattress, though Oshinowo, whose parents are from Nigeria, insists it's a dandy.
“It's one of the nicest air mattresses you've ever seen,” he said with a smile. “It's one of those high ones, double ones, (with a) mattress topper. It's good stuff.”
Oshinowo (6-11/2, 305 pounds) said the air mattress is representative of “the kind of life I've been living the past couple of years.”
He played nose tackle in a 3-4 defense at Stanford, where he was a three-year starter. But it turned out he didn't quite have the size to play in the same role in the NFL.
He's now trying to make Carolina's roster as a 4-3 nose tackle, which appears to be a better fit for his size and skill set.
The Panthers desperately need to improve their depth on the defensive line, and he's a potential backup for starter Maake Kemoeatu.
“He's a guy who's got some size,” said Panthers coach John Fox. “He's been with us for a little while now. He's had a good offseason. I know he works really hard in the weight room. Really, until we get in pads, it's harder to evaluate offensive and defensive linemen, but so far so good.”
Oshinowo, 26, is extremely strong. He has bench-pressed 520 pounds, but is far from being a stereotypical jock.
If he weren't trying to play football, he might be working in Silicon Valley.
He scored 37 on the Wonderlic intelligence test before the 2006 draft, just three points shy of the highest score possible. He received an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from Stanford and began working on his master's during his senior season.
He has a love for computers and builds Web sites as a side business.
High intellect is a family trait.
His parents met at Oxford University in England. After marrying, they moved to the U.S. from Nigeria in 1980. His father, Babatunde Sr., is a nuclear physicist and his mother, Lola, is a technology specialist.
His sister Adeoti graduates from Stanford medical school this month and his brother Timi is a rising senior offensive lineman at Oregon State.
“My parents worked hard and set a really good example for us,” said Oshinowo. “That's part of the culture in Nigeria.”
“I feel like I can play football. I feel like I can help this team next year. That's what I want to do.”
The name Babatunde Oshinowo is shortened from the Panthers' defensive tackle's full Nigerian name of Babatunde Oluwasegun Temitope Oluwakorede Adisa Oshinowo. Some friends and teammates call him “Tunde” for short. Others call him “Baba,” while some Panthers players have labeled him “Bubba.”
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