Class of 2024 offensive lineman Daniel Akinkunmi has only played football for about eight months, but his size and natural ability have already earned him scholarship offers from Arkansas and other schools.
Akinkunmi, 6-5, 320 pounds, lives in Harworth, England, a town of about 8,000 people that is 212 miles from London. He traveled to the United States for a week to participate in the SMU, TCU and Houston camps earlier this month.
Arkansas offensive line coach Cody Kennedy was able to evaluate him at the SMU camp on June 4. Two days later, he received the offer from the Razorbacks.
Washington State and North Texas extended offers prior to Arkansas. Akinkunmi landed an offer from Minnesota on Friday.
Before giving football a try, Akinkunmi said he thought his future was in basketball. When he was in the eighth grade, he stood about 6-3 and weighed 250 pounds.
“I’m classed as a big guy. I was taught big skills like center and power forward,” said Akinkunmi, who has a 6-9 wingspan. “I looked into it more [and] I realized that I’m a 6-3, 250-pound center who doesn’t know point guard skills, which I will need to change if I want to play in the States.”
He said he later saw football being a better fit for his size and athleticism.
“Football was up and coming when I started to play in the UK, so it was a good time to play the sport in the UK,” he said. “That’s when I got recruited by the NFL Academy to play offensive line even though I wanted to play D-line.”
The NFL Academy in London provides athletes aged 16-19 with an education while also helping them try to further their career in American football on the college and NFL levels.
NFL Academy offensive coordinator Jerome Allen and offensive line coach Gavin Collins urged Akinkunmi to give the sport a try.
“I started to fall in love with it and never looked back,”Akinkunmi said.
He started attending NFL Academy at London in September. His alarm clock goes off at 4 a.m., and he then has a three-hour train ride to and from his hometown four days per week. He usually gets to bed about 11 p.m.
“At first I was struggling to travel for that long train [ride]. It really messed with my mental health because of how much I had to do and I have never done anything like this before,” he said. “I had to learn how to organize myself and improve my time management. I had to start doing everything on the train – eat breakfast, do my work, watch film from training, learning the playbook and sometimes even sleep.”
Akinkunmi also credits Will Bryce, the head of Football Development at NFL UK and former NFL receiver Kris Durham, who’s the head of the NFL Academy, for helping him to get to this point.
His traveling by train along with food expenses each month adds up to about 1,000 pounds, which translates to about $1,200 and is a challenge for the family budget.
Akinkunmi made his first trip the United States in March when he visited Maryland, Penn State, Towson, Temple and Dickinson (Pa.) College. He also attended the Under Armour camp in Baltimore, which prepared him for the camps in June.
“I have been up against some of the top players before,” he said. “When I came to the States again for another trip with the NFL Academy, I was ready.”
Both of his visits to the United States were sponsored by the NFL Academy. Akinkunmi recalled the day when he received the scholarship offer from Kennedy.
“My coach got a text from Coach Kennedy that I should call him and I did, and then that’s when he offered me a full scholarship to the Arkansas Razorbacks, which was so amazing. I even cried after I got the offer,” Akinkunmi said. “To get an SEC offer was so emotional for me because I have always seen [that’s where] some of the top NFL Draft picks go, and that’s where I want to go to play at that high level, the NFL, and also get my [degree], which is also very important to me.”
The chances of Akinkunmi taking an official visit to Arkansas next summer appear to be good.
“On the call, Coach Kennedy said he would love for me to come down for a visit next summer, so it’s a high chance I will go and visit,” Akinkunmi said.
Coming to the U.S. also allowed him to sample American food, with Texas barbecue being his favorite. Being a big guy, Akinkunmi said he has also enjoyed the portions in America.
“A lot bigger than UK size. You get a lot more food for a good price,” he said with a laugh.