Latest / Kustom Conversations / From Futbol to Football, The Nigerian Nightmare Was A Complete Unit | Christian Okoye Interview | EP. 03

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From Futbol to Football, The Nigerian Nightmare Was A Complete Unit | Christian Okoye Interview | EP. 03 · Kustom Conversations

• 0:01
  Casi Joy: Every story is different.
• 0:03
  Casi Joy: Every episode is custom.
• 0:05
  Casi Joy: Get ready to pull back the curtain on your favorite artists, athletes, and entertainers.
• 0:09
  Casi Joy: I'm your host, Cassie Joy, and this is Custom Conversations.
• 0:20
  Casi Joy: Today's guest has one of the wildest journeys to the NFL that I have ever heard of.
• 0:25
  Casi Joy: He didn't even start playing football until he was 23 years old.
• 0:30
  Casi Joy: And just a few years later, he was leading the league in rushing for the Kansas City Chiefs.
• 0:36
  Casi Joy: You know him as the Nigerian nightmare.
• 0:39
  Casi Joy: Please welcome Christian Okoye.
• 0:42
  Christian Okoye: Hello, hello, hello.
• 0:44
  Casi Joy: I'm so excited to have you here.
• 0:45
  Casi Joy: Thank you.
• 0:46
  Casi Joy: I had so much fun researching you.
• 0:49
  Casi Joy: Really?
• 0:49
  Casi Joy: It was like once I started, I couldn't stop going down the rabbit hole.
• 0:53
  Casi Joy: Like your journey is so interesting.
• 0:56
  Casi Joy: And I don't know if people know enough about it.
• 1:00
  Casi Joy: Like they, you know, they know your stats, all your touchdowns, all of the rushing.
• 1:04
  Casi Joy: Um, but I don't think they know enough about you as a person.
• 1:08
  Casi Joy: And so I kind of want to dive into that a little bit today, if that's all right with you.
• 1:13
  Christian Okoye: Oh, that's cool with me.
• 1:14
  Christian Okoye: Let's go for it.
• 1:15
  Casi Joy: So, in doing my research, um, I found out so you grew up in Nigeria.
• 1:21
  Casi Joy: Yes.
• 1:22
  Casi Joy: And you first started out playing soccer.
• 1:24
  Christian Okoye: Yes.
• 1:25
  Casi Joy: Yeah.
• 1:26
  Casi Joy: Um, and so I thought this whole story was going a totally different direction.
• 1:29
  Casi Joy: But you moved from soccer to then have this crazy journey with track and field.
• 1:36
  Christian Okoye: Yeah.
• 1:36
  Casi Joy: So first off, why did you move from soccer to track?
• 1:40
  Christian Okoye: Well, if you watch soccer players, they're all little guys.
• 1:43
  Christian Okoye: Yeah.
• 1:44
  Christian Okoye: And um I came from a family, um, all the boys were, you know, are big, big guys.
• 1:50
  Christian Okoye: So when I was growing up, I was getting bigger and bigger.
• 1:54
  Christian Okoye: So soccer is be was becoming a little bit out of the question.
• 1:58
  Christian Okoye: You see, so um some of my friends who were involved in track and field, they were sprinters, huddlers.
• 2:05
  Christian Okoye: Uh, so I decided I'm gonna try it out.
• 2:09
  Christian Okoye: And uh I started out sprinting, running, but as I grew, um I can no longer sprint and catch up with uh my friends.
• 2:18
  Christian Okoye: Yeah.
• 2:18
  Christian Okoye: So I decided to switch to field events through in uh discus and short put.
• 2:22
  Christian Okoye: Yeah.
• 2:23
  Christian Okoye: And discus and short put was what brought me to America.
• 2:27
  Casi Joy: Yeah, and you did the hammer throw too, right?
• 2:29
  Christian Okoye: Yeah, I did the hammer throw later on.
• 2:31
  Casi Joy: I wasn't familiar with the hammer throw until I was researching you, and so I pulled up some like YouTube videos and like, dang, that is a crazy sport.
• 2:41
  Christian Okoye: Very dangerous too.
• 2:42
  Christian Okoye: Yeah.
• 2:43
  Casi Joy: And like, I mean, just the precision you have to have to one, not fall over while you're doing this, and then to make it through these like little narrow nets.
• 2:50
  Casi Joy: Yeah, that's crazy.
• 2:52
  Christian Okoye: You should you should go to a hammer through a competition and you see some guys the audience wear helmets.
• 2:57
  Christian Okoye: Yeah, throwing the hammer into the cage.
• 3:00
  Christian Okoye: Um it's it's just incredible.
• 3:02
  Christian Okoye: I mean, uh the guys that threw it and threw it well, um, they know what they're doing.
• 3:08
  Casi Joy: Yeah, yeah.
• 3:08
  Casi Joy: It was so cool.
• 3:09
  Christian Okoye: Yeah.
• 3:10
  Casi Joy: Um, okay, so then you came to America in 1982 on a track scholarship.
• 3:16
  Casi Joy: Yes.
• 3:16
  Casi Joy: Because shot put and discus were going so well.
• 3:19
  Casi Joy: So you're at college and you got a bunch of like awards in college, right?
• 3:23
  Casi Joy: Weren't you like all American?
• 3:25
  Christian Okoye: I was 17 times all American, football and and track and field.
• 3:29
  Casi Joy: Just a couple.
• 3:30
  Casi Joy: You were doing all right in college.
• 3:32
  Casi Joy: Combined.
• 3:32
  Casi Joy: Yeah.
• 3:33
  Casi Joy: Um, and your goal was really to go to the Olympics for for track.
• 3:40
  Christian Okoye: Yeah, through discus.
• 3:42
  Christian Okoye: Yeah, through discus.
• 3:43
  Casi Joy: So what happened there?
• 3:45
  Christian Okoye: Well, I was doing so well.
• 3:46
  Christian Okoye: Um, when I came to Azusa Pacific to go to school and train for the Olympics, um, I knew that when I come to America that I will be, you know, better prepared for the Olympics.
• 4:00
  Christian Okoye: So coming in 82 gave me two years to train to be there.
• 4:04
  Christian Okoye: And I trained very, very well.
• 4:06
  Christian Okoye: I lived in the weight room and uh I met all the standards.
• 4:10
  Christian Okoye: I was doing so well.
• 4:11
  Christian Okoye: Uh but for some reason Nigeria didn't take me to the Olympics in '84.
• 4:16
  Christian Okoye: Yeah.
• 4:17
  Christian Okoye: And um I was heavily disappointed.
• 4:19
  Christian Okoye: Uh some some of my friends talked me into playing football, which I didn't know anything about.
• 4:25
  Christian Okoye: Yeah.
• 4:26
  Christian Okoye: So when I got into it, it's uh a total different world.
• 4:30
  Casi Joy: So yeah, I think I read that the that Nigeria didn't even take discus that year.
• 4:36
  Christian Okoye: No, they didn't take discus.
• 4:37
  Christian Okoye: You know, I don't know how they work their stuff, but um till today I don't understand how they do it, but they didn't take discus, they didn't take anybody in the field events.
• 4:48
  Casi Joy: No field events?
• 4:49
  Christian Okoye: No field events, no javelin, no hammer throw, um uh some of the you know triple jump, long jump, and so on and so forth, but no field events.
• 4:59
  Casi Joy: Man, but you did long jump too, didn't you?
• 5:01
  Christian Okoye: I did, but not as well as I did at through the discus.
• 5:04
  Casi Joy: Yeah, I feel I think I read somewhere that like someone saw you do like some incredible long jump in tennis shoes.
• 5:11
  Christian Okoye: Yeah, I did.
• 5:12
  Christian Okoye: I was messing around with my my teammates back in Azusa and I was doing some crazy stuff.
• 5:18
  Christian Okoye: Uh I mean I love sports, I love training, so I did everything.
• 5:22
  Casi Joy: Yeah, well you're good at all of them, it seems like I enjoyed it.
• 5:25
  Casi Joy: Okay, so after the Olympic dream is kind of crushed, like what were you thinking at that point?
• 5:36
  Casi Joy: Like, were you was it like why did I come to America?
• 5:39
  Casi Joy: Were you gonna go back home and then this football thing happens, or was it kind of intertwined?
• 5:44
  Christian Okoye: Well, I was in the middle of being disappointed not going to the Olympics, and um, you know, of course, my friends said you should try football.
• 5:51
  Christian Okoye: You look like a football player.
• 5:52
  Christian Okoye: Um at the time I was weighing over 280 pounds.
• 5:56
  Christian Okoye: I was in a weight room three or four hours a day.
• 5:59
  Christian Okoye: Yeah.
• 5:59
  Christian Okoye: You know, just throwing it together.
• 6:00
  Christian Okoye: Yes, yes, because of the tracking field throwing discus, you needed that, you know, weight and strength.
• 6:09
  Christian Okoye: Yeah.
• 6:10
  Christian Okoye: So, but um when my friends told me you can try football, I said, no, I don't I don't know anything about it.
• 6:18
  Christian Okoye: Um but after a while I said, okay.
• 6:21
  Christian Okoye: I walked into the football coach's office and said, Coach, um uh it was Coach Jim Milhorn at the time.
• 6:29
  Christian Okoye: Uh I asked him if I can try out for football.
• 6:33
  Christian Okoye: He looked at me, he said, Well, what position would you like to try out in?
• 6:37
  Christian Okoye: I said, I don't know any position, right?
• 6:40
  Casi Joy: What are the options?
• 6:41
  Christian Okoye: I said, um, I said, but uh I saw this guy on TV uh play for the Raiders, and I saw him reverse the field and run a long ways to score a touchdown.
• 6:53
  Christian Okoye: He said, Oh, that's Marcus Allen during the time they played against the Washington Wrestling.
• 6:59
  Christian Okoye: Yeah.
• 6:59
  Christian Okoye: And um I said, okay, what position was that?
• 7:02
  Christian Okoye: He said, running back position.
• 7:03
  Christian Okoye: I said, well, that's what I want to do.
• 7:05
  Casi Joy: I'll do that.
• 7:06
  Casi Joy: That is so crazy.
• 7:08
  Christian Okoye: Yeah, that's how I became a running back.
• 7:10
  Casi Joy: Thank you, Marcus Allen.
• 7:11
  Casi Joy: Yes, and does he know that?
• 7:13
  Christian Okoye: Well, when I told him, he didn't believe it until just a few years ago, he started believing that.
• 7:18
  Christian Okoye: Oh my gosh.
• 7:18
  Christian Okoye: Yeah, he thought I was just messing with him.
• 7:20
  Christian Okoye: Yeah, oh, just boosting his ego.
• 7:24
  Casi Joy: So you had never even like seen a football before, right?
• 7:28
  Christian Okoye: No.
• 7:29
  Christian Okoye: Is that true?
• 7:29
  Christian Okoye: That's crazy.
• 7:30
  Christian Okoye: Actually, the first time, uh, my first year at Azusa Pacific, uh, a friend of mine, another Nigerian that came a year before I did, Innocent Ibunike, uh, Innocent was a big star uh track and field guy.
• 7:45
  Christian Okoye: He went to four Olympics.
• 7:46
  Christian Okoye: But anyway, he told me one day, he says, Christian, let's go and watch your football again.
• 7:51
  Christian Okoye: I got excited.
• 7:52
  Christian Okoye: Okay, I'm gonna go go watch soccer.
• 7:54
  Christian Okoye: Right?
• 7:54
  Christian Okoye: Yeah.
• 7:55
  Christian Okoye: And uh we got up there and uh these guys were coming out to warm up.
• 7:59
  Christian Okoye: Like, why do they have so many pads on?
• 8:01
  Christian Okoye: And I said, I said, What is this?
• 8:04
  Christian Okoye: They are so big, what are they wearing?
• 8:06
  Christian Okoye: You know, he says, Oh yeah, they're they're wearing pads.
• 8:09
  Casi Joy: They're not big, but they're you at that point, like, I could have stayed in soccer, they're so big.
• 8:14
  Christian Okoye: No, I was just wonder wondering, what what's what am I looking at?
• 8:18
  Christian Okoye: Yeah, you see, but uh he says, just you know, just watch.
• 8:22
  Christian Okoye: You will learn something, you know.
• 8:24
  Christian Okoye: I said, Okay.
• 8:24
  Christian Okoye: And um of course they warmed up and the game started, and uh of this side will we you know get together in a circle and whisper something amongst each other, and the other side would do the same thing, they line up and they run into each other, and the whistle blows.
• 8:42
  Christian Okoye: And I said, Why is the whistle blowing?
• 8:45
  Christian Okoye: What's going on?
• 8:46
  Christian Okoye: He says, Well, keep watching.
• 8:48
  Christian Okoye: I said, Let's get out of here.
• 8:49
  Christian Okoye: You know, I hated football.
• 8:51
  Christian Okoye: Yeah.
• 8:52
  Christian Okoye: And then we left.
• 8:53
  Christian Okoye: I never watched a football game until I started playing again.
• 8:57
  Christian Okoye: You know, yeah.
• 8:59
  Casi Joy: How hard was it to learn the rules of a sport you knew absolutely nothing about?
• 9:04
  Christian Okoye: It was very difficult because, you know, I was learning as I went, you know, and um it wasn't easy at all.
• 9:12
  Casi Joy: Um it's a complex sport.
• 9:14
  Casi Joy: I'm still trying to like get into the nitty-gritty of all these crazy rules and I will tell you the truth.
• 9:21
  Christian Okoye: I didn't know much at all about football until I retired.
• 9:24
  Christian Okoye: Oh my gosh.
• 9:25
  Christian Okoye: Yes, when I was playing for the Chiefs, I didn't know all about football when I was playing.
• 9:31
  Christian Okoye: All I knew was give me the ball and I'm going that way.
• 9:35
  Christian Okoye: Yeah, you know what I'm saying?
• 9:36
  Christian Okoye: So, but um um I I it was very difficult when I started.
• 9:41
  Christian Okoye: I was after practices, I would have these bumps and bruises in the morning, I wake up all sore, you know, and uh I decided to quit so many times.
• 9:52
  Christian Okoye: But my friends, my coaches were telling me, Christian, you're doing so well, you're learning fast, why don't you stay in it and keep going because you never know where this is gonna take you, right?
• 10:02
  Christian Okoye: And um, so every time they tell me that, I'll I go back.
• 10:05
  Christian Okoye: And then, of course, after a week, I go back.
• 10:08
  Christian Okoye: I I spoke to my um track and field coach, Terry Franson.
• 10:12
  Christian Okoye: I said, Coach, this is very difficult.
• 10:15
  Christian Okoye: I I don't think I'm gonna do this.
• 10:16
  Christian Okoye: I said, Look at me, you know, my body's all messed up, and I I want to go back to this because he says, Christian, they tell me that you're doing very well, you're learning fast.
• 10:26
  Christian Okoye: Why don't you give it another week?
• 10:28
  Christian Okoye: And every time I come back to him, he said, give it another week.
• 10:31
  Christian Okoye: One more week.
• 10:32
  Christian Okoye: And then the season was over.
• 10:33
  Christian Okoye: I said, Okay, I'm not going back anymore.
• 10:36
  Christian Okoye: Yeah, man, I'm done.
• 10:37
  Christian Okoye: And then, you know, the next season comes around.
• 10:41
  Christian Okoye: Christian, are you gonna play?
• 10:43
  Christian Okoye: No, I'm not gonna play.
• 10:44
  Christian Okoye: But you did so well.
• 10:46
  Christian Okoye: You should go back and play.
• 10:47
  Casi Joy: Just for one more week.
• 10:49
  Christian Okoye: You know, one more year, you are done.
• 10:52
  Christian Okoye: You graduate, and everything will be cool.
• 10:54
  Christian Okoye: You go back to track and field and do whatever you want to do.
• 10:57
  Christian Okoye: Yeah, I said, okay, I went back and the same thing.
• 11:01
  Christian Okoye: And after my second year, you know, I said, Okay, I'm done.
• 11:05
  Christian Okoye: Boom.
• 11:07
  Christian Okoye: But uh, newspaper uh writers keep coming to the school.
• 11:12
  Christian Okoye: They heard about me, they want to interview me and write articles about me, and they they wrote some beautiful articles, you know.
• 11:20
  Christian Okoye: And my friends said, Christian, you should go back and play.
• 11:24
  Christian Okoye: And one scout actually told me, go back for your third year, which will be my fifth year in college, and see if you can learn enough to go and try out with one of one of the NFL teams.
• 11:38
  Christian Okoye: And I went back and I played my third year, and that made a whole big difference.
• 11:44
  Christian Okoye: Yeah.
• 11:45
  Christian Okoye: Yeah.
• 11:46
  Casi Joy: Was that um I read that your tenth football game of your life?
• 11:51
  Casi Joy: Yeah, you ran for 206 yards and had four touchdowns.
• 11:55
  Casi Joy: Yeah.
• 11:56
  Casi Joy: Were you still like, I don't know if I'm any good at this.
• 11:58
  Casi Joy: I just I don't know.
• 11:59
  Casi Joy: Where's Discus?
• 12:01
  Christian Okoye: I was just running.
• 12:01
  Christian Okoye: I know he gotta wanna run that way.
• 12:03
  Casi Joy: So did I is it true that one of your teammates at one point had to like hold up a sign with a big arrow of like that way, crushed your hand?
• 12:11
  Christian Okoye: Not only hold up a sign, but his name was Joe Schulter.
• 12:16
  Christian Okoye: Yeah.
• 12:16
  Christian Okoye: And I haven't spoken to him in years and years till about a few months ago.
• 12:21
  Christian Okoye: He lives in Vegas now, and we were laughing.
• 12:24
  Christian Okoye: He was reminding me about everything that was going on.
• 12:27
  Christian Okoye: Yeah, you know, so I was laughing so hard.
• 12:30
  Christian Okoye: But yes, he will every time I go the wrong way, he will put up a sign.
• 12:36
  Christian Okoye: He made up an arrow with a card cardboard.
• 12:39
  Christian Okoye: Yeah, and uh, if I went the wrong way, he come, he ran over there and put it down and say, You're supposed to go that way.
• 12:45
  Christian Okoye: Oh my god, you know, so whatever made fun of me, but you know, and I felt the love too, so I kept going back and learning.
• 12:53
  Casi Joy: Yeah, oh my gosh.
• 12:54
  Casi Joy: So you're learning the game, you're finally getting it, maybe, or when you retire, you get it.
• 13:01
  Casi Joy: Um you're playing at this tiny Christian college, and suddenly I read somewhere that there were like 28 or something like NFL scouts like out to to see you play.
• 13:14
  Casi Joy: Yeah, and they were like, we don't know if this tiny Christian college guy can do anything, and then they like saw you work out going just full force.
• 13:23
  Christian Okoye: Yeah, they were they were curious, they were coming out and timing me, and of course, if when good when they go back, they couldn't believe all the stuff that I did, and they will come back.
• 13:34
  Christian Okoye: So they keep coming back, and Chiefs came back four times, yeah, you know, and uh of course the last time they came out was after I went to the senior bowl.
• 13:44
  Christian Okoye: Yeah, and um and uh that's a long story, but when I finished my third year, I thought I was done until uh our sports information director at the time, Gary Pine, called me and said, Christian, I received the phone call.
• 14:02
  Christian Okoye: They want you to come and play in the senior bowl in Alabama.
• 14:06
  Casi Joy: And I was like you dominated.
• 14:08
  Casi Joy: Yeah.
• 14:09
  Christian Okoye: And and I'm like, wait a minute, I thought I was done playing football.
• 14:13
  Christian Okoye: Uh he said, Do you want to go?
• 14:15
  Christian Okoye: I thought about it.
• 14:16
  Christian Okoye: I said, Well, I can't pass off this opportunity, right?
• 14:19
  Christian Okoye: Even though I don't want to go.
• 14:21
  Christian Okoye: Oh my god.
• 14:22
  Christian Okoye: So I I went.
• 14:24
  Christian Okoye: I went to Alabama, and um, I tell you that it was one week over there, one week of practice, and then you played the game.
• 14:31
  Christian Okoye: So when I got to Alabama, I was like, man, these guys are huge.
• 14:37
  Christian Okoye: Offensive line, we stood in line to register, and these guys are huge, 300 pounds, 350 pounds, and 6'7, 6'5, 6'6.
• 14:46
  Christian Okoye: And um, when I at Zusa, we don't have those kind of big guys.
• 14:50
  Christian Okoye: Yeah.
• 14:50
  Christian Okoye: You see, some of my offensive line, I was bigger than some of them, you know, and um so my first practice in mobile has prained my ankle pretty bad.
• 15:02
  Christian Okoye: Bad, bad, bad.
• 15:03
  Christian Okoye: And uh so I couldn't practice the the second day.
• 15:09
  Christian Okoye: Don Schuller was the head coach, he was at one my coach with the staff.
• 15:14
  Christian Okoye: And I went to him, I said, uh coach, I saw a guy that got injured, you guys sent him home today.
• 15:22
  Christian Okoye: When am I going home?
• 15:23
  Christian Okoye: He says, Christian, we're not gonna send you home.
• 15:26
  Christian Okoye: I said, why?
• 15:28
  Christian Okoye: He said, because a few days before you got here, they put a huge article in the newspaper, a big page.
• 15:35
  Christian Okoye: They showed you pictures where you're lifting weights, how big you are.
• 15:40
  Christian Okoye: I talked about how fast you are, how much weight you're lifting.
• 15:43
  Christian Okoye: So people want to see you play.
• 15:45
  Christian Okoye: I said, Oh my goodness.
• 15:46
  Casi Joy: Selling tickets out here, man.
• 15:49
  Christian Okoye: That's like a big pressure on myself, you know.
• 15:51
  Christian Okoye: So I'm like, I have a bomb ankle, and I I gotta play in this game.
• 15:56
  Christian Okoye: I said, Well, how can how can I do that?
• 15:58
  Christian Okoye: He says, Well, just do the best you can.
• 16:00
  Christian Okoye: We're gonna, you know, treat you, see the trainers, they're gonna treat you, and maybe by the time you play, you'll be fine.
• 16:07
  Christian Okoye: I said, Okay.
• 16:08
  Christian Okoye: And that's exactly what I did.
• 16:11
  Casi Joy: Were you fine by that time?
• 16:12
  Christian Okoye: I was hobbling around, and my my my ankle wasn't fine.
• 16:16
  Christian Okoye: They taped it up pretty good.
• 16:18
  Christian Okoye: Um, I didn't take any drugs.
• 16:20
  Christian Okoye: Um, but during the game, I hobbled around, I played very well, I scored four touchdowns.
• 16:27
  Casi Joy: Yeah, and you were MVP of the game, right?
• 16:29
  Christian Okoye: And yep, and everything just took off from there.
• 16:34
  Casi Joy: That is so crazy.
• 16:36
  Casi Joy: At that point, were you like, maybe there's a future in this?
• 16:42
  Christian Okoye: No.
• 16:42
  Christian Okoye: No, no, I wasn't thinking that.
• 16:44
  Christian Okoye: I'm thinking I'm still learning.
• 16:45
  Christian Okoye: You're like this my last week.
• 16:47
  Christian Okoye: Yeah, I didn't know much about the game still.
• 16:50
  Christian Okoye: You see, so even after the Chiefs drafted me, when I landed in Kansas City, some of the press people were saying Kansas City Chiefs drafted a project.
• 17:01
  Christian Okoye: You know, yeah, he's not gonna play because he's still learning football.
• 17:05
  Christian Okoye: Yeah, you know.
• 17:06
  Christian Okoye: So my friends back home, I didn't want to disappoint my coaches, everybody that supported me, everybody that was just hoping on me to succeed.
• 17:16
  Christian Okoye: I didn't want to disappoint anybody.
• 17:18
  Christian Okoye: So my playbook, I took it.
• 17:20
  Christian Okoye: I was living in the hotel at the time.
• 17:22
  Christian Okoye: I started and I started.
• 17:24
  Christian Okoye: I made sure that I knew where to be, what to do every time my name is called, and that's what I did.
• 17:31
  Christian Okoye: And um just doing that, the coaches loved me.
• 17:35
  Christian Okoye: Yeah, and I played every game.
• 17:37
  Christian Okoye: I started over the first round guy who they picked before me, who was a running back too.
• 17:45
  Casi Joy: Wow.
• 17:46
  Christian Okoye: You know, so yeah, dedication.
• 17:49
  Casi Joy: Totally, yeah, just dedicate pure dedication and just your freak of nature athleticism, too.
• 17:56
  Christian Okoye: Yeah, so today when I go around speaking to kids, you know, I tell them my story.
• 18:01
  Christian Okoye: I told them that when I came to Kansas City, even though I hated football as much as I did, and knowing that my friends told me I can do it, I listened to them.
• 18:13
  Christian Okoye: I wasn't sure myself, you know, but because of the work that I put in, I was able to do it.
• 18:19
  Christian Okoye: Yeah, you see?
• 18:20
  Casi Joy: So yes.
• 18:21
  Casi Joy: Yeah, so like when your mom signs you up for wrestling and you hate it, you're gonna see it through.
• 18:26
  Casi Joy: Cause you know, yeah, yeah.
• 18:28
  Christian Okoye: Some of the guys I was listening listening to uh uh Kevin Garnett last night, and he was talking about how his mom wanted him to be a um a lawyer or something like that, but he was following his friends play basketball.
• 18:41
  Christian Okoye: And look at him now, he's a Hall of Famer.
• 18:44
  Casi Joy: Yep, you know, so yeah, never know if yeah, so the the Chiefs traded up 11 spots to get you in the second round.
• 18:53
  Christian Okoye: Yes.
• 18:54
  Casi Joy: That is so wild, knowing that you would be a project, thinking you would be a project.
• 18:59
  Christian Okoye: They were hoping that I was gonna do well.
• 19:02
  Christian Okoye: Yeah, you know what I'm saying?
• 19:03
  Christian Okoye: So um, yeah, they traded up, they got me.
• 19:07
  Christian Okoye: When they called me and they said to me, Christian, we're planning to draft you.
• 19:12
  Christian Okoye: Do you still want to play football?
• 19:16
  Christian Okoye: Don't ask me that.
• 19:17
  Christian Okoye: I'm at my coach's office, so I said, Yes, I do.
• 19:21
  Christian Okoye: Just to please my coach, right?
• 19:23
  Casi Joy: Yeah, your coach, I got his elbow to your neck.
• 19:25
  Christian Okoye: Yeah, if my coach wasn't there, I would like to tell I'll try it out, maybe.
• 19:29
  Christian Okoye: But I said, Yes, I do.
• 19:32
  Christian Okoye: I want to play.
• 19:33
  Christian Okoye: And my coach told me, he says, of all the teams in the NFL, that he loves the Kansas City Chiefs.
• 19:39
  Christian Okoye: I said, Why?
• 19:40
  Christian Okoye: He said, Because of their uniform.
• 19:42
  Christian Okoye: You know?
• 19:43
  Christian Okoye: So he made me start loving Kansas City Chiefs.
• 19:47
  Casi Joy: That is so every word you're saying is just like blowing my mind.
• 19:51
  Casi Joy: And what's even crazier is I think um you had a run-in with Andy Reed way back, like in college, right?
• 20:00
  Christian Okoye: Yes, he was coaching at um University of San Francisco or San Francisco State, some one of those two.
• 20:08
  Christian Okoye: And uh we went over there, and the the time we played against them, it it rained, and the field was so muddy.
• 20:16
  Christian Okoye: And so we had to run the ball, and I ran it 38 times, and we beat them.
• 20:23
  Christian Okoye: So I didn't know that he was on that staff.
• 20:25
  Christian Okoye: It was later on, I met him when he came to the Chiefs, and he told me, says, Christian, you know I was on that staff.
• 20:31
  Christian Okoye: You remember me?
• 20:32
  Christian Okoye: He said, We couldn't stop you.
• 20:34
  Christian Okoye: We tried everything we could to stop you.
• 20:36
  Christian Okoye: I said, Coach, I was running for the air life and hoping that the game ends very soon.
• 20:42
  Casi Joy: I saw the arrow and I went that direction.
• 20:45
  Casi Joy: Yeah.
• 20:46
  Casi Joy: So you get drafted to the Kansas City Chiefs in 1987 after only playing three years of football.
• 20:55
  Christian Okoye: Three years, yes.
• 20:56
  Casi Joy: I just cannot even believe this.
• 20:58
  Casi Joy: This is so wild.
• 21:00
  Casi Joy: So when you walked into the NFL locker room, was there like some imposter syndrome, or were you like, yeah, I'm I'm the guy they wanted?
• 21:10
  Christian Okoye: Oh no, I never had I never had that feeling at all.
• 21:12
  Christian Okoye: Every day I came to practice, I thought the coaches were gonna cut me.
• 21:18
  Christian Okoye: That's my feeling.
• 21:20
  Christian Okoye: So that kind of made me work even harder.
• 21:22
  Christian Okoye: Yeah.
• 21:23
  Christian Okoye: To make sure that I wasn't released or anything like that.
• 21:26
  Christian Okoye: Until I retired, I was thinking that every year.
• 21:29
  Casi Joy: Wow.
• 21:30
  Christian Okoye: Yes.
• 21:31
  Casi Joy: I mean, you can't let your guard down.
• 21:32
  Casi Joy: There's always someone right behind you that that wants it just as bad and very true.
• 21:37
  Christian Okoye: But I didn't think about anybody else.
• 21:38
  Christian Okoye: I was thinking about me, knowing that I didn't play football that long, knowing that I was too young for the game, as far as experience is concerned.
• 21:47
  Christian Okoye: You know.
• 21:48
  Christian Okoye: So I'm thinking that everybody, you know, all the other running backs, they knew more about football than I did.
• 21:55
  Christian Okoye: They were helping me out.
• 21:57
  Christian Okoye: You know, that's one thing.
• 21:58
  Christian Okoye: When I played, all my teammates.
• 21:59
  Christian Okoye: Both in Azusa Pacific and Kansas City, all my teammates were helping me out, knowing that I hadn't played football for that long.
• 22:08
  Christian Okoye: Wow.
• 22:09
  Christian Okoye: You see?
• 22:09
  Christian Okoye: So that's one of the things I was very thankful.
• 22:12
  Christian Okoye: And um, you know, I love Kansas City for giving me that that chance.
• 22:17
  Christian Okoye: And coming here, when I came, they just took me in as one of their own.
• 22:21
  Christian Okoye: You know, and I mean I can tell you a whole lot about what happened to me and how they treated me.
• 22:28
  Christian Okoye: It's just incredible.
• 22:30
  Casi Joy: Yeah, that's Kansas City for you.
• 22:32
  Casi Joy: Yes.
• 22:32
  Casi Joy: That's Chief's Kingdom, baby.
• 22:33
  Casi Joy: It is, it is.
• 22:35
  Casi Joy: So then you become the Nigerian nightmare.
• 22:39
  Casi Joy: Yes.
• 22:40
  Casi Joy: After did I see that your your child, your nickname growing up back in Nigeria was Cho Cho.
• 22:47
  Christian Okoye: Oh, where'd you get that?
• 22:49
  Casi Joy: Listen, I have too many tabs open on my computer about you right now.
• 22:53
  Christian Okoye: Oh my goodness.
• 22:54
  Christian Okoye: Let me tell you something.
• 22:56
  Christian Okoye: You are probably the first one ever that interviewed me and brought that out.
• 23:03
  Christian Okoye: I'm serious.
• 23:04
  Christian Okoye: That's pretty good.
• 23:07
  Christian Okoye: That's pretty good.
• 23:08
  Christian Okoye: Yeah.
• 23:09
  Casi Joy: So why'd they call you Chocho?
• 23:11
  Christian Okoye: Just because your name started with the CH or Well in Nigeria, in Nigeria, when we were playing soccer because I was becoming so big, you know.
• 23:19
  Christian Okoye: So they they started calling me Chocho because of, you know, Choo Choo train.
• 23:24
  Christian Okoye: Oh.
• 23:25
  Christian Okoye: Yeah.
• 23:26
  Casi Joy: Wow.
• 23:27
  Casi Joy: That's so fun.
• 23:29
  Casi Joy: So did you prefer when they when you got changed to the Nigerian nightmare?
• 23:34
  Casi Joy: I didn't care.
• 23:35
  Christian Okoye: Did you like it?
• 23:35
  Christian Okoye: I didn't care because you can't stop people calling you names, you know.
• 23:38
  Christian Okoye: Yeah.
• 23:39
  Christian Okoye: Sometimes when you start opposing the name calling, they even call you more, they call you the name more.
• 23:44
  Christian Okoye: Oh, yeah.
• 23:45
  Christian Okoye: See, so I didn't oppose it at all.
• 23:47
  Christian Okoye: I didn't oppose Chocho.
• 23:48
  Christian Okoye: When I came over here and people started calling me the Nigerian Nightmare, I didn't oppose it.
• 23:53
  Christian Okoye: Actually, I liked it in a way.
• 23:55
  Casi Joy: Yeah.
• 23:55
  Casi Joy: Yeah.
• 23:56
  Casi Joy: I mean, it's a really badass name.
• 23:59
  Casi Joy: It is.
• 24:00
  Casi Joy: It is.
• 24:01
  Christian Okoye: It is.
• 24:02
  Casi Joy: Um, so as the um Nigerian nightmare, you had 40 career touchdowns.
• 24:10
  Christian Okoye: Yeah.
• 24:11
  Casi Joy: And so we just had Neil Smith on um recently.
• 24:14
  Casi Joy: Yeah.
• 24:15
  Casi Joy: And we talked a lot about his sack celebration of the the George Brett swing.
• 24:21
  Casi Joy: The George Brett.
• 24:22
  Casi Joy: You'll have to tune in to see the the ends of that.
• 24:24
  Casi Joy: Um why I have quotes here.
• 24:27
  Casi Joy: Um I didn't find that you had any kind of touchdown celebration.
• 24:31
  Christian Okoye: I was too tired to celebrate.
• 24:33
  Casi Joy: Yeah, it seemed like you would score a touchdown, you're like, what's up next?
• 24:36
  Christian Okoye: I just go back to the bench and sit down and rest.
• 24:39
  Christian Okoye: And my name will be called.
• 24:41
  Christian Okoye: I get up and go back on the field.
• 24:43
  Christian Okoye: You know, the only time I stood on the sideline mostly to watch the game was when we played against Barry Sanders.
• 24:50
  Christian Okoye: Uh-huh.
• 24:50
  Christian Okoye: Just to watch him run.
• 24:52
  Christian Okoye: Other than that, I will sit down on the bench and rest until my name is called up again.
• 24:57
  Casi Joy: Nigerian nightmares over there dreaming.
• 25:01
  Christian Okoye: Just chilling, waiting.
• 25:03
  Casi Joy: Wow.
• 25:03
  Casi Joy: What if you could have had a celebration?
• 25:06
  Casi Joy: Like in because like today, it is all about having celebrations.
• 25:10
  Casi Joy: Celebration, yeah.
• 25:11
  Casi Joy: What do you think yours would be?
• 25:13
  Christian Okoye: I don't know.
• 25:13
  Christian Okoye: I'm not into all that, you know, show-off type thing.
• 25:16
  Christian Okoye: I think the only time I celebrated a touchdown was when we played against Buffalo Bills on Monday night, after they went to the Super Bowl the year before, they came to Kansas City and they were talking a bunch of stuff.
• 25:30
  Christian Okoye: You know, so we were ready for them.
• 25:32
  Christian Okoye: I scored two touchdowns then.
• 25:34
  Christian Okoye: I think one of them is when I flexed, you know, just to show them that they are in Kansas City.
• 25:42
  Casi Joy: Yeah.
• 25:42
  Christian Okoye: You know what I'm saying?
• 25:43
  Casi Joy: Man, I'm just thinking about all the celebrations you could have done as the Nigerian nightmare.
• 25:48
  Casi Joy: I should have been there to show me like Yeah.
• 25:51
  Christian Okoye: You should have been there to show me.
• 25:53
  Christian Okoye: You should do this and do that.
• 25:54
  Casi Joy: You know what?
• 25:55
  Casi Joy: What if you went back for one more week?
• 25:56
  Casi Joy: Oh gosh.
• 25:58
  Christian Okoye: You know, it's I can negotiate, negotiate you know, a contract for me.
• 26:02
  Casi Joy: Yeah.
• 26:03
  Christian Okoye: I go back and play, and then they take me to the hospital.
• 26:05
  Casi Joy: Yeah, straight to the just we'll have to stretch around on the sideline for you.
• 26:09
  Casi Joy: It's ready.
• 26:11
  Casi Joy: We put the nightmare to sleep.
• 26:13
  Casi Joy: So your technique, you were kind of known for just running through people.
• 26:21
  Christian Okoye: Yeah.
• 26:22
  Casi Joy: Did you enjoy?
• 26:23
  Casi Joy: First off, this is kind of off, but it got it got me thinking, what what was your position in soccer?
• 26:30
  Christian Okoye: I was a fullback.
• 26:31
  Christian Okoye: I was defense.
• 26:32
  Casi Joy: So I was I played soccer growing up and I played stop stopper, so kind of a center um defender that kind of pushes up to mids.
• 26:39
  Christian Okoye: We'll call it number five in Nigeria.
• 26:41
  Christian Okoye: Okay.
• 26:41
  Christian Okoye: Yeah.
• 26:42
  Casi Joy: And that's what I was kind of known for doing was just running straight through people.
• 26:47
  Casi Joy: I didn't have the foot finesse.
• 26:48
  Casi Joy: They just used me to still have you.
• 26:50
  Casi Joy: Yeah.
• 26:51
  Casi Joy: You should be.
• 26:52
  Casi Joy: I'm the nightmare now.
• 26:54
  Casi Joy: Um and yeah, I would just kind of run through people, and I'm like, I didn't push them.
• 26:58
  Casi Joy: They ran into me.
• 26:59
  Casi Joy: Yeah.
• 27:00
  Casi Joy: Um, did you does that did you think that kind of came from your like defensive soccer stuff?
• 27:07
  Christian Okoye: Well, you know, I don't know.
• 27:08
  Christian Okoye: I never thought of it like that.
• 27:10
  Christian Okoye: You know, uh, when I played football, I was thinking of it like um I needed to get yardage.
• 27:16
  Christian Okoye: So whatever it took for me to get that yardage, um, even though every time I see um Tim Grunhardt, he will talk about my back still hurts because he ran into my back.
• 27:28
  Christian Okoye: And I say, Well, you gotta move.
• 27:30
  Christian Okoye: Yeah when you block your guys.
• 27:32
  Casi Joy: I have the right of way with the ball.
• 27:33
  Casi Joy: Right.
• 27:34
  Christian Okoye: So, but we we kind of laugh about it every time I see him.
• 27:38
  Christian Okoye: But um I knew my objective is getting yardage.
• 27:41
  Christian Okoye: Yeah, you know, that's my goal.
• 27:42
  Christian Okoye: And um I tried to do whatever it takes to get that.
• 27:46
  Christian Okoye: I was big at the time, so I couldn't dance around.
• 27:49
  Christian Okoye: When I get the ball, uh I have to go north and south.
• 27:53
  Christian Okoye: Yeah.
• 27:54
  Casi Joy: Wow.
• 27:55
  Casi Joy: And then you retire at the age of 31.
• 28:00
  Casi Joy: Yes.
• 28:00
  Casi Joy: That's kind of young, isn't it?
• 28:02
  Christian Okoye: Very young.
• 28:03
  Christian Okoye: I remember Marty Sean Hammer saying to me, I went up to the office, I said, Coach, I think I'm gonna retire.
• 28:08
  Casi Joy: Yeah.
• 28:09
  Casi Joy: After only 10 years old, right?
• 28:11
  Christian Okoye: And he said, um, he said to me, Christian, you're so young.
• 28:15
  Christian Okoye: Wow, you're only 31 years old.
• 28:17
  Christian Okoye: I said, I know, coach, but I only wanted to play four years and quit.
• 28:21
  Christian Okoye: But you know, it got me this far.
• 28:24
  Christian Okoye: So um I'm gonna give it up.
• 28:27
  Christian Okoye: He said, Well, let's keep in touch.
• 28:31
  Christian Okoye: And he came back and asked me to come back at one point, but I said no.
• 28:35
  Christian Okoye: Yeah.
• 28:37
  Casi Joy: Well, and then after retiring, you've stayed in Kansas City this whole time.
• 28:43
  Christian Okoye: Uh no, I actually I was in Cal I went back to California.
• 28:45
  Christian Okoye: Oh, you did?
• 28:46
  Christian Okoye: Yeah.
• 28:47
  Casi Joy: Okay.
• 28:47
  Casi Joy: Where at?
• 28:48
  Christian Okoye: I mean Southern California.
• 28:49
  Christian Okoye: Is that near where the college was?
• 28:51
  Christian Okoye: Uh close.
• 28:52
  Christian Okoye: Okay.
• 28:52
  Christian Okoye: About 15 minutes away.
• 28:54
  Christian Okoye: Okay.
• 28:54
  Christian Okoye: Yeah.
• 28:55
  Casi Joy: Very cool.
• 28:55
  Casi Joy: Well, you still love Kansas City though, right?
• 28:58
  Christian Okoye: I love Kansas City.
• 28:59
  Christian Okoye: I mean, Kansas City gave me everything that I have today.
• 29:02
  Christian Okoye: I have um many friends here.
• 29:04
  Christian Okoye: Uh my teammates, I love my teammates, you know.
• 29:07
  Christian Okoye: I still keep in touch with all of them.
• 29:09
  Christian Okoye: A lot of most of them.
• 29:11
  Christian Okoye: And um some of them that don't live in town.
• 29:13
  Christian Okoye: We we keep we come back to Kansas City, you know, for some events.
• 29:17
  Christian Okoye: I have my foundation here in Kansas City doing some work for the kids, and um, of course, another charity in California.
• 29:25
  Christian Okoye: So uh go back and forth staying busy.
• 29:28
  Casi Joy: Yeah, yeah, I want to talk about your foundation.
• 29:30
  Casi Joy: It's um the Krishna Okoye Foundation.
• 29:32
  Casi Joy: Yes, and you've got it here and in Nigeria, right?
• 29:36
  Christian Okoye: Is it the same as I have in Nigeria too, yes.
• 29:40
  Casi Joy: So talk a little about what you do with that foundation.
• 29:43
  Christian Okoye: Well, uh when I was starting sports, my dad was so much into having me be a student and learn and not play sports, right?
• 29:56
  Christian Okoye: So my very first first coach came to my dad and said, I'm gonna pick up your son, take him to practice.
• 30:07
  Christian Okoye: After practice, I'll bring him back just to make sure he's home and do the things that you want him to do.
• 30:13
  Christian Okoye: Doing homework and doing his chores and all that stuff.
• 30:17
  Christian Okoye: And that's exactly what he did.
• 30:18
  Christian Okoye: Without him, I wouldn't have been able to be here, you know, playing for the Chiefs and all that.
• 30:25
  Christian Okoye: Um so because he did that, opened the doors for me.
• 30:30
  Christian Okoye: You see?
• 30:31
  Christian Okoye: Yeah.
• 30:32
  Christian Okoye: So I figured, you know, after I made it, I'll was gonna do for other kids.
• 30:38
  Christian Okoye: And uh even when I was in Azusa, I uh usually go to high school speaking to kids, you know, trying to mo motivate them, telling them my stories.
• 30:47
  Christian Okoye: Um and I still do that today.
• 30:51
  Christian Okoye: I started in 1990, I started doing a free uh sports camps, football and soccer clinics for the kids.
• 30:58
  Christian Okoye: And when they come, I invite all the um all my friends that play football to come in and speak to the kids.
• 31:05
  Christian Okoye: So I started by just lining everybody up and um I will speak and then let whoever wants to speak to the kids, speak to the kids.
• 31:14
  Christian Okoye: And most of these kids come from group homes and foster homes and so on and so forth.
• 31:20
  Christian Okoye: So um they can relate with these athletes that I bring in who grew up poor, you know.
• 31:28
  Christian Okoye: And um and I saw that it was working and the kids loved it, and I kept doing it, you know.
• 31:34
  Christian Okoye: Um and uh that's what somebody did for me.
• 31:38
  Casi Joy: So yeah, I mean to have a close connection with just having a mentor and somebody who doesn't let you get left behind and really cares about you and your education and sports.
• 31:48
  Casi Joy: Yeah.
• 31:49
  Christian Okoye: And today I would meet some people uh and they'll come and shake my hand and I'm saying, Do I know you for something?
• 31:55
  Christian Okoye: Oh yeah, I came to your clinic, uh, your camp in 1994, and I listened to Junior Say, I listen I listened to uh Eridicus, Marcos Island people that are brought in, you know, to speak to them, and they say that changed my life.
• 32:10
  Christian Okoye: You know what I'm saying?
• 32:11
  Christian Okoye: So I hear that a lot.
• 32:13
  Christian Okoye: You see, so when when those kind of things happen, it kind of motivates you to keep to do more.
• 32:18
  Casi Joy: Yeah, can't stop now.
• 32:20
  Casi Joy: Yeah, doing some great work with that.
• 32:22
  Casi Joy: Um you mentioned your dad, which reminded me of another really fun fact that I found online in my in my hunting.
• 32:32
  Casi Joy: Um I read somewhere that so I'm a country singer, so when I saw this, I was like, Oh, what is that?
• 32:39
  Casi Joy: I have to know if this is true.
• 32:40
  Casi Joy: That your dad would um sing Don Williams and Dolly Parton, like walking through your house.
• 32:45
  Christian Okoye: Oh yeah, my dad loved country music.
• 32:48
  Christian Okoye: Oh my god.
• 32:48
  Christian Okoye: Yeah, he will sing it like every Sunday that he wasn't working.
• 32:52
  Christian Okoye: Working now, too fast.
• 32:53
  Christian Okoye: He will he will sing that and uh he loved them.
• 32:57
  Christian Okoye: Oh you know, yes.
• 32:59
  Casi Joy: How did that how did country music make its way to Nigeria?
• 33:02
  Christian Okoye: Well, you know, I mean there's uh American influence everywhere, you know, and um especially uh country and um and blues and all that music in general uh made its way to Nigeria and my dad listened to him, especially on Sundays.
• 33:19
  Christian Okoye: You know, he will turn on the music and um listen to it on the radio.
• 33:23
  Christian Okoye: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 33:25
  Casi Joy: That is so cool.
• 33:26
  Casi Joy: Um did your dad ever get to see you play in an NFL game?
• 33:30
  Christian Okoye: He didn't get to see me play, but he came here after my rookie season.
• 33:35
  Christian Okoye: He came when um uh I won some awards at the one-on-one banquet and um I won the rookie of the year and um won the Chiefs MVP.
• 33:47
  Christian Okoye: And uh my dad came, I brought him, and uh one of my proud moments was watching my dad hang out with Lomar Hunt.
• 33:56
  Christian Okoye: Yes, and my my Lomar loved him so much because my dad can tell some stories, yeah.
• 34:02
  Christian Okoye: You know, so he took my dad and they spent like half the day, most of the day, just chatting, talking, telling stories, yeah.
• 34:10
  Christian Okoye: So I mean I just left him alone.
• 34:13
  Christian Okoye: I went and do my own thing.
• 34:15
  Christian Okoye: But um, I truly enjoyed that.
• 34:18
  Casi Joy: Wow, yes, that is so special.
• 34:20
  Casi Joy: Um, and they your family, you had like a lot of brothers and sisters, right?
• 34:26
  Christian Okoye: Yes, I had uh three brothers and three sisters.
• 34:28
  Christian Okoye: Wow, yeah, that's a lot of children, seven total seven total, but my old my oldest brother passed away not too long ago.
• 34:35
  Christian Okoye: Oh sorry.
• 34:36
  Christian Okoye: Yeah, so yeah.
• 34:38
  Casi Joy: And they are they all still over in Nigeria?
• 34:40
  Christian Okoye: I have uh one brother and two sisters in back in California.
• 34:44
  Christian Okoye: The rest are still back home.
• 34:46
  Casi Joy: Very cool.
• 34:46
  Christian Okoye: Yeah.
• 34:47
  Casi Joy: And do how often do you do you ever go back to Nigeria?
• 34:50
  Christian Okoye: I used to go back every year.
• 34:51
  Christian Okoye: I haven't gone back in a few years, but I plan to go back very soon, next year maybe.
• 34:56
  Casi Joy: Yeah, yeah.
• 34:56
  Casi Joy: I read that um when you first got over here that um you were really missing the Nigerian food and found that Chinese food was the craziest.
• 35:07
  Christian Okoye: Across the c across the campus, it's called chicken and ribs.
• 35:12
  Christian Okoye: And um, of course, they had ribs, they have chicken and they have the rice and beans, which I was very familiar with back home.
• 35:21
  Christian Okoye: Yeah, you know, and uh so I would go there every single day.
• 35:26
  Christian Okoye: Yeah, and then they had also across the street they had McDonald's and Del Taco, and Del Taco is the one that I went to and bought my hamburgers.
• 35:36
  Christian Okoye: That's fine cuisine right there.
• 35:38
  Christian Okoye: Yes.
• 35:38
  Christian Okoye: So I'll go to chicken and ribs and delta every day.
• 35:45
  Casi Joy: And that's how you got your uh football body.
• 35:46
  Casi Joy: I guess so.
• 35:48
  Casi Joy: The tacos of dreams for the Nigerian nightmare.
• 35:53
  Casi Joy: Yeah, yeah.
• 35:54
  Christian Okoye: Food was very difficult at the time because you know, when you move from one country and go into a a different one that you've never been, um you have to relearn everything.
• 36:06
  Christian Okoye: And food was number one for me.
• 36:08
  Christian Okoye: Yeah.
• 36:08
  Christian Okoye: Yeah.
• 36:09
  Christian Okoye: So it was very difficult, but you know, like anything in life, you get used to things.
• 36:15
  Casi Joy: Right.
• 36:15
  Casi Joy: Do you try you have three kids, right?
• 36:18
  Christian Okoye: I have three kids, yes.
• 36:19
  Casi Joy: Yeah.
• 36:19
  Casi Joy: Did you um like when they were growing up, did you ever try to like instill any of the like Nigerian culture in them?
• 36:25
  Casi Joy: Like with food or oh yeah, yeah.
• 36:27
  Christian Okoye: I'm I I'm a good cook, so I cook, and uh my kids who eat the um eat the Nigerian food, especially my oldest daughter, she loves everything.
• 36:38
  Christian Okoye: You know, the other two not so much.
• 36:40
  Christian Okoye: Yeah, my aunt they can eat the one out of the three.
• 36:44
  Christian Okoye: Yeah, they can eat the jalaf rice.
• 36:46
  Casi Joy: I was gonna ask about because that's a really popular.
• 36:48
  Christian Okoye: Yeah, jalarf rice is yeah, it's the best, you know.
• 36:51
  Christian Okoye: And um they can eat that, and um they they don't like the soup so much.
• 36:57
  Christian Okoye: Yeah, yeah.
• 36:58
  Casi Joy: If um if you're not inviting um the entire podcast uh audience over, where is there anywhere that you have found around here that has like good Nigerian food?
• 37:10
  Christian Okoye: You know, I haven't found one yet.
• 37:12
  Christian Okoye: When I was playing, I was a lady that was cooking, you know, Nigerian food and stuff, so I often visited her restaurant, but she doesn't have that anymore.
• 37:21
  Christian Okoye: I'm sure there is a place in Kansas City where you can find Nigerian food, but I haven't gone.
• 37:28
  Casi Joy: Have you ever thought of opening a restaurant?
• 37:30
  Christian Okoye: Uh no.
• 37:31
  Casi Joy: Why not?
• 37:32
  Christian Okoye: I don't have time to cook.
• 37:33
  Christian Okoye: Just for one listen, for one.
• 37:35
  Casi Joy: I have time to cook for myself.
• 37:37
  Christian Okoye: You know, not a restaurant.
• 37:40
  Christian Okoye: You're very busy.
• 37:41
  Christian Okoye: Yeah.
• 37:41
  Casi Joy: Um, and so we won't keep you much longer.
• 37:44
  Casi Joy: Um, Christian, thank you so much for just sharing your story.
• 37:49
  Casi Joy: It is such an inspiration.
• 37:51
  Casi Joy: You are gifted in so many ways.
• 37:54
  Christian Okoye: Um I am blessed.
• 37:55
  Christian Okoye: Yeah.
• 37:56
  Christian Okoye: I am blessed.
• 37:57
  Christian Okoye: Absolutely.
• 37:57
  Christian Okoye: You know, so and again, uh if anybody wants to figure out where, you know, everything came from, go to my foundation.
• 38:05
  Casi Joy: Yes.
• 38:06
  Christian Okoye: Christianakoyer.com.
• 38:07
  Christian Okoye: Yes.
• 38:08
  Casi Joy: And you have a memoir out too, right?
• 38:11
  Christian Okoye: Yes, uh I I uh I wrote a book that you know I talked about everything.
• 38:17
  Christian Okoye: Uh it came out two years ago, it's still on sale, so it's called the Nigerian Nightmare, Christian Okoye.
• 38:24
  Casi Joy: So is it on audio anywhere?
• 38:27
  Christian Okoye: It's not on audio.
• 38:28
  Christian Okoye: Oh no.
• 38:29
  Casi Joy: No, because I'll read.
• 38:31
  Christian Okoye: Well, the I like to listen.
• 38:33
  Christian Okoye: I've got a baby.
• 38:34
  Christian Okoye: Many people told me that.
• 38:36
  Christian Okoye: You know, uh tell me I can transform it into a voice thing, but um, I haven't been able to do that because uh I like to read, but not that much.
• 38:45
  Christian Okoye: You know, but you can do with AI too, so yeah, you know, AI can mimic my voice and do that.
• 38:51
  Christian Okoye: That's true.
• 38:52
  Christian Okoye: Hey, don't tell them our secrets.
• 38:53
  Christian Okoye: Well, you know, everybody knows secrets anymore, so yeah.
• 38:58
  Casi Joy: Well, awesome.
• 38:59
  Casi Joy: Um, do you do social media as well?
• 39:00
  Casi Joy: Anywhere people can follow you?
• 39:02
  Christian Okoye: Yes, I have Instagram and it's uh Christian Okoye35 Instagram, so follow me.
• 39:08
  Casi Joy: All right.
• 39:08
  Christian Okoye: This is the first time I've done this.
• 39:10
  Casi Joy: What a podcast?
• 39:11
  Christian Okoye: No, no, no.
• 39:12
  Casi Joy: Well Oh, pimp out your socials.
• 39:14
  Casi Joy: Yeah, pimp it out.
• 39:15
  Casi Joy: That's the right word.
• 39:16
  Casi Joy: Right, pimp.
• 39:19
  Casi Joy: Yeah, so well, thank you so much for joining us.
• 39:23
  Casi Joy: Thank you.
• 39:24
  Casi Joy: Make sure you follow Christian Okoye.
• 39:25
  Casi Joy: We'll have all of his socials down here-ish.
• 39:27
  Casi Joy: And this has been another episode of Custom Conversations.
• 39:31
  Casi Joy: Don't forget to subscribe to our channel, like, share, star, leave a review so that we pop up higher in the algorithm on all of the streaming platforms.
• 39:40
  Casi Joy: And don't forget to get your Chiefs tickets at ticketsmarter.com.
• 39:44
  Christian Okoye: That's right.
• 39:47
  Casi Joy: The end.