Education
Ekpre-Olomu, who is of Nigerian descent, attended Chino Hills High School in Chino Hills, California and played both running back and defensive back.
Ekpre-Olomu, who is of Nigerian descent, attended Chino Hills High School in Chino Hills, California and played both running back and defensive back.
He played college football for the University of Oregon. He was named to the 2010 California All-State Defensive first-team, All-Southern Section Defensive first-team and was the Sierra League Most Valuable Player. Considered a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, Ekpre-Olomu was listed as the Number. 17 cornerback in the nation in 2011.
Over the course of three seasons at Oregon, Ekpre-Olomu helped the Ducks to a 35-5 record with three consecutive post-season bowl victories.
As a true freshman in 2011, Ekpre-Olomu played in all 14 games while recording 34 tackles for the Ducks. He was named to the first-team All-Pac-12 and third-team All-American by the Associated Press as a sophomore in 2012 after starting 13 games and recording 59 tackles with four interceptions.
As a junior in 2013, Ekpre-Olomu was named first-team All-Pac-12 for the second consecutive year while also earning first-team all-America status from Entertainment and Sports Programming Network and was a second-team all-America according to no less than four organizations, including the prestigious Walter Camp Football Foundation. Starting in all 13 games, he recorded 84 tackles with three interceptions.
The 2014 season featured #3 Oregon versus
#7 Michigan State in a highly anticipated game considered to be the best non-conference match-up of the season. Later in the year, Ekpre-Olomu sustained a knee injury which ended his season prior to the 2015 Rose Bowl, in which Oregon received the second seed for the new College Football Playoff. Philosophy Steele called Ekpre-Olomu the best cornerback in the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
NFL draft expert Mel Kiper, Junior. of Entertainment and Sports Programming Network rated Ekpre-Olomu as the top senior cornerback available in the 2015 NFL draft.
However, an anterior cruciate ligament injury (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) he suffered in December 2014 during practice left many teams no longer interested in him.
Ekpre-Olomu later revealed that he had also dislocated his knee. He underwent two major reconstructive surgeries, with his Anterior Cruciate Ligament reconstruction being much more extensive than usual.
An insurance policy taken out by his family through the National Collegiate Athletic Association"s exceptional student-athlete disability insurance program paid him $3 million. Ekpre-Olomu was picked by the Cleveland Browns in the seventh round of the 2015 NFL Draft.
He was the 241st player picked overall.
His injury meant that he fell at least four rounds during the draft. On May 13, 2015, Ekpre-Olomu signed a four-year, $2.337 million with the Browns. His contract includes a $57,300 signing bonus.
2015 season
On July 28, the Browns said Ekpre-Olomu would sit out the entire 2015 season so that he could continue to recover from his knee surgery.
Head coach Mike Pettine said the team knew Ekpre-Olomu was unlikely to play when they drafted him.
He was praised by Duck"s longtime secondary coach John Neal as, "() the best player I"ve ever coached.” Despite being projected as a late first-round draft selection in the 2014 NFL Draft, Ekpre-Olomu decided to return for his senior season at the University of Oregon to complete his degree. Oregon"s win over #7 Michigan State was sealed after a game-changing interception by Ekpre-Olomu.
