David Ojabo admitted he “shed a couple of tears” after making his injury delayed NFL debut as Baltimore Ravens lost to Cleveland Browns.
The outside linebacker, raised in Aberdeen, was picked by the Ravens in round two of the NFL draft in April.
But the 22-year-old Nigeria-born player has since been sidelined by an Achilles tendon injury suffered a month earlier.
“It was a dream come true,” Ojabo said after his first NFL experience. “All the hard work I put in was worth it.”
Having returned to training in October, he completed his jump from college football with Michigan Wolverines to the sport’s top level after a late appearance in the Ravens’ 13-3 defeat by their American Football Conference rivals on Saturday.
“Pre-game, I was on the field, I had my headphones on, shed a couple of tears just knowing it has been a long journey,” Ojabo told Baltimore’s YouTube channel.
Despite the fleeting nature of his debut, he still saw enough of his NFL opponents to conclude: “Everybody’s fast and everybody’s strong.”
Responding to the suggestion that recovering from his injury in fewer than nine months was speedy, Ojabo replied: “It was just building blocks – just day by day getting better.
“I know it’ll be worth it. I am surrounded by good people, good staff, and I just trusted everything they told me and I worked hard every day.”
