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NFL -- 06/20 09:57 -- by Colin Udoh
Philadelphia Eagles rookie Uar Bernard believes Nigeria is filled with athletes capable of reaching the NFL, and wants the league to do more to create pathways for these young players to be discovered and developed. The defensive tackle, who became the first player drafted directly from the NFL's International Player Pathway program when he was picked earlier this year, said greater investment in coaching and grassroots development could unlock a vast pool of untapped talent, even potentially better than him. "[The league should] create that football awareness in Nigeria, have coaches there, have academies there," Bernard said on the Eagles social media platforms. "I believe that Nigeria have most of the talents in the world. If they have more opportunities they'll do better than me." Bernard's own journey from Nigeria to the NFL is already proof of concept. Born and raised in Nigeria, Bernard was initially identified through basketball before attending NFL development camps in Africa, including one in Nigeria organized by former NFL defensive end Osi Umenyiora. He later earned a place in the International Player Pathway program and impressed scouts with extraordinary athletic testing numbers, including a 4.63-second 40-yard dash at more than 300 pounds before the Eagles selected him with the 251st overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Bernard is motivated by family and hopes of a better life for them, while being inspired by the words of his late father. "I never give up on anything," Bernard said. "I grew up in the northeast of Nigeria, in a family of six. I lost my dad a couple of years ago. He was my best friend, but that was a painful part of my life. "Before he died, he told me not to worry about anything. That if I put my trust in God, I will prevail through every situation. He was my inspiration." Driven by those words, Bernard has also drawn motivation from his mother's belief in him: "My mom, she was our everything. She was like, okay, you gonna make it, I know who you are."
That motivation now extends beyond her, as he sees himself carrying the hopes of his family and is determined to make a success of his NFL career: "What would I tell them if I give up?" If Bernard needs any inspiration, he needs not look too far. Teammate Jordan Mailata is the perfect template he would need to follow. Like Bernard, Mailata entered the NFL with little football experience through an international development pathway, before becoming a Super Bowl champion and one of the league's premier offensive linemen. Comparisons between the two have been nonstop since Philadelphia drafted the Nigerian. Mailata, however, believes that comparison oversimplifies Bernard's unique potential. "We should not draw comparisons to my story, and Uar's story. This is two different positions, two different people," Mailata told reporters during a recent Eagles media availability. "My story has influenced people's opinion of whether he will work out or not. I think it will work out, but only time will tell."
But even Mailata has been blown away by Uar's athletic abilities during organized team activities and is not hiding it. "Uar is a freak. He is also not of this planet," Mailata said. "He's just freakishly strong, freakishly fast, and I can't even compare him to me, just because he's just not of this world, by metrics and numbers wise. "What I saw, my first day, they had a 315 on the bench, and he was repping 315 like it was 225, and I was like, where did they find this guy? "This is unreal. And then you see the way he was moving in drills. Very mechanical. "I mean, you can see the rawness of, just him even walking through D-line drills down there. It was just very raw, very inexperienced. You can see that the unfamiliarity of drills. "But you can also see the power that he can generate. You can see the quickness that he has. "And you can see that he thinks about everything before doing it. Regardless of how it looks."
Mailata says those are the base qualities that could lead to greatness: "When you have a guy who has those three things, the coachability and speed and power, the sky's a limit with that kid." Those are the qualities that helped Bernard make the somewhat improbable leap from Nigeria to the NFL. Long before he arrived in Philadelphia, the youngster was teaching himself pass-rushing techniques with nature's own equipment. "(I was) using three trunks as bags to just practice pass rush, to be a blessing to my country," Bernard said. That image, of a young Nigerian using tree trunks to simulate offensive linemen, has become one of the defining stories of his rise. Today, he finds himself learning from and alongside some of the best players in the world. Mailata says Bernard's success will ultimately depend on the same determination to succeed that has already brought him this far. "It's how much time he pours in, and I'm gonna make sure that he pours in every little bit, every last drop, into that bucket," Mailata said. For Bernard, those physical gifts that opened the door to the NFL will not be wasted: "I never give up on anything. With my size and my speed, my athleticism, I can play football. "I have to consider that with the God given talent that I have."
Read on the web: https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/49127060/philadelphia-eagles-uar-bernard-says-nigeria-nfl-talent-abundance
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