How fast food turned Titans’ Ola Adeniyi into a football player

Tennessee Titans outside linebacker Ola Adeniyi has been one of the team’s biggest surprises through the first three weeks of the season, as his 2.5 sacks currently lead the Titans.

But if not for fast food, Adeniyi might not have been a football player at all.

Growing up in Nigeria, Adeniyi wasn’t exposed to fast food chains like McDonald’s and Burger King, but that all changed once he came to the United States, leading to his putting on some weight.

Once that happened, coaches wanted Adeniyi, who originally played soccer and ran track, to put the pads on — and the rest, as they say, is history.

“When I was in Nigeria, I played soccer and track. I was a skinny dude running around,” Adeniyi explained. “But when I came to the states, I just got to seeing McDonald’s, Dominos, Burger King, and I got fat, so the coaches came up to me to try to get me to come play football.”

Adeniyi says once he put the weight on, he was done with soccer and track.

“Once I got fat, as the years kept progressing, once I got too big I couldn’t do it anymore,” Adeniyi admitted.

As reporters scoffed at the idea of Adeniyi being overweight, the currently in-shape outside linebacker promised to share photos of his younger self to prove it. We look forward to those photos.

The first thing you notice about Adeniyi is his smile, which is nothing short of infectious — and it’s a smile we’ve seen plenty of since he came to the Titans.

Adeniyi says part of the reason he’s smiling more is because of his improved teeth via Invisalign.

“I mean, a lot of people be telling me I smile too much, but I just be geeked up,” Adeniyi said with a smile. “Ever since I got Invisaligns I’ve been showing my smile.”

You can’t help but like Adeniyi, who seems to have a positive personality that is great for the locker room. And, he has plenty of reasons to be “geeked up” (excited) after his impressive performances the past two weeks.