DE Ihekwoaba wants to make jump from Canada to NFL

Chima Ihekwoaba could be getting ready for his rookie season in the CFL, taking advantage of an opportunity to get paid to play football as a second-round pick of the Montreal Alouettes.

He’s trying to take the road less traveled across the border.

The defensive end is getting a chance to show the Detroit Lions what he can do during offseason workouts, hoping to play his way onto the team and join a short list of Canadians in the league.

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“I was drafted 14th overall in the CFL, but I set my goal to play football at the highest level and that’s the NFL,” Ihekwoaba said. “That’s my ultimate goal, so I’m going for it.”

Thirteen players born in Canada played in an NFL game last season, raising the all-time total to 89 in league history, according to STATS LLC.

“The numbers have increased recently and I hope to do all I can with this opportunity to represent my country and my school to get on that list,” Ihekwoaba said.

Ihekwoaba was born in Toronto, raised by Nigerian parents and grew up running track along with playing basketball and soccer. He started playing organized football in 10th grade and moved on to Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario, where he was on the field for just three games last year because he needed season-ending surgery on his right shoulder.

The soft-spoken Ihekwoaba turned heads at the CFL combine, running the 40-year dash in 4.78 seconds and showing off a vertical jump of 41 inches, both impressive results for a defensive lineman.

Lions defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch, who looks like a bodybuilder himself, was impressed with how Ihekwoaba looked Monday when the rookies joined the veterans for workouts.

“You can tell he’s been working out,” Vanden Bosch said. “Physically and mentally, he’s a strong kid. He’s facing a steep learning curve — like all rookies — to figure out how to go as fast as he can without slowing down to think about schemes. If he can do that, he’s got a chance to help this team.”

The Pittsburgh Steelers and Miami Dolphins showed some interest in Ihekwoaba before the draft, but didn’t select him in April. Detroit didn’t either, but quickly extended an invitation for him to go through an orientation camp with No. 1 overall pick Ndamukong Suh, the rest of the draft class and other undrafted prospects.

The 6-foot-4, 260-pound Ihekwoaba intrigued the Lions enough with his size and athletic ability to sign a contract for an extended look, giving him a chance to impress them during offseason workouts and when the entire team gathers for training camp in late July.

“He’s obviously coming from a different brand of football — Canadian football — but he had enough athletically that we thought he’d be a guy we’d like to work with,” Detroit coach Jim Schwartz said. “He’s a young guy on the end that fits the criteria of what we’re looking for out there. He’s raw in a lot of areas, but he’s eager.”

Ihekwoaba said is trying to use every minute to learn from veterans such as Vanden Bosch, who gave him some pointers after a recent film session, and the players who gave him hands-on coaching on his technique during pass-rushing drills.

“It’s quite a jump because everybody here is quicker and faster, but I think I’ve got a lot of upside,” he said. “I just have to get better every day from now through training camp. If I do that, I think I’ve got a chance to make it because everyone is really on a tryout.”

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