SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — Caleb Okechukwu returns for Syracuse football in 2022 as one of the most experienced players on the defensive line.
What many don’t know is that his journey is unlike that of any other Orange player.
Midway through his freshman year, Okechukwu was faced with the prospect of losing football forever. Following his first season with Syracuse, the defensive lineman collapsed during an offseason workout. He was rushed to St. Joseph’s Hospital.
Okechuwku was diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis, a condition that occurs when damaged muscle tissue releases proteins and electrolytes into the blood, damaging the heart and kidneys. The case was among the most severe his doctors had ever seen. Okechukwu spent three weeks in the hospital and the prospect of ever stepping on the field again was increasingly dim.
“So many people around me were telling me to stop playing football,” Okechukwu said. “So many people, so doctors telling me I might not ever play again. A lot of nights that I definitely dropped some tears.”
Okechukwu would have to re-learn how to walk with some doctors telling him his body may never fully heal. Training at the level he was accustomed to was a long way away. Under the instruction of head coach Dino Babers, Caleb stepped away from football to focus on his recovery.
“I had to take my mind off I need to get back on the team to, let’s just learn how to walk again,” he said. “Let’s just learn how to jog again. One of the hardest things mentally I’ve ever had to go through.”
The once physically imposing player had lost over 50 pounds. His body was unrecognizable to that of the player Syracuse had recruited just a year prior.
He was basically on his death bed,” head strength coach Sean Edinger said. “We had to be very cautious with him. Just his overall work capacity, it wasn’t a strength thing, it wasn’t a stamina thing, it wasn’t that. It was the fact that he could literally do almost nothing.”
It would be two months before Okechukwu would resume physical activity. He would have to re-learn how to walk before moving into light jogging. Okechukwu’s focus shifted towards an appreciation for the process with each gradual step adding a layer of relief for a 19-year-old facing an uncertain reality.
“Me walking without the walker, I saw it as a blessing,” he said. “Me starting to jog again, I saw it as a blessing. All these things I went through it was a blessing for me because when you go through something like that at a young age you don’t know what’s next.”
Nine months later, through a grueling process and multiple setbacks, Okechukwu would retake the field once again. He exceeded expectations in his first year back, appearing in all 11 games along the Orange defensive line. After another year of training, he became a fixture on the defensive line in the 2021 season, recording 21 tackles as a regular member of the position’s rotation.
Okechukwu now stands as one of the most experienced players on Syracuse’s defensive line, a position group graduating its four top contributors from 2021. Babers said he envisions the third-year player as a leader in the trenches for the SU defense.
“There’s no doubt that he has leadership skills,” Babers said. “There’s no doubt that he knows the workings of this place. And it’s important for the younger guys on the d-line to have someone to go to tell them exactly how it’s done.”
Okechukwu now aims to reach a new level in the game he was told he may never play again. This season, he’s not focused on collecting stats or individual accolades, but he is confident in what those who watch him play will walk away thinking
“Relentlessness,” Okechukwu said. “That’s what you can expect from me. I’m not gonna sit up here and tell you I’m going to get my numbers and stuff like that, but when people watch me play, they will say that he’s a dominant player.”
