Photo by: Caleb Saunders
Life as a Mountaineer – Alonzo Addae
September 24, 2020 02:00 PM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Football has always been a big part of Alonzo Addae's life, even if it took him a while to play it.
Cousins Jahmile and Jahleel Addae made names for themselves, Jahmile as a bone-crushing safety for Rich Rodriguez's powerhouse West Virginia teams in the mid-2000s and Jahleel, a Central Michigan standout who has spent the last seven seasons in the NFL and is currently a member of the Los Angeles Chargers practice squad.
Today, Jahmile is in his second season as cornerbacks coach at his alma mater.
Therefore, it was only a matter of time before Alonzo was going to take up the sport as well.
"I would say that I've always loved football, being surrounded by it in my family," Alonzo says. "When I made that transition to where I was going to suit up and play was in ninth grade once I got into high school."
Alonzo's parents migrated to Pickering, Ontario, Canada, located near Toronto, from Ghana, West Africa, while Jahmile and Jahleel's parents chose to settle in Valrico, Florida, just east of Tampa.
"When they came over, half of the family went to Canada and half came to the United States. My dad happened to be one of those that came to the United States and Zo's family went up to Canada," Jahmile says. "Zo has been a guy that you can tell all the while he wanted to get a piece of this American game, and it's a testament to his drive and his want-to. The amount of the steps that he's taken to get to this point I think is admirable."
First of all, American and Canadian football play by different rules. Instead of four downs to make a first down, the Canadian game only allows three. The field is much bigger in Canada and offensive players can get a running start before the ball is snapped.
Also, fan support for Canadian football is not quite as rabid as it is in the States.
"The environment is very secluded. You might get 100 fans, if that, so it's a different game. It's still football, though, don't get me wrong, so I'm not trying to make excuses or anything like that," Alonzo laughs.
There were some schools interested in Alonzo when he played at St. Mary's High in Pickering, but he was a difficult player to evaluate based on the competition he was facing. So, he was encouraged to spend a year playing prep-school football in the U.S. and he chose The Peddie School in Highstown, New Jersey.
From there, he would up attending the University of New Hampshire.
"Once I got to Peddie my recruitment started picking up and it led to me going to UNH," Addae says.
Addae had a productive two seasons at UNH, appearing in 25 games where he totaled 12 pass breakups, 61 tackles, including seven stops in a playoff victory over Central Connecticut State during his freshman year.
Following his redshirt sophomore season in 2018, Addae decided to transfer to West Virginia to get a taste of big-time college football in the Big 12 Conference.
His Mountaineer debut two weeks ago against Eastern Kentucky was successful. His diving, second-quarter interception was the play of the game, and his big special teams hit helped him earn special teams player of the week honors from the coaching staff.
"New Hampshire gave me a platform to play college football, and I will always be grateful for that, especially coming from Pickering, a small city outside of Toronto," Addae says. "But I wanted to play against the best of the best."
"Mountaineer Nation, that means everything to me, obviously," Jahmile says. "My family does too so when you put both side-by-side it's been awesome. It's really been a blessing to see him be a part of the family that I joined."
Alonzo has quickly embraced the Mountaineer culture. A recent trip down to the Leer Mining Complex in Grafton, West Virginia, made a profound impression on him.
Although liability concerns prohibited the players from entering the mine, they did get to visit with the miners coming off their shifts and got to see first-hand what it's like to make a living working below the ground.
"I was able to see how the people of West Virginia have made a living for a long time. When we put on that jersey we know that we are representing more than ourselves. It means a lot," he concludes.
This week's Life as a Mountaineer was produced by Chris Ostien and is presented by our great friends at Panhandle Cleaning & Restoration.
Cousins Jahmile and Jahleel Addae made names for themselves, Jahmile as a bone-crushing safety for Rich Rodriguez's powerhouse West Virginia teams in the mid-2000s and Jahleel, a Central Michigan standout who has spent the last seven seasons in the NFL and is currently a member of the Los Angeles Chargers practice squad.
Today, Jahmile is in his second season as cornerbacks coach at his alma mater.
Therefore, it was only a matter of time before Alonzo was going to take up the sport as well.
"I would say that I've always loved football, being surrounded by it in my family," Alonzo says. "When I made that transition to where I was going to suit up and play was in ninth grade once I got into high school."
Alonzo's parents migrated to Pickering, Ontario, Canada, located near Toronto, from Ghana, West Africa, while Jahmile and Jahleel's parents chose to settle in Valrico, Florida, just east of Tampa.
"When they came over, half of the family went to Canada and half came to the United States. My dad happened to be one of those that came to the United States and Zo's family went up to Canada," Jahmile says. "Zo has been a guy that you can tell all the while he wanted to get a piece of this American game, and it's a testament to his drive and his want-to. The amount of the steps that he's taken to get to this point I think is admirable."
First of all, American and Canadian football play by different rules. Instead of four downs to make a first down, the Canadian game only allows three. The field is much bigger in Canada and offensive players can get a running start before the ball is snapped.
Also, fan support for Canadian football is not quite as rabid as it is in the States.
"The environment is very secluded. You might get 100 fans, if that, so it's a different game. It's still football, though, don't get me wrong, so I'm not trying to make excuses or anything like that," Alonzo laughs.
There were some schools interested in Alonzo when he played at St. Mary's High in Pickering, but he was a difficult player to evaluate based on the competition he was facing. So, he was encouraged to spend a year playing prep-school football in the U.S. and he chose The Peddie School in Highstown, New Jersey.
From there, he would up attending the University of New Hampshire.
"Once I got to Peddie my recruitment started picking up and it led to me going to UNH," Addae says.
Addae had a productive two seasons at UNH, appearing in 25 games where he totaled 12 pass breakups, 61 tackles, including seven stops in a playoff victory over Central Connecticut State during his freshman year.
Following his redshirt sophomore season in 2018, Addae decided to transfer to West Virginia to get a taste of big-time college football in the Big 12 Conference.
His Mountaineer debut two weeks ago against Eastern Kentucky was successful. His diving, second-quarter interception was the play of the game, and his big special teams hit helped him earn special teams player of the week honors from the coaching staff.
"New Hampshire gave me a platform to play college football, and I will always be grateful for that, especially coming from Pickering, a small city outside of Toronto," Addae says. "But I wanted to play against the best of the best."
"Mountaineer Nation, that means everything to me, obviously," Jahmile says. "My family does too so when you put both side-by-side it's been awesome. It's really been a blessing to see him be a part of the family that I joined."
Alonzo has quickly embraced the Mountaineer culture. A recent trip down to the Leer Mining Complex in Grafton, West Virginia, made a profound impression on him.
Although liability concerns prohibited the players from entering the mine, they did get to visit with the miners coming off their shifts and got to see first-hand what it's like to make a living working below the ground.
"I was able to see how the people of West Virginia have made a living for a long time. When we put on that jersey we know that we are representing more than ourselves. It means a lot," he concludes.
This week's Life as a Mountaineer was produced by Chris Ostien and is presented by our great friends at Panhandle Cleaning & Restoration.
Players Mentioned
CB
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Wednesday, April 08
Coach Rod West | April 8
Wednesday, April 08
Coach Rich Rodriguez | April 8
Wednesday, April 08
Ryan Ward | April 6
Monday, April 06
