By Trey Miller
When it would get cold outside in their hometown of Tampa, Florida, Amani Oruwariye and his brothers, Alfred and Aaron, would throw on puffy jackets – otherwise known as "shoulder pads" – and head to their front yard. There, they would sharpen their football skills by running Oklahoma drills and hitting each other.
Being the youngest of the three, it didn't take long for Oruwariye to learn how to hit and be hit.
"We would think 60 degrees was chilly in Florida," Oruwariye said.
"We had some good times. That definitely helped me with my football."
Oruwariye didn't start playing football competitively until the seventh grade, though. As far back as he can remember, he and his brothers played soccer. Their mother, Karen, recalls Oruwariye's natural soccer ability from the start – and there were times where those skills where perhaps too good.
"They would actually take him out of the game because he could maneuver the ball from one end to the other and score goals," Karen said.
Karen wanted Oruwariye to play baseball, as football seemed too time consuming. Oruwariye, though, wanted to play football. Karen took him to baseball signups, but that didn't seem to do the trick.
"All he did was ask them, 'Where do I sign up for football?'" Karen said.
Finally, she agreed to it, and Oruwariye got into real shoulder pads for the first time. It wasn't long before his natural ability in football also became apparent.
As he kept moving up, he played on the junior varsity team for Gaither High School before getting moved up to varsity in his first year. As a sophomore, he started to make some plays on the varsity team, and in the spring before his senior year, college offers started coming.
While most kids dream of playing in the NFL one day, that wasn't something that was on Oruwariye's mind. But, once he started getting offers, that changed a bit.
"I was like, 'Wow, yeah, I really could do something with this and my mom won't have to pay for school or anything like that,' so I took it full steam ahead and never looked back," Oruwariye said.
Growing up in Florida, Oruwariye had never really been up north. So, when thinking about his future, he wanted a change of scenery, and was going to take that opportunity if it was provided to him.
During his junior year, he visited James Franklin and Vanderbilt. They offered him and he committed before his senior year of high school. Of the players on the Nittany Lions' roster, Oruwariye and quarterback Trace McSorley, who was also pledged to play at Vanderbilt, have been committed to Coach Franklin the longest.
When Franklin was hired by Penn State in January of 2014, Oruwariye made an official visit to Happy Valley. Despite a visit in the winter months, he committed to the Nittany Lions by the end of the month. So, moving north to Nashville (about 700 miles from his home) became moving even farther north to Penn State.
"When I came up, there was no doubt in my mind I wanted to come here, just seeing the stadium and meeting all the different guys I was around, the social life, everything," Oruwariye said. "It was where I wanted to be."
It didn't take long for Penn State, despite being more than 1,000 miles from Tampa, to feel like home for Oruwariye, who said his class – guys like Marcus Allen, Jason Cabinda, Koa Farmer and Grant Haley – bonded quickly. The relationships, in fact, started before they even got to Penn State, visiting the 2014 Blue and White Game prior to their freshmen seasons.
"Then, our first days on campus, we just always were really close. It has always been a family," Oruwariye said.
Oruwariye relied on his football family sooner than expected. His father, Alfred, passed away in October 2014 during Oruwariye's freshman season. According to Oruwariye, those around the program, from coaches to his fellow student-athletes, were very supportive. His relationships at Penn State helped Karen feel more at ease, too.
"The coaches, they were very helpful to try to help him get through that time frame, and just having people that were very good, had solid families and were able to reach out and just be like brothers away from home," Karen said. "That was very important to him and then for myself, too, to make sure he was OK being away from home. The [other players'] parents would say, 'Hey, I've got him, I've got him. He's good.' They were just able to show a lot of love to him, too."
Now, Oruwariye is among 12 Nittany Lions on the current roster who are in their fifth years. In those five years, Penn State has seen its fair share of good and bad. When Oruwariye committed, the Nittany Lions were still under a postseason ban, and wouldn't be eligible to play in the postseason until 2016.
Since the ban was lifted in 2014, Penn State has been to four-straight bowl games, including New Year's Six bowl games each of the past two years. The squad has also put together back-to-back 11-win seasons. The next step? Fighting for a spot in the College Football Playoff.
"Being here since 2014, I've seen the ups and downs of the program, so I can relate to the coaches really well," Oruwariye said. "I see what they want in the program, their future vision is for the program. I can see where it's been and where it's going."
Through it all, Oruwariye and his teammates, including his fellow classmates, have strengthened their bond. Oruwariye now lives with Farmer, McSorley, Mark Allen and Nick Scott, all fifth-year guys. The self-proclaimed "neat freak" of the group, Oruwariye attributes that to his mom being in the military.
In his time at Penn State, Oruwariye has made trips with a number of teammates. They've visited each other's houses, for instance traveling to Haley's house in Atlanta, Farmer's house in California and McSorley's house in Virginia. Oruwariye even brought a group of them down to Florida during spring break one year.
One of his best memories was celebrating a Fiesta Bowl win over Washington with his teammates last season, particularly having those last moments with some of the classmates he came in with who were moving on.
"Everyone's family was basically my family here," Oruwariye said. "I'm always around the McSorleys. I go to their house all the time in Virginia. Koa's family is like my second family. Grant Haley's family is just like that too. Everyone's families, I'm really close with. It's like I have a bunch of families to reach out to."
Now, he's beginning his last season of football with a group of fifth-year players who helped bring Penn State back into the national spotlight. A second-team All-Big Ten selection with a team-high four interceptions last season without starting a game, Oruwariye will have an expanded role in 2018.
Oruwariye, a leader by example, will leave Penn State with two degrees, one in telecommunications and one in journalism. What's the future hold for him? That part is unknown, but there are some predictions.
"I think it's unlimited based on what he wants and how he wants to go get it," Karen said. "I always have a saying, 'Why not him?' As long as he can believe it, I believe he'll get what he wants to have and more than that, too."
"My prediction is drafted in the first round," she said, with a laugh.
