Iheanyi Uwaezuoke (/iːˈhɑːnji uːˈweɪzoʊkeɪ/ ee-HAHN-yee oo-WAY-zoh-kay; // ⓘ (born 24 July 1973) is a Nigerian former professional American football player.
[2] Uwaezuoke played five seasons in the National Football League (NFL), chiefly for the Carolina Panthers and San Francisco 49ers.
[3] As a collegian, Uwaezuoke played wide receiver for the Golden Bears of the University of California, Berkeley, where he finished 15th in the nation with 5.6 receptions per game as a junior.
He placed 3rd at Southern Section Finals in the triple jump covering a distance of 45 feet 2 inches (13.77 m)(school record).
Uwaezuoke was recruited by UCLA, Duke, Penn, and California, but ultimately received no athletic scholarship offers.
He caught 27 passes in his sophomore year, including a touchdown in Cal's 1993 Alamo Bowl win over the Iowa Hawkeyes.
[11] In 1995, he missed the front and back ends of his senior year due to thumb and knee injuries and had 30 receptions for 506 yards and three touchdowns in 6 complete games.
[12] Uwaezuoke rounded out his college career with 114 catches for 1,703 yards and tied a school record (later surpassed) for total receptions in a game: 13.
Legend: * missed games due to injury, SCH ATR - school all-time rank, NatR - national rank, ConfR - conference rank, APY - all-purpose yards, Gms - games, Ctch% - catch percentage, Yrds/Rec- yards per reception, RushYds - rushing yards, Rec/TD - receiving touchdowns, RS - redshirt, Frosh - freshman, Soph - sophomore, Jr - junior, Sr - senior.
In the same preseason opener vs. the Denver Broncos, he suffered a second degree AC shoulder separation on his first reception and missed six games.
He underwent arthroscopic knee procedure to remove debris (in joint) and missed the week 11 bout vs. the Carolina Panthers.
[32] Uwaezuoke finished the regular season as one of nine players on the 49er squad to appear on the NFL single season leaderboard: Dana Stubblefield, Chris Doleman, Gary Anderson, Steve Young, Merton Hanks, Garrison Hearst, Chuck Levy, Terry Kirby.
Ctch% Legend: * - missed games due to injury which required in season or off season surgery, ** - unofficial stat, Att - attempt, TmR - team rank, ConfR - conference rank, LgR - league rank, SF - San Francisco, Det - Detroit, Car - Carolina, PRet - punt return, STT - assisted special teams tackle, UTT - unassisted special teams tackle, Ctch% - catch percentage, Yds/Ret - yards per punt return, TTD - total touchdowns, FumL - fumbles lost, FumR - fumbles recovered.
He recorded NFL leaderboard statistics at three uniquely different pro positions over a span of 65 games (includes 1998 preseason).
[41][29] He is one of 13 wide receivers selected in the 1996 draft to earn an all-time top 100 rating at a skill position.