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Quince Orchard Alum Signs With Oakland Raiders

Liberian-born Bani Gbadyu, who graduated from Quince Orchard in 2005, has endured a life full of adversity but now finds himself in position to pursue a long-time dream of playing in the NFL.

Shortly after picking up the phone, Bani Gbadyu found himself at a complete loss for words.

The former football standout, who had gone on to shine as a linebacker at Penn State University after high school, had been just about to go to sleep, at about 11 p.m. Monday night, when he heard his phone start ringing and saw a number with a 510 area code pop up on his caller I.D, a number and area code he didn’t recognize.

But as he picked up the phone, the man on the other end quickly introduced himself as a front office official with the NFL’s Oakland Raiders and informed Gbadyu, who went unselected in April’s NFL draft, know that the Raiders wanted to sign him as an undrafted free agent. Less than a day later, Gbadyu was in Oakland, signing his first NFL contract and, all of a sudden, preparing his first NFL training camp.

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“It’s all still unbelievable,” said Gbadyu, who, along with his agent, had received interest from four other teams prior to hearing from the Raiders. “I’m just so appreciative.”

The move to Oakland begins a new chapter in a long journey for the Liberian-born Gbadyu, who escaped his war-torn country, along with his father and brother, when he was just 10, endured severe bullying when he first arrived in the United States and has helplessly watched as both his father and brother have battled numerous personal demons.

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But with what he’s dealt with and overcome, signing with Oakland, and now completing a dream of one day making it to the NFL, becomes that much more gratifying for Gbadyu.

“I’m just grateful, so grateful,” said Gbadyu, now 23. “There have been so many times when I could’ve lost this opportunity. But the fact that God had a plan for me, and put obstacles in my way so that I would appreciate this that much more, I just feel so blessed, and I’m just going to be more dedicated than I have been to anything in my entire life to make sure I’m successful in this business.”

Gbadyu doesn’t remember much from his childhood in Liberia, an African country mired in civil war and violence since the early 1980s, saying his family believes he blocked out a lot of those “bad memories.”

He says he does remember, though, being “very sick, very skinny and very hungry” and consistently, along with his family, going to bed without having eaten. He also remembers some of the violence he saw, terrible things that he pauses for a moment before sharing, stories of murder, rape, houses being raided and burned down.

“It was just chaos,” he said.

Gbadyu’s grandfather had fled to the United States years earlier, escaping the violence, and, shortly thereafter, began encouraging his family to do the same.

Eventually, Gbadyu’s father did, bringing young Bani as well as his older brother, Emmanuel. The three of them took a boat across the Atlantic Ocean to the United States, making it to New York City before joining family in Gaithersburg.

But life in the United States wasn’t easy for the young Gbadyu, whose mother had stayed behind in Liberia.

Aside from just being forced to adjust to a whole new culture, Gbadyu, very small at the time, and with a distinct African accent, was a victim of bullying throughout elementary and middle school, particularly the latter part of elementary school. Bullies would call him names, push him around and knock his books out of his hands.

It became bad enough that, at one point, Gbadyu’s grandmother followed her grandson onto his school bus one day and confronted the bullies, although Gbadyu said that only made things worse.

“It was difficult,” Gbadyu said of his transition to the United States.

But Gbadyu eventually found his reprieve in football.

He began playing his freshman year at Quince Orchard, began lifting weights the same year, and, over the next four years, grew from a lanky 5-foot-11, 170-pound freshman into to a muscular and imposing 6-foot-1, 205-pound senior and one of the top football players in the state of Maryland.

A Washington Post All-Metro selection as a senior in 2005, Gbadyu helped lead Quince Orchard to two Class 4A West championships during his high school career. ()

Despite missing part of his senior season due to injury, Gbadyu tallied 143 tackles during his final two high school seasons. He also rushed for 860 yards and 16 touchdowns as a senior and recorded 15 sacks as a junior.

At Penn State, Gbadyu saw limited playing time early in his college career but started 15 games during his final two seasons with the Nittany Lions, notching 87 tackles during that span, including 50 as a redshirt senior in 2010.

“I’m just so proud of him,” Gbadyu’s brother, Emmanuel, said. "The Raiders are getting a good player, a leader and someone’s that’s never going to quit.”

And now, Gbadyu, who has bulked up to 240 pounds, hopes to be able to add another positive chapter to his life’s journey, eager to make an impression during training camp in Oakland and, hopefully, earn a roster spot as a linebacker with the Raiders.

“It’s a great opportunity for me, and I just want to come in and compete” Gbadyu said. “As a rookie, my main goal is just to earn a spot on special teams and just learn as much as I can from the veterans that are here. But my main goal for my career is to continue to get better every single day and eventually become a household name.”

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