As Bucs cut to 53, Olakunle Fatukasi hopes to follow brothers path into NFL
The challenge that Olakunle Fatukasi has faced for the past four months has not been easy, trying to make an NFL roster as a rookie playing defense for Todd Bowles as a head coach.
But if he ever needs a boost of confidence, he can remember that his brother, Folorunso, pulled off the same feat four years ago.
Advertisement
Olakunle — O-Three to friends and teammates — is an undrafted rookie linebacker from Rutgers, leading the Bucs in tackles, tackles for loss and tied for the team lead in sacks after two preseason games. And with each play he makes, you can hear the cheers all the way from Jacksonville, where Folorunso — just call him Foley — is a fifth-year defensive tackle with the Jaguars.
“I learn from him every day. Every time there’s a situation that comes up, I can always call him, and we talk almost every day,” said Olakunle, 23 and four years younger than Foley. “I’ve learned a lot from him growing up. This is his fifth year, so he’s been through all of it. We’ve always been close.”
Foley, about 80 pounds heavier as a 320-pound defensive lineman, knows exactly what his brother is going through. In 2018, he was a sixth-round pick of the Jets in Bowles’ last season in New York.
“It’s very similar, in the sense that you’re trying to prove your worth,” Foley said. “You’re trying to earn the respect of your comrades around you. The ultimate goal is you’re trying to crack the 53, and the amount of work and diligence, the way you have to stay focused, the level you have to fortify your mind is very important. We share the same experiences in that regard.”
Olakunle played well in his preseason debut, getting five tackles with a tackle for loss against the Dolphins. He was even better in Saturday’s game at Tennessee, getting a team-best nine tackles, including 1 1/2 sacks, against the Titans. His 54 defensive snaps played were 11 more than any other player, and he still played 13 snaps on special teams, one off the team lead, getting the tackle on the Bucs’ first punt of the night.
03 🔥 @o_threee | @Buccaneers pic.twitter.com/msJRmd1wjg
— Rutgers Football (@RFootball) August 20, 2022
“I came in the first day with a chip on my shoulder,” Olakunle said. “I’m undrafted, so you come in every day and attack the day, always trying to get better. You meet with the coaches, ask them what I should do to get better, both on defense and special teams.”
Advertisement
He’s learned from two great NFL linebackers in Bucs starters Lavonte David and Devin White. David is in his 11th season, but he and Fatukasi have a common bond in Greg Schiano, who was David’s coach with the Bucs his first two years in Tampa, and also Fatukasi’s coach at Rutgers the past two seasons.
For future references my name is pronounced like (O-La-coon-lay Fa-2-kah-C) 😊
— Olakunle Fatukasi (@o_threee) August 14, 2022
“I love it, man. Some great progression,” David said this week when asked about Fatukasi’s learning in the past month. “From the start of training camp to now, we saw a great progression. He’s taking control when he’s out there. He’s a good leader, and you love to see it. We always talk about being playmakers, and he’s out there making those plays.”
Olakunle has the added benefit of his brother’s insights into how a Bowles defense works and Foley’s own experiences of what kind of coach his brother now has every day.
“Coach Bowles was never a coach that yelled at you,” Foley said. “It’s hard to explain, but you knew when he wasn’t happy with what you were doing. And if you knew that without him having to yell at you, you knew you had to pick yourself up and fix it. I have a ton of respect for Coach Bowles, because he drafted me. He had a lot of belief in me, and that same belief was extended to my brother. What I told my brother was ‘Look, as long as you’re on top of yourself and you’re handling your business, Coach Bowles isn’t going to have any issue with you. Luckily enough, my brother’s already built that way.”
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Graduated with a Bachelor Arts in Information Technology and Informatics 💻
On to the next chapter✌🏿 pic.twitter.com/9pHjLhov5p
— Olakunle Fatukasi (@o_threee) May 10, 2022
Olakunle and Bowles had another bond beyond Foley, as Bowles’ oldest son, Todd Jr., was a freshman safety at Rutgers last year, and by coincidence, when Bowles visited his son last fall, he got to briefly meet Olakunle.
Advertisement
“His brother was a heck of a player, and still is,” Bowles said. “O3 has made a name for himself out of his brother’s shadow. He’s made a name for himself … he’s put himself in the mix and in a good position.”
Second-year pro K.J. Britt looks to be the top backup at inside linebacker, and the Bucs also have Grant Stuard, the final pick in last year’s draft, who led the team in special teams tackles as a rookie. Fatukasi is making a strong case for the Bucs to carry a fifth inside linebacker, something he’ll find out about by Tuesday, when all NFL teams must cut their rosters down to 53 players.
Fatukasi won’t share the roots of his “O3” nickname, only saying he’s had it since he was 8 years old and “it’s a long story.” He wore 3 as his jersey number at Rutgers, and it’s there in the 53 he wears with the Bucs.
Football is in their family, and their younger brother Tunde, an offensive lineman, is now at Bowling Green (and wearing the same number 53) after a season at Rutgers with Olakunle last fall. They are the sons of Nigerian immigrants — their mother, Ifedola, works as a substance abuse counselor in Brooklyn, while their father, Michael, is a retired accountant.
The brothers have been through much more than just football dreams together. In 2012, Hurricane Sandy hit their hometown of Far Rockaway, N.Y., and left their home uninhabitable. For four months, they lived in a single hotel room, five people in two beds, then spent another two years in an apartment before they could return to their house.
The brothers have stayed close, literally — by coincidence, Foley played four years with the Jets only 35 minutes away from Olakunle as he played at Rutgers. As a coveted free agent in March, Foley chose to sign with the Jaguars, getting a three-year deal worth $30 million, and before long, Olakunle was headed to Florida as well.
Tampa Bay Bound ‼️@o_threee ➡️ @Buccaneers #Buccaneers | #NFLKnights pic.twitter.com/iPrJHKAWRK
— Rutgers Football (@RFootball) May 1, 2022
The two brothers trained together in Tampa this summer, each preparing for a strong first impression with a new team. As they studied their new defenses, Foley was reminded of how much Bowles’ defense rewards smart players who know the scheme well.
Advertisement
“You have to be able to think in his defense,” Foley said. “It does well for guys who can figure out the game through that defense. You have to think on the fly, you have to make adjustments pretty fast. Coach Bowles’ resume speaks for itself, and he’s been in the game as a player, and now coaches the game from the perspective of a player, so he knows exactly what he’s doing.”
The two have watched each other’s games online, celebrating each other’s preseason success, and all that Olakunle wants now is to get his foot in the door. Foley’s rookie year with the Jets, he was inactive for all but one game, logging just three snaps in his first taste of the NFL, fittingly enough in a loss to the Patriots and Tom Brady, now his brother’s Bucs teammate.
The next year, Foley had 27 tackles off the bench, and the next year, he became a starter, so his younger brother knows about the importance of patience and the power of steady, gradual improvement.
“I’m not worried about the future,” he said of next week’s looming roster cuts. “I’m worried about this practice, I’m worried about the meetings we’re going into, worried about now in this moment.”
(Photo of Olakunle Fatukasi: Steve Roberts / USA Today)
ncG1vNJzZmismJqutbTLnquim16YvK57km5qcnFlbnxzfJFrZmlwX2eDcK7UnKpmqp%2Bowaa%2BjKijmqOlo7mmecWaq66jkai2cA%3D%3D