Emmanuel Acho
refer to caption
Acho in 2021
No. 59, 51
Position:Linebacker
Personal information
Born: (1990-11-10) November 10, 1990
Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Height:6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:240 lb (109 kg)
Career information
High school:St. Mark's School of Texas (Dallas, Texas)
College:Texas
NFL Draft:2012 / Round: 6 / Pick: 204
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career NFL statistics
Total tackles:33
Player stats at NFL.com

Emmanuel Chinedum Acho (born November 10, 1990) is an American sports analyst and former professional football player who is an analyst for Fox Sports 1. He played as a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL).

Acho played college football for the Texas Longhorns before being selected by the Cleveland Browns in the sixth round of the 2012 NFL Draft. In 2013, he was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles, where he played until retiring from the sport in 2015. In addition to his broadcasting responsibilities, he created and hosted an anti-racism digital series Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man.[1] He published a book with the same title, and released a second book, Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Boy, of which both became New York Times bestselling books.

Early years

Acho is Nigerian American and was born in Dallas to Igbo immigrants, Dr. Sonny and Christie Acho, from Isuikwuato, Nigeria.[2][3] He has three siblings. The entire family has been involved in African missionary work since the children were young, and the parents are on the board of directors of the Living Hope Christian Ministries and its Operation Hope, which provides medical services in Nigeria. Sonny Acho has also served as pastor to the Living Hope Bible Fellowship Church and as a mental health professional in North Dallas.[4]

Acho graduated from the St. Mark's School of Texas in Dallas, Texas, where he lettered in football, basketball and track and field. As a senior, he was tabbed the state's top linebacker by Dave Campbell's Texas Football and one of the 150 top recruits in the country by ESPNU. In track, he recorded personal bests of 57-4 (shot put) and 177-3 (discus, which remains the school's record). Widely recruited, he chose to attend the University of Texas.

One of his siblings, Sam Acho, also attended St. Mark's and the University of Texas before a career in the NFL.

College career

Acho played in 48 games during his 4-year career at Texas, including 26 starts. As a senior, he was consensus first-team All-Big 12 linebacker (Coaches, AP, Houston Chronicle, San Antonio Express-News, Fort Worth Star-Telegram). He won the 2010 Arthur Ashe Award, was named to the 2011 AFCA Good Works Team, and was a three-time first-team Academic All-Big 12 selection. He was also a finalist for the 2011 Lott Trophy for college football's Defensive IMPACT Player of the Year, Lowe's Senior CLASS Award and Wuerffel Trophy. He led his team in tackles in 2011 and, over his 4-year career, recorded 278 tackles (159 solo), 41 TFL, eight sacks, seven forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries, two INTs, 13 PBU and 26 pressures.

He graduated in December 2011 with a degree in sports management and completed his master's degree in sports psychology in 2017, both from the University of Texas at Austin.

Professional career

NFL football

Pre-draft measurables
HeightWeightArm lengthHand span40-yard dashVertical jumpBroad jumpBench press
6 ft 1+5⁄8 in
(1.87 m)		 238 lb
(108 kg)		 33 in
(0.84 m)		 10 in
(0.25 m)		4.73 s35.5 in
(0.90 m)		9 ft 10 in
(3.00 m)		24 reps
All values from NFL Combine

Acho was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the sixth round of the 2012 NFL Draft.[5] He was placed on injured reserve after a leg injury and missed the entire 2012 season.[6] On April 11, 2013, Acho was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles for running back Dion Lewis.[7] He was released on September 2, 2013.[8] On September 10, 2013, Acho was signed to the New York Giants practice squad.[9]

The Philadelphia Eagles signed Acho off the Giants' practice squad on October 21, 2013, after Jake Knott was injured, and he saw limited playing time in 6 games, getting his first NFL tackles. He was made gameday inactive once Mychal Kendricks and Jake Knott were back.[10][11] Acho was waived by the Eagles on December 17, 2013, before the season ended,[12] but signed to the practice squad the next day.[13] He was re-signed to the team on January 6, 2014, during the off season;[14] released on August 30, 2014[15] and then added to the Eagles practice squad the next day. Acho was promoted to the active roster on September 9, 2014, after Najee Goode was injured. Following DeMeco Ryans' season-ending injury in Week 9, he was thrust into a prominent role, along with Casey Matthews. He played in 14 games and recorded 31 tackles. In 2015, after being waived as part of the cuts to 53 due to a thumb injury,[16] Acho was signed back to the Philadelphia Eagles on November 9 after Jordan Hicks was placed on Injured Reserve with a shoulder injury,[17] but he saw no playing time and was released on November 24, 2015, making him a free agent.[8] This transaction marked the end of Acho's NFL career.

Media

Acho took a temporary job in 2016 as an analyst for the Longhorn Network and then transitioned to a full-time analyst that fall. In 2018, he was promoted to ESPN2's college football programming.[18] Acho was one of four hosts of "Cover Four" which airs on the official website of the Dallas Cowboys, and was one of four anchors at the Texas Gameday Desk on the Longhorn Network.[19] On June 10, 2020, it was announced that he would be leaving ESPN to join Fox Sports and co-host the afternoon studio show Speak for Yourself, replacing Jason Whitlock.[20]

On June 3, 2020, following the murder of George Floyd, Acho began a digital series, entitled Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man,[21] "in order to educate and inform on racism, systemic racism, social injustice, rioting & the hurt Black people are feeling today".[21] He wrote a book of the same name, which was released on November 10, 2020, by Macmillan Publishers (ISBN 9781250800473).[22] According to Acho, 18,000 copies were sold on its first day.[23] An adapted version for young readers, entitled Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Boy, was published on May 4, 2021, by the same publisher.(ISBN 9781250801067) and became a #1 New York Times bestseller in its first week of publication[24]

On February 27, 2021, Acho announced that he would host the 25th season of The Bachelor "After the Final Rose" Special, replacing Chris Harrison.[25] He has been invited twice to compete on The Bachelorette, and is friends with Rachel Lindsay, who encouraged him to do "Uncomfortable Conversations".[26]

On June 8, 2021, Acho received a Sports Emmy for Outstanding Sports Personality/Emerging On-Air Talent following his first season co-hosting Speak for Yourself.

On September 19, 2021, Acho received a PrimeTime Emmy for Outstanding Short form Nonfiction or Reality Series for his digital series, Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man.

Acho's third book was published in March 2022: Illogical : Saying Yes to a Life Without Limits (ISBN 9781250836441, Macmillan Publishers). In this book he encourages readers "to become change-makers".[27]

On August 31, 2022, FS1 announced their new fall lineup, promoting Acho as the lead anchor of the rebranded SPEAK, accompanied by two-time Super Bowl champion and six-time Pro Bowler LeSean McCoy and longtime FS1 studio show contributor and host Joy Taylor.

Personal life

Acho's older brother, Sam, played nine years in the NFL and is currently an ESPN sports analyst.

On January 9, 2015, Eagles fan Hannah Delmonte contacted Acho via Instagram. Delmonte asked Acho to escort her to her junior prom if she received 2,000 retweets on Twitter. Acho felt 2,000 retweets was too low, so he increased it to 10,000 retweets and gave Delmonte one week to meet the goal. Less than three hours later, Delmonte posted a picture showing that she'd received over 10,000 retweets, and Acho accepted the invitation.[28] On February 20, 2015, Acho took time off from his graduate studies at the University of Texas and flew to Purcellville, VA, to personally accept Delmonte's prom invitation, nicknamed 'Promposal' by the media. On May 9, 2015, Acho escorted Delmonte to her junior prom in Purcellville, VA.[29]

Acho is a Christian.[30] Acho has continued his family's medical missionary work, writing in a 2018 tweet: "Everybody wants to be the #BlackPanther until it is time to actually save lives in Africa. My family's annual mission trip to #Nigeria COMPLETE! We treated over 1,800 patients, performed 162 surgeries & tried to love like Jesus does."[4]

Acho delivered the Commencement speech at the University of Texas at Austin in May 2022, a moment he said was the 'biggest honor of my life'.

He is also a baritone and piano player.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Avila, Arielle (November 10, 2020). "Emmanuel Acho on His New Book, 'Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man'". Texas Monthly. Retrieved March 8, 2021., which earned him a PrimeTime Emmy award from the Television Academy in 2021
  2. ↑ Acho, Emmanuel (21 July 2016). "Two Weeks in Nigeria". The Players' Tribune. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  3. ↑ Acho, Emmanuel (June 29, 2020). "Emmanuel Acho on Instagram". Instagram. Archived from the original on 2021-12-24. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  4. 1 2 Benjamin, Cody (2018-07-18). "For ex-NFL LB Emmanuel Acho, serving Nigeria is an affair of faith and family". Sports Spectrum. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
  5. ↑ "2012 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2023-05-14.
  6. ↑ Mary Kay Cabot (2019-01-12). "Cleveland Browns select Texas LB Emmanuel Acho and Boise State DT Billy Winn with consecutive pics in the sixth round of NFL Draft". Cleveland.com. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
  7. ↑ Sessler, Marc (April 11, 2013). "Eagles trade Dion Lewis to Browns for Emmanuel Acho". NFL.com. Retrieved 2014-06-14.
  8. 1 2 Tornoe, Rob (2017-01-15). "Ex-Eagles LB Emmanuel Acho: Fire whoever traded away Don Lewis for me". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
  9. ↑ Andrew Ilnicki (September 11, 2013). "LB Emmanuel Acho Added To Giants Practice Squad". Giants Gab (New York Giants Blog). Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
  10. ↑ Alper, Josh (October 21, 2013). "Eagles sign Emmanuel Acho off Giants practice squad". NBCSports.com. Retrieved 2014-06-14.
  11. ↑ "Eagles Bring Back LB Emmanuel Acho". Archived from the original on 2013-12-23.
  12. ↑ Philadelphia Eagles [@Eagles] (December 17, 2013). "#Eagles sign safety Keelan Johnson from the practice squad and release LB Emmanuel Acho" (Tweet). Archived from the original on April 4, 2016. Retrieved January 27, 2022 – via Twitter.
  13. ↑ Brandon Lee Gowton (2013-12-18). "Eagles Sign Emmanuel Acho to the Practice Squad". Bleeding Green Nation. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
  14. ↑ "Eagles Transactions 2014". Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  15. ↑ Brandon Lee Gowton (2014-08-29). "Eagles roster cuts: Casey Matthews stays, Emmanuel Acho released". Bleeding Green Nation. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
  16. ↑ Alper, Josh (27 August 2015). "Eagles waive/injured Emmanuel Acho after thumb surgery". NBC Sports. Retrieved 2023-10-02.
  17. ↑ Philadelphia Eagles [@Eagles] (November 10, 2015). "OFFICIAL: #Eagles re-sign LB Emmanuel Acho" (Tweet). Archived from the original on July 29, 2016. Retrieved January 27, 2022 – via Twitter.
  18. ↑ Eberts, Westcott (24 July 2018). "Lifetime Longhorn Emmanuel Acho moving to ESPN's college football programming". Burnt Orange Nation. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  19. ↑ Blackburn, Gracie (2016-08-22). "Longhorn Network Studio Programming Line-Up Returns for 2016 Football Season". ESPN. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
  20. ↑ "Emmanuel Acho Makes Jump From ESPN To Fox Sports". sportsbusinessdaily.com. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
  21. 1 2 "Emmanuel Acho - Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man". YouTube. June 3, 2020. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
  22. ↑ "Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man - Book details". Macmillan Publishers. Retrieved January 27, 2022. and became a New York Times bestseller in its debut
  23. ↑ Emmanuel Acho [@emmanuelacho] (November 11, 2020). "How you smile when you sell 18,000 copies of your book on release day!! Go get your copy y'all!! Let's keep changing the world! http://UncomfortableConvos.com" (Tweet). Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved January 27, 2022 – via Twitter.
  24. ↑ "Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Boy - Book details". Macmillan Publishers. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
  25. ↑ Del Rosario, Alexandra (February 27, 2021). "'The Bachelor: After The Final Rose': Emmanuel Acho To Fill In For Chris Harrison As Host". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 27, 2021.
  26. ↑ "Emmanuel Acho Discusses Controversial Bachelor Season Ahead of After the Final Rose Special". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved 2021-03-26.
  27. ↑ "Illogical - Saying Yes to a Life Without Limits - Book details". Macmillan Publishers. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
  28. ↑ Boyd, Ray (2015-02-20). "Emmanuel Acho Makes Trip To Prom With Lucky Fan Official". CBSN Philly. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
  29. ↑ Schwartz, Nick (2015-02-24). "Eagles linebacker takes fan to prom". USA Today. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
  30. ↑ Benjamin, Cody (18 July 2018). "For ex-NFL LB Emmanuel Acho, serving Nigeria is an affair of faith and family". Sports Spectrum. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
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