Oday Aboushi
 Aboushi with the Virginia Cavaliers | |||||||
| No. 78 Houston Texans | |||||||
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| Position: | Offensive tackle | ||||||
| Personal information | |||||||
| Date of birth: | June 5, 1991 | ||||||
| Place of birth: | Brooklyn, New York | ||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | ||||||
| Weight: | 308 lb (140 kg) | ||||||
| Career information | |||||||
| High school: | Brooklyn (NY) Xaverian | ||||||
| College: | Virginia | ||||||
| NFL Draft: | 2013 / Round: 5 / Pick: 141 | ||||||
| Career history | |||||||
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| Roster status: | Active | ||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||
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| Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2014 | |||||||
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Oday Aboushi (born June 5, 1991) is an American football offensive tackle for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). Aboushi played college football for the University of Virginia. Aboushi was selected by the New York Jets in the fifth round, 141 overall pick of the 2013 NFL Draft.
Early years
Aboushi was born in Brooklyn, New York on June 5, 1991. He attended Xaverian High School in Brooklyn, where he was a member of the Xaverian Clippers high school football team.
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | 40‡ | Commit date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oday Aboushi Offensive tackle |
Brooklyn, New York | Xaverian High School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 300 lb (140 kg) | 5.2 | Jan 8, 2009 |
Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A
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| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 15 (OT) Rivals: -- (National), 23 (OT), 1 (NY) | ||||||
Sources:
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College career
Aboushi attended the University of Virginia, where he played for the Virginia Cavaliers football team from 2009 to 2012. During his college career he started 37 of 43 games in which he appeared. As a senior in 2012, he was a first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) selection.[1]
Professional career
New York Jets
The New York Jets selected Aboushi in the fifth round, with the 141st overall pick, of the 2013 NFL Draft. The Jets signed him to a four-year rookie contract on May 10, 2013; financial terms were not disclosed.[2] Aboushi played in all 4 preseason games in 2013 but no regular season games. In 2014, Aboushi started 10 games from Week 7 through Week 17, drawing his first start at left guard on Thursday Night Football against the New England Patriots. Aboushi was released by the Jets on September 15, 2015.
Houston Texans
The Houston Texans claimed Aboushi off of waivers on September 16, 2015.[3] The Texans' offensive line coach, Mike Devlin, was Aboushi's former position coach with the Jets.
Personal life
Aboushi is the ninth of ten children born to Palestinian parents who immigrated to New York from the Beit Hanina neighborhood of Palestine. Aboushi speaks English and some Arabic.[4]
He is also a practicing Muslim, one of few in the NFL. During Ramadan, which fell every year during training camp season at Virginia, he fasted from sunrise to sunset every day. He was one of almost a dozen Muslim athletes honored by the U.S. Department of State for his contributions in 2011. He is one of the first Palestinian players in the NFL.[4]
On July 12, 2013, the Anti-Defamation League issued a press release defending Aboushi after an article circulating online claimed he was a 'Muslim extremist'. ADL defended Aboushi's right to take 'pride in his Palestinian heritage' and emphatically stated that being pro-Palestinian is in no way equivalent to being anti-Semitic or a Muslim extremist.[5]
In 2014 and 2015, Aboushi traveled to Sudan with the Islamic Medical Association of North America (IMANA) to help repair cleft lips and cleft palates in the impoverished East African nation.[6] Working with the IMANA SaveSmile team, Aboushi helped to perform surgery that adjusted muscles and connected tissues allowing full lips to form in place of cleft palates.
References
- ↑ Virginia LB Steve Greer, LT Oday Aboushi named first-team all-ACC
- ↑ Conor Orr, "Jets sign fifth-round pick Oday Aboushi, sixth-round pick Will Campbell," The Star-Ledger (May 10, 2013). Retrieved May 13, 2013.
- ↑ "Texans Claim Oday Aboushi off Waivers". www.houstontexans.com. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
- 1 2 Kishawi, Sami (27 April 2013). "Palestinian-American Oday Aboushi drafted to the New York Jets". smpalestine.com.
- ↑ "ADL Deplores Attacks on NY Jets Lineman Oday Aboushi Falsely Accusing Him of Being a Muslim Extremist". Anti-Defamation League. 12 July 2013.
- ↑ "Aboushi helped create 185 smiles". ESPN. 29 July 2014.