Lions cornerback Amani Oruwariye wants to make the other 31 teams pay for passing

The NFL Draft couldn’t have played out exactly how Penn State cornerback Amani Oruwariye would have liked. Many in the media pegged him as a Day 2 pick, yet the fifth round of the NFL Draft was seven picks deep, and the Nittany Lion had still not heard his name called.

But Oruwariye wasn’t sweating it.

“I was just patient. I knew my time would come.”

The Detroit Lions came calling next, and with a need at outside cornerback, Oruwariye was their guy with the 146th pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.

Oruwariye’s first reaction wasn’t resentment or anger. In fact, during his teleconference with the Lions media, he seemed genuinely grateful for the opportunity. His response to the three, long days of waiting?

“It’s been amazing,” he said Saturday afternoon. “It’s a blessing all around, just being able to even compete in half the things I’ve been in.”

That doesn’t exactly sound like a player scorned by 31 other teams who all passed on a chance at him, and the 16 teams that decided to take a different cornerback in this year’s draft.

There was no self-loathing to be had by Oruwariye, but he let it be known that he’ll be carrying a bit of a chip on his shoulder into the NFL

“I’m not going to sit there and dwell on what didn’t happen and what did happen,” Oruwariye said.” “I’m just going to make the other 31 teams that didn’t draft me pay when my opportunity comes.”

Opposing quarterbacks, you’re on notice.