When the Ravens made the 31st pick of the draft on Thursday night, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced linebacker Jayson Oweh as the newest member of the team.
That name isn’t going to appear on their roster, however. General Manager Eric DeCosta referred to Oweh as Odafe in his press conference and said he thinks he goes by both names.
Oweh explained in a later session with reporters that Odafe is actually his first name and that he used Jayson at Penn State to make it easier for others to pronounce. He said that he’s going back to his first name now.
“Jayson is my middle name,” Oweh said. “My first name is Odafe. I’m of Nigerian descent. People were having trouble pronouncing Odafe, so I went to Jayson my earlier years, but I don’t care anymore; you’re going to have to learn how to pronounce it.”
Oweh’s first name is pronounced O-dah-FEH and the Ravens hope to hear it in conjunction with a lot of disruptive plays on defense.