In track and field, he placed third in the provincial championships in the 100-meter dash as a junior. That’s in my blood, that’s in my family. TORONTO — The 2019 CFL Draft will take place May 2 at 8 p.m. Because of that injury, he didn’t get any opportunities in the NFL. He flashed some potential in his first year with Tennessee even though there was controversy in that year after he was moved to defensive tackle and had the infamous “FIFA cleat” tweet during the season. Pass rusher Jonathan Kongbo's journey to the 49ers includes fleeing Congo's civil war as a child, taking up football at age 17, playing for three colleges and then winning the CFL's Grey Cup. But if you look back at it now it was just another obstacle.A basketball star in high school, he didn’t turn to football until his senior season and played only six games. He flashed some potential in his first year with Tennessee even though there was controversy in that year after he was moved to defensive tackle and had the infamous “FIFA cleat” tweet during the season.
1 JUCO prospect in the country on full display.Former Tennessee defensive lineman Jonathan Kongbo has been working hard to get opportunities at the NFL level, and now it appears as if his hard work is finally paying off, as the former Volunteers standout has now earned the chance to participate in his first NFL Camp.
You’re going to miss the combines, Senior Bowl… everything.’ It was a very dark, trying time.”What happened next over the long road to recovery was at times both encouraging and bitterly frustrating for Kongbo. ET.
He worked night and day, worked three jobs at a time for a while.And in those rare moments when he isn’t looking ahead at this next opportunity, Kongbo looks back at a chapter just recently closed with the Bombers and smiles.Still, in retrospect that wasn’t just representative of Kongbo’s work ethic, but also part of his mental recovery and his race to return not just to the field, but to a regular contributor on defence and a bona fide NFL prospect again.© 2020 CFL. Kongbo was named to the First All-Star team. Some wounds heal quickly, but others linger and fester and take months, if not years, to be covered up and effectively forgotten.“So much of it, almost all of it, is mental,” said Kongbo.
5 overall pick in the Canadian Football League (CFL) Draft. He becomes the first Vol in over two decades to be taken in the CFL Draft.For his second season with the Vols, Kongbo played exclusively at defensive end and totaled 29 tackles, 2.5 sacks, and 2.5 tackles for loss. That’s how my father worked.
After playing for a year there, Kongbo signed on to play collegiate football with Wyoming and redshirted his freshman season. He started playing football in his senior year of high school and played for Holy Cross in Surrey, British Columbia.
(Photo By Andrew Ferguson/Tennessee Athletics)Tennessee didn’t have any players selected in the 2019 NFL Draft, but a Vol defender was taken in the first round of the 2019 Canadian Football League Draft on Thursday night.After a slow start to the season, Kongbo began to pick up his play as the SEC schedule picked up, and he was in the midst of one of his best games as a Vol when he suffered his ACL injury against Auburn. I just kept pushing. “Obviously there are the physical limitations.
And that’s when things changed dramatically in a game against Auburn on October 13, 2018.“I remember sitting in the hospital room with the doctor,” Kongbo continued. He had his best game against Nebraska in the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl \u2014 recording 4 tackles and his first ever career sack. I found myself struggling with who I was outside of football.
And his answer reveals both how deep those wounds were and the miles travelled to get him to the happy place he is at today.It was a regular scene at Bombers practice last season when Kongbo was recovered enough to participate: he would be soaked in sweat just minutes into the session and did not let up on the gas pedal from start to finish. Kongbo (6-5, 254) joins the 49ers as an undrafted free agent out of the University of Tennessee. Jonathan Kongbo (born March 19, 1996) is a defensive end for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). Al (Couture, Head Athletic Therapist) slowed me down a little bit, which was for the best, and I thank him every day for that.
He becomes the first Vol in over two decades to be taken in the CFL Draft.For his second season with the Vols, Kongbo played exclusively at defensive end and totaled 29 tackles, 2.5 sacks, and 2.5 tackles for loss.