Amani Oruwariye is entering his fourth NFL season, all with the Detroit Lions. That’s not a wealth of experience, but it makes the 26-year-old Oruwariye a veteran leader in Detroit’s precocious CB room.
While free agent acquisition Mike Hughes has an extra year of playing experience, Oruwariye is more than a full year older than Hughes. That makes him an unusually young greybeard for the team.
Oruwariye feels like he’s ready to step up as a leader and mentor.
“Just from an experience standpoint — age-wise, there are a lot of guys around my age, guys who have been here with me,” Oruwariye said last week. “But just from experience, I’ve played a lot, been in different systems with different coaches, played a majority of these teams, so I do feel a sense of responsibility, a lot of responsibility, to make sure the guys are ready to go. Make sure everyone is just prepared and working like a professional every single day.”
Oruwariye is coming off a strong season where he led the Lions with six interceptions. He played nearly every snap, a rare beacon of stability in the injury-ravaged cornerback room. No. 24 is embracing the challenge of the responsibility of helping be the bedrock veteran even though he’s still playing on his first NFL contract.
“I take pride in it. It just means that I come to work every day, be the best teammate I can every day and try to be the best Amani I can every day too for my teammates. That’s really it.”
