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An incredible full-circle story with Uar Bernard and Arnold Ebiketie
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- An incredible full-circle story with Uar Bernard and Arnold Ebiketie
An incredible full-circle story with Uar Bernard and Arnold Ebiketie originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Most people in the football world learned about Uar Bernard during the pre-draft process when the Nigerian's incredible athleticism began to go viral.
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Not Arnold Ebiketie .
The veteran edge rusher has known about Bernard for years and actually coached him at an NFL Africa camp in Kenya back in April of 2023. Three years later, they're teammates in Philly.
"I was actually looking the other day at some of the videos from back three years ago," Ebiketie said after practice on Tuesday. "It's fun to see him. He was not that big back then. But it's fun to see him. He's developing pretty well. He's getting accustomed to the system and everything.
"Obviously, he's a freak of nature. The more he can get better and understand the scheme and everything, the better he's going to be."
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Ebiketie, a native of Cameroon, was asked to coach in that NFL Africa camp in 2023 and said he had a ton of fun. Ebiketie was entering his second NFL season back then and is now going into Year 5. Other NFL players who helped coach at the camp, as the league expanded to Kenya, were Brian Asamoah (Ghana), Paulson Adebo (Benin), Ikem Ekwonu (Nigeria) and Emmanuel Ogbah (Nigeria).
Over the last few years, Ebiketie has followed Bernard's path a little bit but mostly just on Instagram. So during the spring, when Bernard began to go viral because of his insane athleticism, Ebiketie thought to himself: Hey, I know that kid!
"He looks a lot different than how he did three years ago," Ebiketie said. "I mean, a lot bigger. But I was familiar with him."
What was Bernard like back then?
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"He was still around 6-3, cut up and everything," Ebiketie said. "I think he just got a lot bigger in terms of adding a lot of mass. He's one of my favorite guys on the team. I joke around with him and everything. I say some of the Nigerian slang with him. We like some of the similar food places in Philly."
Ebiketie joined the Eagles in March when he signed a one-year deal as a free agent. And then in late April, the Eagles used a seventh-round pick to draft Bernard.
American football is still very new to Bernard, who faces a long developmental road ahead. He is getting used to the sport, the equipment, everything. But he has a solid support system around him in Philly. That includes his position coach Clint Hurtt, whom Bernard called a father figure, and his defensive tackle teammates, whom Bernard considers his new brothers. Bernard also has defensive end Joshua Weru, who came from the same IPP program.
And, of course, he has his old coach-turned-teammate Ebiketie.
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"I'm still amazed," Ebiketie said. "I started playing football when I was a sophomore in high school. It's a lot better than starting in the National Football League. So I'm amazed by the progress he's making."
