Ahanotu was born in Modesto, California to Nigerian father and a mother from Alaska, and was the middle son of three boys.[2] His father was on the Nigeria national soccer team and taught him and his 2 brothers how to play the sport when they were 5 years old.[3] He also loved to cook.
Ahanotu attended UC Berkeley and walked onto the football team. After his redshirt freshman year, Ahanotu began to play during his second season, following which he earned a full athletic scholarship and became the Golden Bears' starting left defensive end. He went on to be the starter for 3 more football seasons and earned 1st team All-Pac-10 honors as the best at his position in 1992. Ahanotu majored in Integrative Biology and originally intended to go to medical school to become a doctor before joining the NFL.
Professional career
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected Ahanotu with the 145th pick of the 1993 NFL draft.[4] Ahanotu spent the first eight years of his career with the Buccaneers. He later played for the St. Louis Rams, Buffalo Bills, San Francisco 49ers, and Miami Dolphins for one season each before returning to the Buccaneers during the 2004 season. He recorded 46.5 total sacks in his 12-year NFL career,[5] and his 34.5 sacks as a Buccaneer rank fifth in franchise history.[6]
Ahanotu is regarded quite highly in the history of Buccaneer defenders. He was named the team's "Franchise Player" in 1999,[7] and in 2019, he was ranked 18th on a USA Today-published list of the 100 best Buccaneers players.[8]
While playing for the Bills in 2002, Ahanotu made the unusual decision to live in Toronto and commute two hours to Buffalo. He paid a driver $5,000 a month while fulfilling his desire to live outside the United States.[9]
Post-playing career
Ahanotu retired from the NFL in 2005. After retiring, he became the founder of Magellan Entertainment Inc., a talent management firm whose clients included Usain Bolt, Lennox Lewis, Lil Wayne, and Venus and Serena Williams.[10]