Periodically over the remainder of the regular season, theRams.com will feature 6 Questions with 6Connex with a different player.
Up next is outside linebacker Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, who discusses the meaning of his first name, his passion for photography and art, and more.
1) For those who aren't familiar with your background and your unique first name, what is the meaning of it?
"I'm Nigerian, my name is Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, and it means favor from God."
2) What do you like the most about the current outside linebacker group?
"Everybody's different. Everybody's really talented. Everybody's really good at something different. We're all built different. We all have different tools, and we all help each other. It's not like a stingy group, everybody sharing and putting something in the pot every day. It's really cool, because when you have a guy like Von, when you have a guy as talented as that, you wouldn't expect him to just be helping and putting tools in your toolbelt, you know? Older guys aren't usually that open with younger guys. I was lucky to have guys like Clay Matthews, Dante Fowler – (Fowler) is now older, but he was in the league for a while before us. Those guys were very similar to Von. He's just really taken all of us under his wing and he's not holding anything back about his knowledge of the game. It's real. It's a blessing."
3) What drew you to photography as a passion?
"I'm just really into the arts. I like music too. I just like anything where you can create. I love making original things. I love seeing things that are already done and try to recreate it. Even with football, watching someone like Von Miller pass rush, you see how creative it is, you want to recreate it. I just like all things creative."
4) What's the most memorable subject or event you've shot photography-wise?
"I would say Larry June concert. I did that this spring, in the offseason. Larry June's one of my favorite artists, and he came to Houston, I was able to shoot that. I was actually hired to shoot that, so that was cool. That was my first gig."
5) How meaningful for you was it to get your degree from Oklahoma back in December 2017? Sounds like education was very important to your parents from what I've read.
"It meant the world to me and it meant the world to my family. I just know that, where I'm from, not a lot of people get their college degrees, so I felt like it was really important because I know a lot of kids coming up in Alief in Houston (Okoronkwo's hometown) look to me, so I just wanted to give them the best example. And then I wanted to be able to put myself in position to continue to be successful after football."
6) And then to not only accomplish that, but also realize your NFL dreams, how special is that for you?
"It means the world to me. I'm just super grateful, because not everybody gets to do this. This is a dream to a lot of people, including myself. So to be able to live this dream, I just want to make the most of it and not take it for granted."
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