CHIEFS 24, RAIDERS 19 : Chiefs’ Okoye Has the Power to Force Defense to Fall Back

Fullback Christian Okoye of the Kansas City Chiefs walked over to each of his offensive linemen to encourage them as the Chiefs began their first drive of the fourth quarter Sunday against the Raiders.

“Christian was feeling good and he wanted to let us know that, if we did our job, he’d do his,” Chief tackle Irv Eatman said.

Okoye did his job.

With his linemen opening holes, Okoye helped propel the Chiefs’ 87-yard drive to the winning touchdown in a 24-19 victory over the Raiders at Arrowhead Stadium.

Okoye accounted for six of the final 12 yards in the drive, scoring with 7:51 remaining on a one-yard run, in which he took the handoff and knocked Raider free safety Eddie Anderson to the turf as he crashed into the end zone. Quarterback Steve DeBerg was the first to congratulate Okoye, who needed to put on an oxygen mask after returning to the bench.

Okoye had reason to be exhausted.

He rushed for 95 yards on a career-high 27 carries and scored two touchdowns to lead the Chiefs to their first victory of the season.

Was he tired?

“I was a little tired, but I wasn’t complaining,” Okoye said with a laugh. “I haven’t carried that many times since college. When I was at Azusa Pacific, the least I used to carry the ball was 30 or 35 times.”

Although Okoye said the offensive line was the secret to his success, Carl Peterson, the Chiefs’ president and general manager, credited Okoye.

“Christian was everything we had hoped he’d be today and more,” Peterson said. “We played smash-mouth football and that’s a great way to play the game.”

A powerfully built 6-foot-1, 254-pound fullback, Okoye seems perfectly suited for smash-mouth football. He combines the speed of a sprinter with the body of a lineman and drops tacklers like a bowling pins.

“Christian was punishing the Raiders for even trying to tackle him,” Eatman said. “It was more like they were were falling down and he was falling over them. I don’t think you saw him get knocked down too many times today.

“He turned it loose. It didn’t seem like he carried 27 times, but I know one thing: I know the Raiders were glad to see that game end because he was pounding them.”

Okoye impressed Raider nose guard Bob Golic.

“What does Okoye weigh, 270?” Golic asked. “He’s a big boy and when he gets up a head of steam he’s tough to stop. When you get a guy that big who starts running, you’d better get your head down in order to stick the guy.”

Okoye may punish defenders, but he also takes a beating because of his straight-ahead running style.

After rushing for 660 yards in 1987 to lead National Football League rookies, Okoye missed seven games last season with injuries. He broke his right thumb in the first game of the exhibition season. After returning, he injured his back in his first regular-season game and broke his right hand later in the season.

This year, Okoye sat out the entire exhibition season with a strained neck. Okoye’s legs went numb after he was hit in practice last August. He returned for the regular season, but carried only five times in the Chiefs’ 34-20 season-opening loss at Denver.

Chief Coach Marty Schottenheimer praised Okoye for overcoming the injuries.

“The real credit that needs to go to Christian is the fact that despite the five weeks that he was absent, he spent a lot of time staying abreast of the things we were trying to do, and it was for that reason that he was able to come back as quickly as he did and make the contribution he did today,” Schottenheimer said.

Okoye admits that not playing because of the injuries has been frustrating.

“But there’s nothing I can do about it,” he said. “‘I can just try to stay conditioned and be ready to play.”

Why doesn’t Okoye alter his style to avoid injury?

“I weigh 254 pounds and when you weigh that much you don’t try to juke because if you try too much you might hurt yourself,” Okoye said.

Football is still new for Okoye, who has been playing the game for only six years. He came to the United States from Nigeria in 1982 and enrolled at Azusa Pacific, where he competed on the track team in the shotput and discus.

After failing to make the Nigerian Olympic team in 1984, Okoye turned to football. He was an instant success. After rushing for a school-record 3,569 yards, he got the attention of NFL scouts by scoring four touchdowns in the Senior Bowl.

The Chiefs traded up 11 spots in the 1987 draft to select Okoye. It paid off quickly as Okoye rushed for 105 yards, including a 43-yard touchdown, against the San Diego Chargers in his first pro game.

But he said his performance Sunday surpassed that.

“I really worked for everything I got today,” Okoye said. “In my first game I had a good game, but most of the yardage came on one big run.”