Penn State practice at Beaver Stadium
Penn State defensive end Arnold Ebiketie during the fourth quarter at Camp Randall Stadium on Sept.4, 2021. Joe Hermitt | jhermitt@pennlive.com
Arnold Ebiketie, the Philadelphia Eagles’ newest signing, was a standout defensive end at Temple before transferring to Penn State for his final season of college football.
Ebiketie, a native of Cameroon, spent four years in Philly. But in that time, he never crossed paths with another notable athlete from his home country: Sixers star Joel Embiid.
“Hopefully one day I get to,” Ebiketie said at the 2022 NFL Combine, when asked if he ever met the NBA superstar.
Maybe that linkup will happen now between the 2023 NBA MVP and the Eagles’ newest addition.
News broke on Thursday night that Ebiketie has agreed to a one-year deal with the Eagles worth $7.3 million.
Ebiketie, 27, was a second-round pick by the Falcons in 2022. Ebiketie recorded 16 1/2 sacks and 89 QB pressures in four seasons in Atlanta.
Now, Ebiketie is hoping to provide a boost from the Eagles in his return to Philadelphia.
Ebiketie’s journey to this point is quite the story.
Like Embiid, Ebiketie is from Yaoundé, the capital city of Cameroon. Ebiketie and his family moved from Yaoundé to the United States when he was 13 years old.
Embiid moved to the United States when he was 16 years old to devote himself to becoming a professional basketball player.
That’s not how it went for Ebiketie, who didn’t play football until he attended high school in Maryland. He preferred soccer, Cameroon’s most popular sport.
Cameroon has a rich soccer history. The men’s national team has qualified for the FIFA World Cup eight times, the most of any African nation. Cameroon became the first African team to reach the World Cup quarterfinals in 1990 and was later led by Barcelona legend Samuel Eto’o.
So it makes sense that Ebiketie, like Embiid, grew up on soccer.
But when Ebiketie moved to Maryland and started playing football, it worked out.
Ebiketie had 21 1/2 sacks and 36 tackles for loss as a high school senior at Albert Einstein High School (Kensington, Md.). He signed with Temple and starred at Lincoln Financial Field before transferring up to Penn State.
Ebiketie joined the Nittany Lions ahead of his final collegiate season in 2021. He was a first-team All-Big Ten pick, recording 62 tackles, 9 1/2 sacks and two forced fumbles.
The Eagles were interested in Ebiketie during the pre-draft process. But Ebiketie landed with the Falcons in the 2022 draft, hearing his name called with the No. 38 overall pick.
Now, though, after four years in Atlanta, Ebiketie will return to south Philadelphia.
And who knows? Maybe Ebiketie and Embiid will meet this time around at the Linc or Xfinity Mobile Arena.
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