Amani Oruwariye

BIOGRAPHY

Amani Horatio Oruwariye was born on February 9th, 1996, in St. Petersburgh, Florida. He plays cornerback in the National Football League.

In his early years, Oruwariye attended Gaither High School where he was a three-year letterman for head coach Jason Stokes. In his sophomore year, he made 31 stops with five interceptions and helped lead Gaither to a pair of playoff wins, while as a junior, he totaled 43 tackles, three interceptions, and three blocked kicks, helping the Cowboys win the 2012 Class 7-A District Championship. As a senior, he recorded 47 tackles, two tackles for loss, four interceptions and nine pass breakups, earning first-team all-district honors, while on special teams, he blocked four kicks. By the end of his senior year, Oruwariye was named team MVP from his defensive back position and was invited to play in the Hillsborough County All-Star Game following his senior season. He was also rated a three-star recruit by all four major recruiting services and was ranked as a Top 100 recruit in Florida by Rivals and 247Sports.

After Oruwariye finished high school, he committed to the University of Penn State whereas a redshirted freshman in 2015, he appeared in 13 games, being one of the 17 redshirt freshmen to see action. On September 19th, against Rutgers, he recorded his first career tackle on kickoff coverage to start the third quarter. As a sophomore in 2016, Oruwariye appeared in 11 games where on September 3rd against Kent State, he recorded two tackles and made his first career interception in the third quarter, returning it for a 30-yard touchdown. As a junior in 2017, he appeared in 11 games where on September 2nd against Akron, he made three stops, broke up a pass, and hauled in his second career interception to create Penn State’s first takeaway of the season. Onuwariye was one of eight players to be a part of three-straight seasons with a shutout, marking the longest such streak since a three-year span from 1989-91, and was part of a defense that posted a season-opening shutout for the first time since 2007. He ended the 2017 season, finishing in No. 26 nationally and No. 4 in the Big Ten in interceptions per game with 4 INT while his six passes defended at Michigan State tied for the most in the FBS in 2017. He also tied for No. 10 in the Big Ten in passes defended per game averaging 1.1. In his senior year, Oruwariye made his first career start against Appalachian State on September 1st, where he recorded seven tackles, forced his first career fumble, and sealed the game with an interception in overtime. He was named the coaching staff's Defensive Player of the Week on September 8th at Pittsburgh, after he made three solo tackles, broke up two passes, and picked off a pass in the first quarter, marking the second time in his career he made interceptions in back-to-back games. A week later, on September 15th against Kent State, he recorded two pass break-ups and collected three tackles, including his first career tackle for loss. 

After he graduated from college, Oruwariye entered the 2019 NFL Draft where he was selected in the fifth round by the Detroit Lions of the National Football Conference. Oruwariye signed with the New York Giants in 2023.