West Lafayette grad in Super Bowl

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - Come Super Bowl Sunday, West Lafayette alum and former Purdue football player Chike Okeafor will take the field to play in the biggest football game of the year. Even though he graduated from West Side in 1994 and Purdue in 1999, he still has many fans in West Lafayette.

His former math teacher Dave Aufderheide says he watches the Cardinals whenever they play because he can see Okeafor.

"I watched him all the way through here at Purdue," said Aufderheide. "I was on the sidelines running the chain-gang when he was here playing at West Side. I particulary enjoyed a couple games ago when he said West Lafayette Red Devils when he was introduced. I thought that was a really nice touch."

Purdue football's sports information director Tom Schott came to Purdue in 1998, Okeafor's senior year.

"It's neat when you're watching the game and you hear his named called on TV," said Schott.  "And to play in the league for as long as he has. It doesn't look like he's slowing down at all, even though he is in his 10th or so year. It's a tremendous credit to him for enduring what has to be the most physical professional sport there is."

Okeafor may have been one tough player, but he was a quiet, dedicated captain of his 1993 West Side state championship team. After winning a close game against Delphi that year, he chose to stay and watch game film the next day instead of going on a visit to Notre Dame for football.

West Lafayette football coach Marshall Overley recalled that Saturday when Okeafor showed up for practice.

"I said Chike, what are you doing here? He said I called and told them I'm not coming," said Overley.  "He said this is too important to me. How many high school kids would want to go stand on the Notre Dame football field, especially if you are being recruited. He gave that up because of what the team wanted to accomplish."

It's been 15 years since Chike Okeafor was a stand-out football player at West Lafayette High School. The former Red Devil also excelled in the classroom.

"He was really a nice young man to have in class," said Aufderheide. "I enjoyed having Chike in class because he had a good sense of humor. He was acutally very intuitive in math. When he wanted to be a strong math student, he was a very strong math student."
 

The halls of Okeafor's former high school are starting to buzz as they realize that one of their own is playing for the Super Bowl title.

"It is exciting and it takes awhile sometimes for these things to sink in," said West Lafayette Athletic Director Brock Touloukian. "But the school's pretty excited about it, those kids who have figured it out: that we've got somebody playing in the Super Bowl."
 

"I've talked to some of the students about that, saying hey we've got someone in the superbowl," said Aufderheide.  "And whenever you say that, they ask who is it? who is it? And then, oh yeah, I've heard that name before. So the name recoginition is there and they seem to be pretty excited."