North Kansas City’s Adetomiwa Adebawore gets 2023 NFL Draft call from Colts in Round 4
It didn’t take long on Saturday for Adetomiwa Adebawore to hear his name called at the 2023 NFL Draft in his hometown of Kansas City.
The Indianapolis Colts took Adebawore, a defensive tackle from Northwestern and North Kansas City High, with the seventh pick in the fourth round (No. 110 overall).
Adebewore received the news surrounded by his family at a Kansas City restaurant.
Adebawore’s stock had been rising entering the draft and there was speculation he could be selected as early as the second round. The 6-foot-2, 280-pound Adebawore had turned heads at the NFL Combine with an official 4.49-second time in the 40-yard dash.
“It was obviously tough,” he said. “I was hoping to hear my name called last night. But the Colts are going to get a great player who will do everything right in terms of off the field and on the field.”
When he finished at North Kansas City, Adebawore didn’t necessary think about an NFL future. But as his college career unfolded, Adebawore saw players he competed with and against at Northwestern get drafted.
That’s when he thought there might be a place for him.
“It was the 2021 draft and to see some of my teammates drafted, that was inspiring to see, and to see guys I played against get drafted,” Adebawore said. “I’m like, I played against them and I played well against them. That’s when I really started to think I could be in the league and I’m going to work that much harder.”
Adebawore was the second player from a Kansas City-area high school to be selected this week. In Thursday’s first round, the Chiefs grabbed defensive end Felix Anudike-Uzomah from Kansas State and Lee’s Summit High with the 31st overall pick.
In Indianapolis, Adebawore will join Kansas State cornerback Julius Brents, taken in the second round, in the Colts’ draft class for 2023.
